Genome sequence of Azotobacter vinelandii, an obligate aerobe specialized to support diverse anaerobic metabolic processes.
Azotobacter vinelandii is a soil bacterium related to the Pseudomonas genus that fixes nitrogen under aerobic conditions while simultaneously protecting nitrogenase from oxygen damage. In response to carbon availability, this organism undergoes a simple differentiation process to form cysts that are resistant to drought and other physical and chemical agents. Here we report the complete genome sequence of A. vinelandii DJ, which has a single circular genome of 5,365,318 bp. In order to reconcile an obligate aerobic lifestyle with exquisitely oxygen-sensitive processes, A. vinelandii is specialized in terms of its complement of respiratory proteins. It is able to produce alginate, a polymer that further protects the organism from excess exogenous oxygen, and it has multiple duplications of alginate modification genes, which may alter alginate composition in response to oxygen availability. The genome analysis identified the chromosomal locations of the genes coding for the three known oxygen-sensitive nitrogenases, as well as genes coding for other oxygen-sensitive enzymes, such as carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and formate dehydrogenase. These findings offer new prospects for the wider application of A. vinelandii as a host for the production and characterization of oxygen-sensitive proteins.
Setubal
João C
JC
Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. setubal@vbi.vt.edu
dos Santos
Patricia
P
Goldman
Barry S
BS
Ertesvåg
Helga
H
Espin
Guadelupe
G
Rubio
Luis M
LM
Valla
Svein
S
Almeida
Nalvo F
NF
Balasubramanian
Divya
D
Cromes
Lindsey
L
Curatti
Leonardo
L
Du
Zijin
Z
Godsy
Eric
E
Goodner
Brad
B
Hellner-Burris
Kaitlyn
K
Hernandez
José A
JA
Houmiel
Katherine
K
Imperial
Juan
J
Kennedy
Christina
C
Larson
Timothy J
TJ
Latreille
Phil
P
Ligon
Lauren S
LS
Lu
Jing
J
Maerk
Mali
M
Miller
Nancy M
NM
Norton
Stacie
S
O'Carroll
Ina P
IP
Paulsen
Ian
I
Raulfs
Estella C
EC
Roemer
Rebecca
R
Rosser
James
J
Segura
Daniel
D
Slater
Steve
S
Stricklin
Shawn L
SL
Studholme
David J
DJ
Sun
Jian
J
Viana
Carlos J
CJ
Wallin
Erik
E
Wang
Baomin
B
Wheeler
Cathy
C
Zhu
Huijun
H
Dean
Dennis R
DR
Dixon
Ray
R
Wood
Derek
D
D016948:Azotobacter vinelandii / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008660:Metabolism / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial