Department of Bacterial Genetics, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Biology, University of Florence, via Madonna del Piano 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy.
Genes (Basel). 2019 Oct 28;10(11):850. doi: 10.3390/genes10110850.
spp. are widely distributed in various environments around the world. They are also common in the Antarctic regions. To date, almost 200 plasmids of spp. have been sequenced, but only 12 of them were isolated from psychrotolerant strains. In this study, 15 novel plasmids of cold-active spp. originating from the King George Island (Antarctica) were characterized using a combined, structural and functional approach, including thorough genomic analyses, functional analyses of selected genetic modules, and identification of active transposable elements localized within the plasmids and comparative genomics. The analyses performed in this study increased the understanding of the horizontal transfer of plasmids found within populations inhabiting Antarctic soils. It was shown that the majority of the studied plasmids are narrow-host-range replicons, whose transfer across taxonomic boundaries may be limited. Moreover, structural and functional analyses enabled identification and characterization of various accessory genetic modules, including genes encoding major pilin protein (PilA), that enhance biofilm formation, as well as active transposable elements. Furthermore, comparative genomic analyses revealed that the studied plasmids of Antarctic spp. are unique, as they are highly dissimilar to the other known plasmids of spp.
spp. 广泛分布于世界各地的各种环境中。它们在南极地区也很常见。迄今为止,已经测序了近 200 个 spp. 的质粒,但其中只有 12 个是从耐寒菌株中分离出来的。在这项研究中,采用结构和功能相结合的方法,对来自乔治王岛(南极洲)的 15 种新型冷活性 spp. 的质粒进行了表征,包括全面的基因组分析、选定遗传模块的功能分析以及位于质粒内的活跃转座元件的鉴定和比较基因组学。本研究中的分析增加了对栖息在南极土壤中的 种群中发现的质粒的水平转移的理解。结果表明,大多数研究的质粒是窄宿主范围的复制子,其在分类学边界上的转移可能受到限制。此外,结构和功能分析能够识别和表征各种辅助遗传模块,包括编码主要菌毛蛋白(PilA)的基因,这些基因增强了生物膜的形成,以及活跃的转座元件。此外,比较基因组学分析表明,研究的南极 spp. 的质粒是独特的,因为它们与其他已知的 spp. 的质粒高度不同。