Dataset Information

Diversity of reductive dehalogenase genes from environmental samples and enrichment cultures identified with degenerate primer PCR screens.

ABSTRACT: Reductive dehalogenases are the critical enzymes for anaerobic organohalide respiration, a microbial metabolic process that has been harnessed for bioremediation efforts to resolve chlorinated solvent contamination in groundwater and is implicated in the global halogen cycle. Reductive dehalogenase sequence diversity is informative for the dechlorination potential of the site or enrichment culture. A suite of degenerate PCR primers targeting a comprehensive curated set of reductive dehalogenase genes was designed and applied to 12 DNA samples extracted from contaminated and pristine sites, as well as six enrichment cultures capable of reducing chlorinated compounds to non-toxic end-products. The amplified gene products from four environmental sites and two enrichment cultures were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq, and the reductive dehalogenase complement of each sample determined. The results indicate that the diversity of the reductive dehalogenase gene family is much deeper than is currently accounted for: one-third of the translated proteins have less than 70% pairwise amino acid identity to database sequences. Approximately 60% of the sequenced reductive dehalogenase genes were broadly distributed, being identified in four or more samples, and often in previously sequenced genomes as well. In contrast, 17% of the sequenced reductive dehalogenases were unique, present in only a single sample and bearing less than 90% pairwise amino acid identity to any previously identified proteins. Many of the broadly distributed reductive dehalogenases are uncharacterized in terms of their substrate specificity, making these intriguing targets for further biochemical experimentation. Finally, comparison of samples from a contaminated site and an enrichment culture derived from the same site 8 years prior allowed examination of the effect of the enrichment process.

SUBMITTER: Hug LA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3832961 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Diversity of reductive dehalogenase genes from environmental samples and enrichment cultures identified with degenerate primer PCR screens.

Hug Laura A LA Edwards Elizabeth A EA

Frontiers in microbiology 20131119

Reductive dehalogenases are the critical enzymes for anaerobic organohalide respiration, a microbial metabolic process that has been harnessed for bioremediation efforts to resolve chlorinated solvent contamination in groundwater and is implicated in the global halogen cycle. Reductive dehalogenase sequence diversity is informative for the dechlorination potential of the site or enrichment culture. A suite of degenerate PCR primers targeting a comprehensive curated set of reductive dehalogenase ...[more]

PMID: 24312087

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:In a high-throughput environment, to PCR amplify and sequence a large set of viral isolates from populations that are potentially heterogeneous and continuously evolving, the use of degenerate PCR primers is an important strategy. Degenerate primers allow for the PCR amplification of a wider range of viral isolates with only one set of pre-mixed primers, thus increasing amplification success rates and minimizing the necessity for genome finishing activities. To successfully select a large set of degenerate PCR primers necessary to tile across an entire viral genome and maximize their success, this process is best performed computationally. RESULTS:We have developed a fully automated degenerate PCR primer design system that plays a key role in the J. Craig Venter Institute's (JCVI) high-throughput viral sequencing pipeline. A consensus viral genome, or a set of consensus segment sequences in the case of a segmented virus, is specified using IUPAC ambiguity codes in the consensus template sequence to represent the allelic diversity of the target population. PCR primer pairs are then selected computationally to produce a minimal amplicon set capable of tiling across the full length of the specified target region. As part of the tiling process, primer pairs are computationally screened to meet the criteria for successful PCR with one of two described amplification protocols. The actual sequencing success rates for designed primers for measles virus, mumps virus, human parainfluenza virus 1 and 3, human respiratory syncytial virus A and B and human metapneumovirus are described, where >90% of designed primer pairs were able to consistently successfully amplify >75% of the isolates. CONCLUSIONS:Augmenting our previously developed and published JCVI Primer Design Pipeline, we achieved similarly high sequencing success rates with only minor software modifications. The recommended methodology for the construction of the consensus sequence that encapsulates the allelic variation of the targeted population and is a key step prior to designing degenerate primers is also formally described.

Dataset Information

Diversity of reductive dehalogenase genes from environmental samples and enrichment cultures identified with degenerate primer PCR screens.

Publications

Diversity of reductive dehalogenase genes from environmental samples and enrichment cultures identified with degenerate primer PCR screens.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets