TY - JOUR

T1 - The genome sequence of Geobacter metallireducens

T2 - Features of metabolism, physiology and regulation common and dissimilar to Geobacter sulfurreducens

AU - Aklujkar, Muktak

AU - Krushkal, Julia

AU - Dibartolo, Genevieve

AU - Lapidus, Alla

AU - Land, Miriam L.

AU - Lovley, Derek R.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Maddalena Coppi, Jessica Butler, Ned Young, Mounir Izallalen and Radhakrishnan Mahadevan for helpful discussions. We also thank Jose F. Barbe and Marko Puljic for technical assistance. This research was supported by the Office of Science (Biological and Environmental Research), U.S. Department of Energy (Grant No. DE-FC02-02ER63446).

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - Background. The genome sequence of Geobacter metallireducens is the second to be completed from the metal-respiring genus Geobacter, and is compared in this report to that of Geobacter sulfurreducens in order to understand their metabolic, physiological and regulatory similarities and differences. Results. The experimentally observed greater metabolic versatility of G. metallireducens versus G. sulfurreducens is borne out by the presence of more numerous genes for metabolism of organic acids including acetate, propionate, and pyruvate. Although G. metallireducens lacks a dicarboxylic acid transporter, it has acquired a second putative succinate dehydrogenase/fumarate reductase complex, suggesting that respiration of fumarate was important until recently in its evolutionary history. Vestiges of the molybdate (ModE) regulon of G. sulfurreducens can be detected in G. metallireducens, which has lost the global regulatory protein ModE but retained some putative ModE-binding sites and multiplied certain genes of molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis. Several enzymes of amino acid metabolism are of different origin in the two species, but significant patterns of gene organization are conserved. Whereas most Geobacteraceae are predicted to obtain biosynthetic reducing equivalents from electron transfer pathways via a ferredoxin oxidoreductase, G. metallireducens can derive them from the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. In addition to the evidence of greater metabolic versatility, the G. metallireducens genome is also remarkable for the abundance of multicopy nucleotide sequences found in intergenic regions and even within genes. Conclusion. The genomic evidence suggests that metabolism, physiology and regulation of gene expression in G. metallireducens may be dramatically different from other Geobacteraceae.

AB - Background. The genome sequence of Geobacter metallireducens is the second to be completed from the metal-respiring genus Geobacter, and is compared in this report to that of Geobacter sulfurreducens in order to understand their metabolic, physiological and regulatory similarities and differences. Results. The experimentally observed greater metabolic versatility of G. metallireducens versus G. sulfurreducens is borne out by the presence of more numerous genes for metabolism of organic acids including acetate, propionate, and pyruvate. Although G. metallireducens lacks a dicarboxylic acid transporter, it has acquired a second putative succinate dehydrogenase/fumarate reductase complex, suggesting that respiration of fumarate was important until recently in its evolutionary history. Vestiges of the molybdate (ModE) regulon of G. sulfurreducens can be detected in G. metallireducens, which has lost the global regulatory protein ModE but retained some putative ModE-binding sites and multiplied certain genes of molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis. Several enzymes of amino acid metabolism are of different origin in the two species, but significant patterns of gene organization are conserved. Whereas most Geobacteraceae are predicted to obtain biosynthetic reducing equivalents from electron transfer pathways via a ferredoxin oxidoreductase, G. metallireducens can derive them from the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. In addition to the evidence of greater metabolic versatility, the G. metallireducens genome is also remarkable for the abundance of multicopy nucleotide sequences found in intergenic regions and even within genes. Conclusion. The genomic evidence suggests that metabolism, physiology and regulation of gene expression in G. metallireducens may be dramatically different from other Geobacteraceae.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67650590854&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1186/1471-2180-9-109

DO - 10.1186/1471-2180-9-109

M3 - Article

C2 - 19473543

AN - SCOPUS:67650590854

VL - 9

JO - BMC Microbiology

JF - BMC Microbiology

SN - 1471-2180

M1 - 109

ER -