Contribution of mobile genetic elements to Desulfovibrio vulgaris genome plasticity.
Walker C.B., Stolyar S., Chivian D., Pinel N., Gabster J.A., Dehal P.S., He Z., Yang Z.K., Yen H.C., Zhou J., Wall J.D., Hazen T.C., Arkin A.P., Stahl D.A.
The genome of Desulfovibrio vulgaris strain DePue, a sulfate-reducing Deltaproteobacterium isolated from heavy metal-impacted lake sediment, was completely sequenced and compared with the type strain D. vulgaris Hildenborough. The two genomes share a high degree of relatedness and synteny, but harbour distinct prophage and signatures of past phage encounters. In addition to a highly variable phage contribution, the genome of strain DePue contains a cluster of open-reading frames not found in strain Hildenborough coding for the production and export of a capsule exopolysaccharide, possibly of relevance to heavy metal resistance. Comparative whole-genome microarray analysis on four additional D. vulgaris strains established greater interstrain variation within regions associated with phage insertion and exopolysaccharide biosynthesis.
Environ. Microbiol. 11:2244-2252(2009) [PubMed] [Europe PMC]