Genomic Features for Desiccation Tolerance and Sugar Biosynthesis in the Extremophile Gloeocapsopsis sp. UTEX B3054
Name
fmicb-10-00950.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.66 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4aacd20308d7c4dcf7fdf9fc547fbe1f
Author(s)
Urrejola, Catalina
Alcorta, Jaime
Salas, Loreto
Vásquez, Mónica
Polz, Martin F
Vicuña, Rafael
Díez, Beatriz
Date Issued
May 2019
Journal
Frontiers in Microbiology
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Citation
Urrejola, Catalina et al. "Genomic Features for Desiccation Tolerance and Sugar Biosynthesis in the Extremophile Gloeocapsopsis sp. UTEX B3054." Frontiers in Microbiology 10 (May 2019): 950 © 2019 Frontiers Media
Version
Final published version
Abstract
For tolerating extreme desiccation, cyanobacteria are known to produce both compatible solutes at intracellular level and a copious amount of exopolysaccharides as a protective coat. However, these molecules make cyanobacterial cells refractory to a broad spectrum of cell disruption methods, hindering genome sequencing, and molecular studies. In fact, few genomes are already available from cyanobacteria from extremely desiccated environments such as deserts. In this work, we report the 5.4 Mbp draft genome (with 100% of completeness in 105 contigs) of Gloeocapsopsis sp. UTEX B3054 (subsection I; Order Chroococcales), a cultivable sugar-rich and hardly breakable hypolithic cyanobacterium from the Atacama Desert. Our in silico analyses focused on genomic features related to sugar-biosynthesis and adaptation to dryness. Among other findings, screening of Gloeocapsopsis genome revealed a unique genetic potential related to the biosynthesis and regulation of compatible solutes and polysaccharides. For instance, our findings showed for the first time a novel genomic arrangement exclusive of Chroococcaceae cyanobacteria associated with the recycling of trehalose, a compatible solute involved in desiccation tolerance. Additionally, we performed a comparative genome survey and analyses to entirely predict the highly diverse pool of glycosyltransferases enzymes, key players in polysaccharide biosynthesis and the formation of a protective coat to dryness. We expect that this work will set the fundamental genomic framework for further research on microbial tolerance to desiccation and to a wide range of other extreme environmental conditions. The study of microorganisms like Gloeocapsopsis sp. UTEX B3054 will contribute to expand our limited understanding regarding water optimization and molecular mechanisms allowing extremophiles to thrive in xeric environments such as the Atacama Desert.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00950
