A Complete Sequence of the T. tengcongensis Genome

  1. Qiyu Bao1,5,
  2. Yuqing Tian2,5,
  3. Wei Li3,5,
  4. Zuyuan Xu1,
  5. Zhenyu Xuan3,
  6. Songnian Hu1,
  7. Wei Dong1,
  8. Jian Yang3,
  9. Yanjiong Chen1,
  10. Yanfen Xue2,
  11. Yi Xu2,
  12. Xiaoqin Lai2,
  13. Li Huang2,
  14. Xiuzhu Dong2,
  15. Yanhe Ma2,
  16. Lunjiang Ling3,
  17. Huarong Tan2,6,
  18. Runsheng Chen3,6,
  19. Jian Wang1,
  20. Jun Yu1,4, and
  21. Huanming Yang1,6
  1. 1Beijing Genomics Institute/Genomics and Bioinformatics Center, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China; 2Institute of Microbiology, CAS, Beijing 100080, China; 3Institute of Biophysics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China; 4Genome Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA

Abstract

Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis is a rod-shaped, gram-negative, anaerobic eubacterium that was isolated from a freshwater hot spring in Tengchong, China. Using a whole-genome-shotgun method, we sequenced its 2,689,445-bp genome from an isolate, MB4T (Genbank accession no. AE008691). The genome encodes 2588 predicted coding sequences (CDS). Among them, 1764 (68.2%) are classified according to homology to other documented proteins, and the rest, 824 CDS (31.8%), are functionally unknown. One of the interesting features of the T. tengcongensis genome is that 86.7% of its genes are encoded on the leading strand of DNA replication. Based on protein sequence similarity, the T. tengcongensis genome is most similar to that of Bacillus halodurans, a mesophilic eubacterium, among all fully sequenced prokaryotic genomes up to date. Computational analysis on genes involved in basic metabolic pathways supports the experimental discovery that T. tengcongensis metabolizes sugars as principal energy and carbon source and utilizes thiosulfate and element sulfur, but not sulfate, as electron acceptors. T. tengcongensis, as a gram-negative rod by empirical definitions (such as staining), shares many genes that are characteristics of gram-positive bacteria whereas it is missing molecular components unique to gram-negative bacteria. A strong correlation between the G + C content of tDNA and rDNA genes and the optimal growth temperature is found among the sequenced thermophiles. It is concluded that thermophiles are a biologically and phylogenetically divergent group of prokaryotes that have converged to sustain extreme environmental conditions over evolutionary timescale.

[Supplemental material is available online athttp://www.genome.org.]

Footnotes

  • ↵5 These authors contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵6 Corresponding authors.

  • E-MAIL hmyang{at}genetics.ac.cn; FAX 86-10-6488 9329.

  • E-MAIL tanhr{at}sun.im.ac.cn; FAX 86-10-6265 4083.

  • E-MAIL crs{at}sun5.ibp.ac.cn; FAX 86-10-6487 1293.

  • Article and publication are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.219302.

    • Received October 17, 2001.
    • Accepted March 15, 2002.
| Table of Contents

This Article

  1. doi: 10.1101/gr.219302 Genome Res. 12: 689-700 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

Article Category

Share

Preprint Server



Current Issue

  1. February 2024, 34 (2)
  1. Current Issue
  1. Alert me to new issues of Genome Research