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SUMMARY:Dehalococcoides Genome Biology
DTSTART:20081128T110000
DTSTAMP:20260407T045529Z
UID:4370a1ead079ff46fdd9d78c55fed4e081c197c768c35990aa24c163
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Alfred Spormann\, Stanford University (USA)\nVinyl chloride
  (monochloroethene) is a human carcinogen and widespread priority pollutan
 t associated with the commercial manufacture of some polymers as well as t
 he microbial degradation of the industrial solvents perchloroethene and tr
 ichloroethene. Microorganisms of the genus Dehalococcoides have been shown
  to use chloroethenes and other organochlorine compounds as terminal elect
 ron acceptor in respiration (dehalorespiration)\, thereby contributing to 
 bioremediation of contaminated sites. The first complete genome sequences 
 of microorganisms able to couple growth with the reduction of vinyl chlori
 de to ethene\, Dehalococcoides sp. strains VS and BAV1 will be discussed. 
 Comparative analyses of these genomes with two previously sequenced Dehalo
 coccoides genomes revealed a stable 'core' genome comprised of more than 7
 0% of all genes with high contextual conservation (synteny). This core gen
 ome is interrupted in two regions that have undergone multiple independent
  insertions\, deletions\, and rearrangements. These regions\, termed 'high
  plasticity region' (HPR)\, contain the majority of genomic islands (GEIs)
  in the four strains\, a significantly elevated number of repeated element
 s including insertion sequences (IS)\, as well as 95% of the genes encodin
 g the terminal reductases in dehalorespiration (rdhA). Notably\, strains V
 S and BAV1 harbor their respective vinyl chloride reductase encoding opero
 ns\, vcrABC and bvcAB\, in different genomic locations embedded in distinc
 t GEIs with different predicted integration sites. Together with unusual c
 odon usage bias\, this suggests not only that vinyl chloride respiration i
 s a horizontally acquired trait\, but also that these operons were acquire
 d independently and by different mechanisms. While the number of rdhA gene
  in the four genomes ranges from 11 in BAV1 to 36 in VS\, only three rdhA 
 orthologous groups were shared between the genomes\, and of these three\, 
 only one type was found within a conserved gene context (synteny). Horizon
 tal acquisition of novel rdhA genes is indicated for approximately one-thi
 rd of the 96 total rdhA genes in the four genomes and is likely a fundamen
 tal ecological strategy for niche adaptation in Dehalococccoides.
LOCATION:GR B3 30
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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