The genome sequence of the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus.
Thermus thermophilus HB27 is an extremely thermophilic, halotolerant bacterium, which was originally isolated from a natural thermal environment in Japan. This organism has considerable biotechnological potential; many thermostable proteins isolated from members of the genus Thermus are indispensable in research and in industrial applications. We present here the complete genome sequence of T. thermophilus HB27, the first for the genus Thermus. The genome consists of a 1,894,877 base pair chromosome and a 232,605 base pair megaplasmid, designated pTT27. The 2,218 identified putative genes were compared to those of the closest relative sequenced so far, the mesophilic bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans. Both organisms share a similar set of proteins, although their genomes lack extensive synteny. Many new genes of potential interest for biotechnological applications were found in T. thermophilus HB27. Candidates include various proteases and key enzymes of other fundamental biological processes such as DNA replication, DNA repair and RNA maturation.
Henne
Anke
A
Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, University of Göttingen, Germany. ahenne@g2l.bio.uni-goettingen.de
Brüggemann
Holger
H
Raasch
Carsten
C
Wiezer
Arnim
A
Hartsch
Thomas
T
Liesegang
Heiko
H
Johann
Andre
A
Lienard
Tanja
T
Gohl
Olivia
O
Martinez-Arias
Rosa
R
Jacobi
Carsten
C
Starkuviene
Vytaute
V
Schlenczeck
Silke
S
Dencker
Silke
S
Huber
Robert
R
Klenk
Hans-Peter
HP
Kramer
Wilfried
W
Merkl
Rainer
R
Gottschalk
Gerhard
G
Fritz
Hans-Joachim
HJ
D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000235:genetics*