Abstract
Retting of bast fibres requires removal of pectin, hemicellulose and other non-cellulosic materials from plant stem tissues by a complex microbial community. A microbial retting consortium with high-efficiency pectinolytic bacterial strains is effective in reducing retting-time and enhancing fibre quality. We report comprehensive genomic analyses of three bacterial strains (PJRB 1, 2 and 3) of the consortium and resolve their taxonomic status, genomic features, variations, and pan-genome dynamics. The genome sizes of the strains are ~3.8 Mb with 3729 to 4002 protein-coding genes. Detailed annotations of the protein-coding genes revealed different carbohydrate-degrading CAZy classes viz. PL1, PL9, GH28, CE8, and CE12. Phylogeny and structural features of pectate lyase proteins of PJRB strains divulge their functional uniqueness and evolutionary convergence with closely related Bacillus strains. Genome-wide prediction of genomic variations revealed 12461 to 67381 SNPs, and notably many unique SNPs were localized within the important pectin metabolism genes. The variations in the pectate lyase genes possibly contribute to their specialized pectinolytic function during the retting process. These findings encompass a strong foundation for fundamental and evolutionary studies on this unique microbial degradation of decaying plant material with immense industrial significance. These have preponderant implications in plant biomass research and food industry, and also posit application in the reclamation of water pollution from plant materials.
Highlights
Microbial activities influence the quality of fibre in hemp, flax, ramie, kenaf and jute[2,3,4,5]
Reliable genome-level taxonomic resolution of PJRB strains in retting consortium, CRIJAF SONA
After Gram staining, the bacterial strains were observed as purple, rod-shaped cells under the compound light microscope indicating those are Gram-positive Bacilli (Fig. 1a–c)
Summary
Microbial activities influence the quality of fibre in hemp, flax, ramie, kenaf and jute[2,3,4,5]. Banik et al.[12] reported that the combined effects of urea and www.nature.com/scientificreports pectinolytic mixed bacterial culture reduced the retting time without explaining the role of enzymes involved. An effective microbial retting consortium (CRIJAF SONA) was commercialized and adopted on a large-scale among jute growers, to reduce retting-time and enhancing fibre quality[13,14]. Application of CRIJAF SONA consortium during retting reduced the retting duration of jute by 7 days, with improved fibre recovery and fibre quality i.e. colour, lustre, fibre strength (27.0–28.1 g/tex, fineness (2.7–2.8 tex) and fibre recovery by 13.8–15.24% over control. Verification of the functional uniqueness of these bacterial strains requires annotation of the complete set of genes, genomic variations, and specific gene analyses. We further inquired into the functional uniqueness of these bacterial strains through specific gene analyses and genomic variations
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