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Advances on Bacterial Genomics
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Advances on Bacterial Genomics

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 22447

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Anne M. Alvarez

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Plant & Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
Interests: bacterial classification and genomics; population diversity; serological and molecular diagnostics; epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mohammad Arif

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
Interests: bacterial genomics and evolution; microbiome; molecular plant-bacterial interactions; molecular diagnostics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Genome sequence-based investigations are emerging as a key area in bacterial research. Bacterial interactions with the host—and infection severity—depend on genome constituents. There has been a tremendous increase in bacterial genome-wide analyses. In this Special Issue, we intend to highlight the genome-wide analyses of pathogenicity determinants, CRISPR-Cas, type secretion systems, antimicrobial, EPS, and other important areas of genomics. Our aim is to provide a collection of manuscripts that describe the genomic biology and analyses of different bacterial pathogens. Research articles and reviews are invited.

Submissions on—but not limited to—the following topics are invited:

  • Genome-wide comparative genomics;
  • Bacterial phylogenomics, evolution, and speciation;
  • Functional genomics;
  • Analyses of pathogenicity determinants and CRISPR cas;
  • Genome-informed molecular diagnostics.

Prof. Dr. Anne M. Alvarez
Dr. Mohammad Arif
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Comparative genomics
  • Genomic evolution
  • Phylogenomics
  • Pathogenicity determinanats
  • CRISPR cas
  • Type secretion systems
  • Bacterial speciation
  • Functional genomics
  • Genome-informaed diagnostics

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2007 KiB  
Article
Functional Characterization of Multiple Ehrlichia chaffeensis Sodium (Cation)/Proton Antiporter Genes Involved in the Bacterial pH Homeostasis
by Lanjing Wei, Huitao Liu, Kimia Alizadeh, Maria D. Juarez-Rodriguez and Roman R. Ganta
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(16), 8420; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22168420 - 05 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1753
Abstract
Ehrlichia chaffeensis causes human monocytic ehrlichiosis. Little is known about how this and other related tick-borne rickettsia pathogens maintain pH homeostasis in acidified phagosomes and the extracellular milieu. The membrane-bound sodium (cation)/proton antiporters are found in a wide range of organisms aiding pH [...] Read more.
Ehrlichia chaffeensis causes human monocytic ehrlichiosis. Little is known about how this and other related tick-borne rickettsia pathogens maintain pH homeostasis in acidified phagosomes and the extracellular milieu. The membrane-bound sodium (cation)/proton antiporters are found in a wide range of organisms aiding pH homeostasis. We recently reported a mutation in an antiporter gene of E. chaffeensis (ECH_0379) which causes bacterial in vivo attenuation. The E. chaffeensis genome contains 10 protein coding sequences encoding for predicted antiporters. We report here that nine of these genes are transcribed during the bacterial growth in macrophages and tick cells. All E. chaffeensis antiporter genes functionally complemented antiporter deficient Escherichia coli. Antiporter activity for all predicted E. chaffeensis genes was observed at pH 5.5, while gene products of ECH_0179 and ECH_0379 were also active at pH 8.0, and ECH_0179 protein was complemented at pH 7.0. The antiporter activity was independently verified for the ECH_0379 protein by proteoliposome diffusion analysis. This is the first description of antiporters in E. chaffeensis and demonstrates that the pathogen contains multiple antiporters with varying biological functions, which are likely important for the pH homeostasis of the pathogen’s replicating and infectious forms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Bacterial Genomics)
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22 pages, 2834 KiB  
Article
Pectobacterium parmentieri SCC 3193 Mutants with Altered Synthesis of Cell Surface Polysaccharides Are Resistant to N4-Like Lytic Bacteriophage ϕA38 (vB_Ppp_A38) but Express Decreased Virulence in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Plants
by Przemyslaw Bartnik, Sylwia Jafra, Magdalena Narajczyk, Paulina Czaplewska and Robert Czajkowski
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(14), 7346; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22147346 - 08 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2935
Abstract
Pectobacterium parmentieri is a Gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacterium able to infect potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Little is known about lytic bacteriophages infecting P. parmentieri and how phage-resistance influences the environmental fitness and virulence of this species. A lytic phage vB_Ppp_A38 (ϕA38) has been [...] Read more.
Pectobacterium parmentieri is a Gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacterium able to infect potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Little is known about lytic bacteriophages infecting P. parmentieri and how phage-resistance influences the environmental fitness and virulence of this species. A lytic phage vB_Ppp_A38 (ϕA38) has been previously isolated and characterized as a potential biological control agent for the management of P. parmentieri. In this study, seven P. parmentieri SCC 3193 Tn5 mutants were identified that exhibited resistance to infection caused by vB_Ppp_A38 (ϕA38). The genes disrupted in these seven mutants encoded proteins involved in the assembly of O-antigen, sugar metabolism, and the production of bacterial capsule exopolysaccharides. The potential of A38-resistant P. parmentieri mutants for plant colonization and pathogenicity as well as other phenotypes expected to contribute to the ecological fitness of P. parmentieri, including growth rate, use of carbon and nitrogen sources, production of pectinolytic enzymes, proteases, cellulases, and siderophores, swimming and swarming motility, presence of capsule and flagella as well as the ability to form biofilm were assessed. Compared to the wild-type P. parmentieri strain, all phage-resistant mutants exhibited a reduced ability to colonize and to cause symptoms in growing potato (S. tuberosum L.) plants. The implications of bacteriophage resistance on the ecological fitness of P. parmentieri are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Bacterial Genomics)
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21 pages, 1502 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Analyses of the Temperature-Responsive Genetic Loci of the Pectinolytic Plant Pathogenic Pectobacterium atrosepticum
by Natalia Kaczynska, Ewa Lojkowska, Magdalena Narajczyk and Robert Czajkowski
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(9), 4839; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22094839 - 03 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2287
Abstract
Temperature is one of the critical factors affecting gene expression in bacteria. Despite the general interest in the link between bacterial phenotypes and environmental temperature, little is known about temperature-dependent gene expression in plant pathogenic Pectobacterium atrosepticum, a causative agent of potato [...] Read more.
Temperature is one of the critical factors affecting gene expression in bacteria. Despite the general interest in the link between bacterial phenotypes and environmental temperature, little is known about temperature-dependent gene expression in plant pathogenic Pectobacterium atrosepticum, a causative agent of potato blackleg and tuber soft rot worldwide. In this study, twenty-nine P. atrosepticum SCRI1043 thermoregulated genes were identified using Tn5-based transposon mutagenesis coupled with an inducible promotorless gusA gene as a reporter. From the pool of 29 genes, 14 were up-regulated at 18 °C, whereas 15 other genes were up-regulated at 28 °C. Among the thermoregulated loci, genes involved in primary bacterial metabolism, membrane-related proteins, fitness-corresponding factors, and several hypothetical proteins were found. The Tn5 mutants were tested for their pathogenicity in planta and for features that are likely to remain important for the pathogen to succeed in the (plant) environment. Five Tn5 mutants expressed visible phenotypes differentiating these mutants from the phenotype of the SCRI1043 wild-type strain. The gene disruptions in the Tn5 transposon mutants caused alterations in bacterial generation time, ability to form a biofilm, production of lipopolysaccharides, and virulence on potato tuber slices. The consequences of environmental temperature on the ability of P. atrosepticum to cause disease symptoms in potato are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Bacterial Genomics)
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14 pages, 2421 KiB  
Article
Growth by Insertion: The Family of Bacterial DDxP Proteins
by Pierpaolo Di Nocera and Eliana De Gregorio
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(23), 9184; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms21239184 - 02 Dec 2020
Viewed by 1500
Abstract
We have identified a variety of proteins in species of the Legionella, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, Variovorax, Halomonas, and Rhizobia genera, which feature repetitive modules of different length and composition, invariably ending at the COOH side with Asp–Asp–x–Pro (DDxP) motifs. DDxP proteins [...] Read more.
We have identified a variety of proteins in species of the Legionella, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, Variovorax, Halomonas, and Rhizobia genera, which feature repetitive modules of different length and composition, invariably ending at the COOH side with Asp–Asp–x–Pro (DDxP) motifs. DDxP proteins range in size from 900 to 6200 aa (amino acids), and contain 1 to 5 different module types, present in one or multiple copies. We hypothesize that DDxP proteins were modeled by the action of specific endonucleases inserting DNA segments into genes encoding DDxP motifs. Target site duplications (TSDs) formed upon repair of staggered ends generated by endonuclease cleavage would explain the DDxP motifs at repeat ends. TSDs acted eventually as targets for the insertion of more modules of the same or different types. Repeat clusters plausibly resulted from amplification of both repeat and flanking TSDs. The proposed growth shown by the insertion model is supported by the identification of homologous proteins lacking repeats in Pseudomonas and Rhizobium. The 85 DDxP repeats identified in this work vary in length, and can be sorted into short (136–215 aa) and long (243–304 aa) types. Conserved Asp–Gly–Asp–Gly–Asp motifs are located 11–19 aa from the terminal DDxP motifs in all repeats, and far upstream in most long repeats. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Bacterial Genomics)
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18 pages, 2605 KiB  
Article
An Earliest Endosymbiont, Wolbachia massiliensis sp. nov., Strain PL13 from the Bed Bug (Cimex hemipterus), Type Strain of a New Supergroup T
by Younes Laidoudi, Anthony Levasseur, Hacène Medkour, Mossaab Maaloum, Mariem Ben Khedher, Masse Sambou, Hubert Bassene, Bernard Davoust, Florence Fenollar, Didier Raoult and Oleg Mediannikov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(21), 8064; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms21218064 - 29 Oct 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4376
Abstract
The symbiotic Wolbachia are the most sophisticated mutualistic bacterium among all insect-associated microbiota. Wolbachia-insect relationship fluctuates from the simple facultative/parasitic to an obligate nutritional-mutualistic association as it was the case of the bedbug-Wolbachia from Cimexlectularius. Understanding this association may [...] Read more.
The symbiotic Wolbachia are the most sophisticated mutualistic bacterium among all insect-associated microbiota. Wolbachia-insect relationship fluctuates from the simple facultative/parasitic to an obligate nutritional-mutualistic association as it was the case of the bedbug-Wolbachia from Cimexlectularius. Understanding this association may help in the control of associated arthropods. Genomic data have proven to be reliable tools in resolving some aspects of these symbiotic associations. Although, Wolbachia appear to be fastidious or uncultivated bacteria which strongly limited their study. Here we proposed Drosophila S2 cell line for the isolation and culture model to study Wolbachia strains. We therefore isolated and characterized a novel Wolbachia strain associated with the bedbug Cimexhemipterus, designated as wChem strain PL13, and proposed Wolbachiamassiliensis sp. nov. strain wChem-PL13 a type strain of this new species from new supergroup T. Phylogenetically, T-supergroup was close to F and S-supergroups from insects and D-supergroup from filarial nematodes. We determined the 1,291,339-bp genome of wChem-PL13, which was the smallest insect-associated Wolbachia genomes. Overall, the wChem genome shared 50% of protein coding genes with the other insect-associated facultative Wolbachia strains. These findings highlight the diversity of Wolbachia genotypes as well as the Wolbachia-host relationship among Cimicinae subfamily. The wChem provides folate and riboflavin vitamins on which the host depends, while the bacteria had a limited translation mechanism suggesting its strong dependence to its hosts. However, the clear-cut distinction between mutualism and parasitism of the wChem in C. hemipterus cannot be yet ruled out. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Bacterial Genomics)
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23 pages, 2134 KiB  
Review
Brucella Genomics: Macro and Micro Evolution
by Marcela Suárez-Esquivel, Esteban Chaves-Olarte, Edgardo Moreno and Caterina Guzmán-Verri
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(20), 7749; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21207749 - 20 Oct 2020
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 8753
Abstract
Brucella organisms are responsible for one of the most widespread bacterial zoonoses, named brucellosis. The disease affects several species of animals, including humans. One of the most intriguing aspects of the brucellae is that the various species show a ~97% similarity at the [...] Read more.
Brucella organisms are responsible for one of the most widespread bacterial zoonoses, named brucellosis. The disease affects several species of animals, including humans. One of the most intriguing aspects of the brucellae is that the various species show a ~97% similarity at the genome level. Still, the distinct Brucella species display different host preferences, zoonotic risk, and virulence. After 133 years of research, there are many aspects of the Brucella biology that remain poorly understood, such as host adaptation and virulence mechanisms. A strategy to understand these characteristics focuses on the relationship between the genomic diversity and host preference of the various Brucella species. Pseudogenization, genome reduction, single nucleotide polymorphism variation, number of tandem repeats, and mobile genetic elements are unveiled markers for host adaptation and virulence. Understanding the mechanisms of genome variability in the Brucella genus is relevant to comprehend the emergence of pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances on Bacterial Genomics)
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