Project description:Nickel is an essential component of many eukaryotic and prokaryotic metallo-enzymes. Due to its employment in many industrial applications, wastewaters from industrial plants often contain millimolar concentrations of Ni2+ that are toxic and life-threatening for many organism. Several lines of preliminary evidence suggest that members of the genus Sphingobium are able to grow in the presence of high concentrations of metal ions. We have isolated a novel Sphingobium strain (sp. ba1) able to grow in the presence of high concentrations (up to 20 mM) of NiCl2. Sequencing of its genome allowed the identification of several genes coding for proteins potentially involved in efflux-mediated resistance mechanisms. Here we use the RNA-seq approach to analyze the response of the Sphingobium sp. ba1 strain to high concentrations (10 mM) of Ni ions. Transcriptomic data show the differential expression of about one-hundred and twenty genes, most of which are up-regulated and encode proteins such as membrane proteins and components of metal efflux systems, enzymes involved in oxidative stress responses (catalases, peroxidases) and signal transduction systems.
Project description:Bacterial degraders of chlorophenoxy herbicides have been isolated from various ecosystems, including pristine environments. Among these degraders, the sphingomonads constitute a prominent group that displays versatile xenobiotic-degradation capabilities. Four separate sequencing strategies were required to provide the complete sequence of the complex and plastic genome of the canonical chlorophenoxy herbicide-degrading Sphingobium herbicidovorans MH. The genome has an intricate organization of the chlorophenoxy-herbicide catabolic genes sdpA, rdpA, and cadABCD that encode the (R)- and (S)-enantiomer-specific 2,4-dichlorophenoxypropionate dioxygenases and four subunits of a Rieske non-heme iron oxygenase involved in 2-methyl-chlorophenoxyacetic acid degradation, respectively. Several major genomic rearrangements are proposed to help understand the evolution and mobility of these important genes and their genetic context. Single-strain mobilomic sequence analysis uncovered plasmids and insertion sequence-associated circular intermediates in this environmentally important bacterium and enabled the description of evolutionary models for pesticide degradation in strain MH and related organisms. The mobilome presented a complex mosaic of mobile genetic elements including four plasmids and several circular intermediate DNA molecules of insertion-sequence elements and transposons that are central to the evolution of xenobiotics degradation. Furthermore, two individual chromosomally integrated prophages were shown to excise and form free circular DNA molecules. This approach holds great potential for improving the understanding of genome plasticity, evolution, and microbial ecology.
Project description:We study gene expression levels of V. cholerae N16961 WT and crp mutant strains/V. cholerae N16961 hapR+ corrected strain, ravAviA mutant and ravAviA overexpressing strains in exponential phase in MH, MH+maltose 0.4% and MH+glucose 0.4%