title: The genome sequence of the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, University of Göttingen, Germany. ahenne@g2l.bio.uni-goettingen.de
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henne
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brüggemann
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raasch
authors.forename: Arnim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiezer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hartsch
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liesegang
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johann
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lienard
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gohl
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martinez-Arias
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacobi
authors.forename: Vytaute
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Starkuviene
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schlenczeck
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dencker
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Klenk
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Merkl
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
authors.forename: Hans-Joachim
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Fritz
mesh_terms: D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000235:genetics*