title: Life in an arsenic-containing gold mine: genome and physiology of the autotrophic arsenite-oxidizing bacterium rhizobium sp. NT-26.
abstract: Arsenic is widespread in the environment and its presence is a result of natural or anthropogenic activities. Microbes have developed different mechanisms to deal with toxic compounds such as arsenic and this is to resist or metabolize the compound. Here, we present the first reference set of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data of an Alphaproteobacterium isolated from an arsenic-containing goldmine: Rhizobium sp. NT-26. Although phylogenetically related to the plant-associated bacteria, this organism has lost the major colonizing capabilities needed for symbiosis with legumes. In contrast, the genome of Rhizobium sp. NT-26 comprises a megaplasmid containing the various genes, which enable it to metabolize arsenite. Remarkably, although the genes required for arsenite oxidation and flagellar motility/biofilm formation are carried by the megaplasmid and the chromosome, respectively, a coordinate regulation of these two mechanisms was observed. Taken together, these processes illustrate the impact environmental pressure can have on the evolution of bacterial genomes, improving the fitness of bacterial strains by the acquisition of novel functions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique et Microbiologie, UMR7156 CNRS Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Jérémy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andres
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arsène-Ploetze
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barbe
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brochier-Armanet
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cleiss-Arnold
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Coppée
authors.forename: Marie-Agnès
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dillies
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geist
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joublin
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koechler
authors.forename: Florent
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lassalle
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marchal
authors.forename: Claudine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Médigue
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nesme
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Plewniak
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Proux
authors.forename: Martha Helena
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Bahena
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schenowitz
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sismeiro
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vallenet
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Santini
authors.forename: Philippe N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Bertin
mesh_terms: D018053:Arsenites / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D052818:Autotrophic Processes; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018053:Arsenites; D006046:Gold; C015001:arsenite
keywords: Rhizobium/Agrobacterium; arsenic metabolism; motility/biofilm; phylogeny; rhizosphere; transcriptomics/proteomics