title: Mycobacterium smegmatis genomic characteristics associated with its saprophyte lifestyle.
abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a great threat to global public health. The high biosafety level III required to tackle its causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis seriously hinders the exploration of its biology and new countermeasures. M. smegmatis is a widely recognized good surrogate of M. tuberculosis, largely due to their conserved transcriptional machinery, sigma factors, and two-component systems. However, their distinct lifestyles often confound the explanation of the results. M. tuberculosis leads both parasitic and free life, while M. smegmatis is largely saprophyte. To make full advantage of this model, it is helpful to discover the genome features associated with M. smegmatis unique niches, such as its saprophytic life, high salt tolerance, and relative short generation time. We employed the gene ontology enrichment analysis to characterize the unique lifestyle of M. smegmatis. Gene ontology enrichment analysis provided 12 terms; most are relevant to the special lifestyle of M. smegmatis, especially the saprophytic niche, high salt tolerance adaptation, and short generation time. In-depth functional characterization of these genes will shed new lights on the genetic basis of M. smegmatis saprophytic life and hasten the understanding of the unique biology of M. tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Quanxin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008954:Models, Biological; D020102:Mycobacterium smegmatis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D045542:PQQ Cofactor / Q000378:metabolism; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D045542:PQQ Cofactor