Complete Genome Sequence of Geobacillus strain Y4.1MC1, a Novel CO-Utilizing Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius Strain Isolated from Bath Hot Spring in Yellowstone National Park

Phillip Brumm,Miriam L Land,Loren J Hauser,Yun-Juan Chang,Cynthia D Jeffries,David A Mead

doi:10.1007/s12155-015-9585-2

Abstract

Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius Y4.1MC1 was isolated from a boiling spring in the lower geyser basin of Yellowstone National Park. This species is of interest because of its metabolic versatility. The genome consists of one circular chromosome of 3,840,330 bp and a circular plasmid of 71,617 bp with an average GC content of 44.01 %. The genome is available in the GenBank database (NC_014650.1 and NC_014651.1). In addition to the expected metabolic pathways for sugars and amino acids, the Y4.1MC1 genome codes for two separate carbon monoxide utilization pathways, an aerobic oxidation pathway and an anaerobic reductive acetyl CoA (Wood-Ljungdahl) pathway. This is the first report of a non-anaerobic organism with the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. This anaerobic pathway permits the strain to utilize H2 and fix CO2 present in the hot spring environment. Y4.1MC1 and its related species may play a significant role in carbon capture and sequestration in thermophilic ecosystems and may open up new routes to produce biofuels and chemicals from CO, H2, and CO2.

Highlights

Microbial consortia found in hot springs utilize carbon monoxide to obtain energy and fix carbon
G. thermoglucosidasius Y4.1MC1 (Y4MC1) is one of a number of novel thermophilic species isolated from 88 °C water in the northern outflow channel of Bath hot spring in Yellowstone National Park under a sampling permit from the National Park Service
G. thermoglucosidasius Y4.1MC1 is a unique species, a facultative anaerobe capable of both aerobic and anaerobic oxidation of carbon monoxide. This is the first report of a facultative anaerobic thermophile possessing the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway

Summary

Introduction

Microbial consortia found in hot springs utilize carbon monoxide to obtain energy and fix carbon (reviewed in [1, 2]). The microbes of these consortia utilize the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, a pathway distinct from the one utilized by the aerobic organisms that oxidize CO with molecular oxygen [3, 4]. We report the genome sequence of the first facultative anaerobe, a member of the genus Geobacillus, with the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. This organism possesses the aerobic CO oxidation pathway, a truly unusual occurrence

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