Impacts of horizontal gene transfer on the compact genome of the clavulanic acid-producing strain F613-1.

Mobile genetic elements involved in mediating horizontal transfer events contribute to bacterial evolution, and bacterial genomic plasticity and instability result in variation in functional genetic information in secondary metabolism. In a previous study, we reported the complete genome sequence of the industrial strain F613-1, which produces high yields of clavulanic acid. In this study, we used comparative genomics and bioinformatics to investigate the unique genomic features of this strain. Taken together, comparative genomics were used to systematically investigate secondary metabolism capabilities and indicated that frequent exchange of genetic materials between replicons may shape the remarkable diversities in their secondary metabolite repertoires. Moreover, a 136.9-kb giant region of plasticity (RGP) was found in the F613-1 chromosome, and the chromosome and plasmid pSCL4 are densely packed with an exceptionally large variety of potential secondary metabolic gene clusters, involving several determinants putatively accounting for antibiotic production. In addition, the differences in the architecture and size of plasmid pSCL4 between F613-1 and ATCC 27064 suggest that the pSCL4 plasmid could evolve from pSCL4-like and pSCL2-like extrachromosomal replicons. Furthermore, the genomic analyses revealed that strain F613-1 has developed specific genomic architectures and genetic patterns that are well suited to meet the requirements of industrial innovation processes.