Genomic features of "Candidatus Venteria ishoeyi", a new sulfur-oxidizing macrobacterium from the Humboldt Sulfuretum off Chile

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 13;12(12):e0188371. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188371. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The Humboldt Sulfuretum (HS), in the productive Humboldt Eastern Boundary Current Upwelling Ecosystem, extends under the hypoxic waters of the Peru-Chile Undercurrent (ca. 6°S and ca. 36°S). Studies show that primeval sulfuretums held diverse prokaryotic life, and, while rare today, still sustain species-rich giant sulfur-oxidizing bacterial communities. We here present the genomic features of a new bacteria of the HS, "Candidatus Venteria ishoeyi" ("Ca. V. ishoeyi") in the family Thiotrichaceae.Three identical filaments were micro-manipulated from reduced sediments collected off central Chile; their DNA was extracted, amplified, and sequenced by a Roche 454 GS FLX platform. Using three sequenced libraries and through de novo genome assembly, a draft genome of 5.7 Mbp, 495 scaffolds, and a N50 of 70 kbp, was obtained. The 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis showed that "Ca. V. ishoeyi" is related to non-vacuolate forms presently known as Beggiatoa or Beggiatoa-like forms. The complete set of genes involved in respiratory nitrate-reduction to dinitrogen was identified in "Ca. V. ishoeyi"; including genes likely leading to ammonification. As expected, the sulfur-oxidation pathway reported for other sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were deduced and also, key inorganic and organic carbon acquisition related genes were identified. Unexpectedly, the genome of "Ca. V. ishoeyi" contained numerous CRISPR repeats and an I-F CRISPR-Cas type system gene coding array. Findings further show that, as a member of an eons-old marine ecosystem, "Ca. V. ishoeyi" contains the needed metabolic plasticity for life in an increasingly oxygenated and variable ocean.

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / classification
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Chile
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • DNA, Bacterial / isolation & purification
  • Genome, Bacterial*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Phylogeny
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Sulfur / metabolism*

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • Sulfur

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) Project 1070552 to VAG: Financed sampling and part of the sequencing costs; National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) Project 1110786 to VAG: Financed sampling and part of the sequencing costs; VRID-Enlace 214.122117-1.0 to VAG; Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI): Financed half of the costs involved in sequencing into a cooperation agreement framework; Graduate Student Scholarship: National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) to carry out M. Sc. Studies, period March 2014 to March of 2016: Allowed to the author AF for the preparation of the manuscript. We further acknowledge the valuable support from the international program Census of Marine Life (CoML) and its project International Census of Marine Microbes (ICOMM). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.