title: Novel integrons and gene cassettes from a Cascadian submarine gas-hydrate-bearing core.
abstract: To determine whether integrons are present in a submarine gas hydrate community, metagenomic DNA was extracted from a gas-hydrate-bearing core, 150 m below the seafloor, from the Cascadian Margin. Integrons and gene cassettes were recovered by PCR from metagenomic DNA and sequenced. Thirty-seven integron integrase phylotypes were identified. The phylotypes were diverse and included members with homology to integrases from Methylomonas methanica, Desulfuromonas acetoxidans, Thermodesulfatator indicus, and marine uncultured bacteria. The gene cassette composition, 153 gene cassettes, was dominated by two types of encoded putative proteins. The first of these was predicted oxidoreductases, such as iron/sulfur cluster-binding proteins. A second type was alkyl transferases. Some cassette proteins showed homologies with those from methane-related archaea. These observations suggest that integrons may assist in the adaptation of microbial communities in this environment.
authors.affiliation: Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST, Tsukuba, Japan; Genetics and Biotechnology Research Group, National Institute of Oceanography, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hosam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elsaied
authors.forename: Hatch W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.forename: Hideyoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mitani
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maruyama
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D019766:Genes, Archaeal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics; D032023:Integrons / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D019426:Integrases
keywords: deep submarine gas hydrate; diversity; gene cassettes; integrons; lateral cassette gene transfer; structure