Log on / register
Feedback | Support | My details
Open AccessResearch article

The complete genome sequence of Staphylothermus marinus reveals differences in sulfur metabolism among heterotrophic Crenarchaeota

Iain J Anderson1 email, Lakshmi Dharmarajan2 email, Jason Rodriguez2,3 email, Sean Hooper1 email, Iris Porat4,13 email, Luke E Ulrich5 email, James G Elkins6 email, Kostas Mavromatis1 email, Hui Sun7 email, Miriam Land6 email, Alla Lapidus7 email, Susan Lucas7 email, Kerrie Barry8 email, Harald Huber9 email, Igor B Zhulin5 email, William B Whitman4 email, Biswarup Mukhopadhyay2,3,10 email, Carl Woese11 email, James Bristow12 email and Nikos Kyrpides1 email

1Genome Biology Program, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, USA

2Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA

3Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA

4Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, USA

5Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, University of Tennessee – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, USA

6Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, USA

7Production Department, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, USA

8Project Management Department, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, USA

9Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie und Archaeenzentrum, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

10Biological Sciences Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA

11Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, Urbana USA

12Programs Department, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, USA

13Biological and Environmental Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, USA

author email corresponding author email

BMC Genomics 2009, 10:145doi:10.1186/1471-2164-10-145

Published: 2 April 2009

Abstract

Background

Staphylothermus marinus is an anaerobic, sulfur-reducing peptide fermenter of the archaeal phylum Crenarchaeota. It is the third heterotrophic, obligate sulfur reducing crenarchaeote to be sequenced and provides an opportunity for comparative analysis of the three genomes.

Results

The 1.57 Mbp genome of the hyperthermophilic crenarchaeote Staphylothermus marinus has been completely sequenced. The main energy generating pathways likely involve 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductases and ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthases. S. marinus possesses several enzymes not present in other crenarchaeotes including a sodium ion-translocating decarboxylase likely to be involved in amino acid degradation. S. marinus lacks sulfur-reducing enzymes present in the other two sulfur-reducing crenarchaeotes that have been sequenced – Thermofilum pendens and Hyperthermus butylicus. Instead it has three operons similar to the mbh and mbx operons of Pyrococcus furiosus, which may play a role in sulfur reduction and/or hydrogen production. The two marine organisms, S. marinus and H. butylicus, possess more sodium-dependent transporters than T. pendens and use symporters for potassium uptake while T. pendens uses an ATP-dependent potassium transporter. T. pendens has adapted to a nutrient-rich environment while H. butylicus is adapted to a nutrient-poor environment, and S. marinus lies between these two extremes.

Conclusion

The three heterotrophic sulfur-reducing crenarchaeotes have adapted to their habitats, terrestrial vs. marine, via their transporter content, and they have also adapted to environments with differing levels of nutrients. Despite the fact that they all use sulfur as an electron acceptor, they are likely to have different pathways for sulfur reduction.


© 1999-2009 BioMed Central Ltd unless otherwise stated. Part of Springer Science+Business Media.