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Identification of an Amylomaltase from the Halophilic Archaeon Haloquadratum walsbyi by Functional Metagenomics: Structural and Functional Insights. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12010085. [PMID: 35054477 PMCID: PMC8781629 DOI: 10.3390/life12010085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 01/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Amylomaltases are prokaryotic 4-α-glucanotransferases of the GH77 family. Thanks to the ability to modify starch, they constitute a group of enzymes of great interest for biotechnological applications. In this work we report the identification, by means of a functional metagenomics screening of the crystallization waters of the saltern of Margherita di Savoia (Italy), of an amylomaltase gene from the halophilic archaeon Haloquadratum walsbyi, and its expression in Escherichia coli cells. Sequence analysis indicated that the gene has specific insertions yet unknown in homologous genes in prokaryotes, and present only in amylomaltase genes identified in the genomes of other H. walsbyi strains. The gene is not part of any operon involved in the metabolism of maltooligosaccharides or glycogen, as it has been found in bacteria, making it impossible currently to assign a precise role to the encoded enzyme. Sequence analysis of the H. walsbyi amylomaltase and 3D modelling showed a common structure with homologous enzymes characterized in mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria. The recombinant H. walsbyi enzyme showed starch transglycosylation activity over a wide range of NaCl concentrations, with maltotriose as the best acceptor substrate compared to other maltooligosaccharides. This is the first study of an amylomaltase from a halophilic microorganism.
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Music of metagenomics-a review of its applications, analysis pipeline, and associated tools. Funct Integr Genomics 2021; 22:3-26. [PMID: 34657989 DOI: 10.1007/s10142-021-00810-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 09/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
This humble effort highlights the intricate details of metagenomics in a simple, poetic, and rhythmic way. The paper enforces the significance of the research area, provides details about major analytical methods, examines the taxonomy and assembly of genomes, emphasizes some tools, and concludes by celebrating the richness of the ecosystem populated by the "metagenome."
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Lavecchia A, Chiara M, De Virgilio C, Manzari C, Pazzani C, Horner D, Pesole G, Placido A. Comparative Genomics Suggests a Taxonomic Revision of the Staphylococcus cohnii Species Complex. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 13:6134082. [PMID: 33576800 PMCID: PMC8086632 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus cohnii (SC), a coagulase-negative bacterium, was first isolated in 1975 from human skin. Early phenotypic analyses led to the delineation of two subspecies (subsp.), Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii (SCC) and Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. urealyticus (SCU). SCC was considered to be specific to humans, whereas SCU apparently demonstrated a wider host range, from lower primates to humans. The type strains ATCC 29974 and ATCC 49330 have been designated for SCC and SCU, respectively. Comparative analysis of 66 complete genome sequences-including a novel SC isolate-revealed unexpected patterns within the SC complex, both in terms of genomic sequence identity and gene content, highlighting the presence of 3 phylogenetically distinct groups. Based on our observations, and on the current guidelines for taxonomic classification for bacterial species, we propose a revision of the SC species complex. We suggest that SCC and SCU should be regarded as two distinct species: SC and SU (Staphylococcus urealyticus), and that two distinct subspecies, SCC and SCB (SC subsp. barensis, represented by the novel strain isolated in Bari) should be recognized within SC. Furthermore, since large-scale comparative genomics studies recurrently suggest inconsistencies or conflicts in taxonomic assignments of bacterial species, we believe that the approach proposed here might be considered for more general application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lavecchia
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, National Research Council, Bari, Italy
| | - Matteo Chiara
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, National Research Council, Bari, Italy.,Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Caterina De Virgilio
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Caterina Manzari
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, National Research Council, Bari, Italy
| | - Carlo Pazzani
- Department of Biology, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - David Horner
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, National Research Council, Bari, Italy.,Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Graziano Pesole
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, National Research Council, Bari, Italy.,Department of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.,Consorzio Interuniversitario Biotecnologie, Trieste, Italy
| | - Antonio Placido
- Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies, National Research Council, Bari, Italy
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4
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Staphylococcus arlettae Genomics: Novel Insights on Candidate Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Genes in an Emerging Opportunistic Pathogen. Microorganisms 2019; 7:microorganisms7110580. [PMID: 31752379 PMCID: PMC6920755 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7110580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Revised: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are becoming increasingly recognized as an important cause of human and animal infections. Notwithstanding their clinical relevance, annotation of genes potentially involved in pathogenicity and/or antibiotic resistance in the CoNS species Staphylococcus arlettae (SAR) is currently very limited. In the current work we describe the genome of a novel methicillin resistant isolate of SAR, which we named Bari, and present a comprehensive analysis of predicted antibiotic resistance profiles and virulence determinants for all the 22 currently available SAR genomes. By comparing predicted antibiotic resistance and virulence-associated genes with those obtained from a manual selection of 148 bacterial strains belonging to 14 different species of staphylococci and to two “outgroup” species, Bacillus subtilis (BS) and Macrococcus caseoliticus (MC), we derived some interesting observations concerning the types and number of antibiotic resistance-related and virulence-like genes in SAR. Interestingly, almost 50% of the putative antibiotic resistance determinants identified in this work, which include the clinically relevant mec, van, and cls genes, were shared among all the SAR strains herein considered (Bari included). Moreover, comparison of predicted antibiotic resistance profiles suggest that SAR is closely related to well-known pathogenic Staphylococcus species, such as Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (SE). A similar analysis of predicted virulence factors, revealed that several genes associated with pathogenesis (including, for example, ica, nuc, and ssp), which are commonly found in the genomes of pathogenic staphylococci such as Staphylococcus haemolyticus (SH) and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (SS), are observed also in the SAR strains for which a genomic sequence is available. All in all, we believe that the analyses presented in the current study, by providing a consistent and comprehensive annotation of virulence and antibiotic resistance-related genes in SAR, can constitute a valuable resource for the study of molecular mechanisms of opportunistic pathogenicity in this species.
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Thang MWC, Chua XY, Price G, Gorse D, Field MA. MetaDEGalaxy: Galaxy workflow for differential abundance analysis of 16s metagenomic data. F1000Res 2019; 8:726. [PMID: 31737256 PMCID: PMC6807170 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.18866.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Metagenomic sequencing is an increasingly common tool in environmental and biomedical sciences. While software for detailing the composition of microbial communities using 16S rRNA marker genes is relatively mature, increasingly researchers are interested in identifying changes exhibited within microbial communities under differing environmental conditions. In order to gain maximum value from metagenomic sequence data we must improve the existing analysis environment by providing accessible and scalable computational workflows able to generate reproducible results. Here we describe a complete end-to-end open-source metagenomics workflow running within Galaxy for 16S differential abundance analysis. The workflow accepts 454 or Illumina sequence data (either overlapping or non-overlapping paired end reads) and outputs lists of the operational taxonomic unit (OTUs) exhibiting the greatest change under differing conditions. A range of analysis steps and graphing options are available giving users a high-level of control over their data and analyses. Additionally, users are able to input complex sample-specific metadata information which can be incorporated into differential analysis and used for grouping / colouring within graphs. Detailed tutorials containing sample data and existing workflows are available for three different input types: overlapping and non-overlapping read pairs as well as for pre-generated Biological Observation Matrix (BIOM) files. Using the Galaxy platform we developed MetaDEGalaxy, a complete metagenomics differential abundance analysis workflow. MetaDEGalaxy is designed for bench scientists working with 16S data who are interested in comparative metagenomics. MetaDEGalaxy builds on momentum within the wider Galaxy metagenomics community with the hope that more tools will be added as existing methods mature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike W C Thang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia.,Queensland Facility for Advanced Bioinformatics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia
| | - Xin-Yi Chua
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia.,Queensland Facility for Advanced Bioinformatics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia
| | - Gareth Price
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia.,Queensland Facility for Advanced Bioinformatics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia
| | - Dominique Gorse
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia.,Queensland Facility for Advanced Bioinformatics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia
| | - Matt A Field
- John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,Australian Institute for Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, 4878, Australia.,Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, 4878, Australia
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Draft Genome Sequences of Three Novel Staphylococcus arlettae Strains Isolated from a Disused Biological Safety Cabinet. Microbiol Resour Announc 2018; 7:MRA01012-18. [PMID: 30533690 PMCID: PMC6256559 DOI: 10.1128/mra.01012-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 09/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The genome sequences of three new strains of Staphylococcus arlettae named Bari1, Bari2, and Bari3 are presented. The strains exhibited tolerance to hexavalent chromium ions. The genome sequences of three new strains of Staphylococcus arlettae named Bari1, Bari2, and Bari3 are presented. The strains exhibited tolerance to hexavalent chromium ions. An sprC gene encoding a putative chromium transporter was present in each of the three draft genome sequences.
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