title: A Microbial Metagenome (Leucobacter sp.) in Caenorhabditis Whole Genome Sequences.
abstract: DNA of apparently recent bacterial origin is found in the genomic sequences of Caenorhabditis angaria and Caenorhabditis remanei. Here we present evidence that the DNA belongs to a single species of the genus Leucobacter (high-GC Gram+ Actinobacteria). Metagenomic tools enabled the assembly of the contaminating sequences in a draft genome of 3.2 Mb harboring 2,826 genes. This information provides insight into a microbial organism intimately associated with Caenorhabditis as well as a solid basis for the reassignment of 3,373 metazoan entries of the public database to a novel bacterial species (Leucobacter sp. AEAR). The application of metagenomic techniques can thus prevent annotation errors and reveal unexpected genetic information in data obtained by conventional genomics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Percudani
keywords: contamination in sequence database; host-microbe interactions; next-generation sequencing; organism identification in DNA sequences; purine degradation