A putative greigite‐type magnetosome gene cluster from the candidate phylum Latescibacteria. Issue 2 (17th December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lin, Wei; Pan, Yongxin
• Is Part Of: Environmental microbiology reports. Volume 7:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 237
• Page End: 242
• Publication Date: 2014-12-17
• Subjects: Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Environmental Microbiology -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12234
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1758-2229

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Summary</title> <p>The intracellular biomineralization of magnetite and/or greigite magnetosomes in magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) is strictly controlled by a group of conserved genes, termed magnetosome genes, which are organized as clusters (or islands) in MTB genomes. So far, all reported MTB are affiliated within the <italic>P</italic><italic>roteobacteria</italic> phylum, the <italic>N</italic><italic>itrospirae</italic> phylum and the candidate division OP3. Here, we report the discovery of a putative magnetosome gene cluster structure from the draft genome of an uncultivated bacterium belonging to the candidate phylum <italic>L</italic><italic>atescibacteria</italic> (formerly candidate division WS3) recently recovered by Rinke and colleagues, which contains 10 genes with homology to magnetosome <italic>mam</italic> genes of magnetotactic <italic>P</italic><italic>roteobacteria</italic> and <italic>N</italic><italic>itrospirae</italic>. Moreover, these genes are phylogenetically closely related to greigite‐type magnetosome genes that were only found from the <italic>D</italic><italic>eltaproteobacteria</italic> MTB before, suggesting that the greigite genes may originate earlier than previously imagined. These findings indicate that some members of <italic>L</italic><italic>atescibacteria</italic> may be capable of forming greigite magnetosomes, and thus may play previously unrecognized roles in environmental iron and sulfur cycles. The conserved genomic structure of magnetosome gene cluster in <italic>L</italic><italic>atescibacteria</italic> phylum supports the hypothesis of horizontal transfer of these genes among distantly related bacterial groups in nature.</p> </abstract>