Insights into Brevibacillus borstelensis AK1 through Whole Genome Sequencing: A Thermophilic Bacterium Isolated from a Hot Spring in Saudi Arabia.

Amjad B. Khalil,Muhammad Arslan,Neelamegam Sivakumar,Hamna Saleem,Sami Qarawi

doi:10.1155/2018/5862437

Abstract

Brevibacillus borstelensis AK1 is a thermophile which grows between the temperatures of 45°C and 70°C. The present study is an extended genome report of B. borstelensis AK1 along with the morphological characterization. The strain is isolated from a hot spring in Saudi Arabia (southeast of the city Gazan). It is observed that the strain AK1 is rod-shaped, motile, and strictly aerobic bacterium. The whole genome sequence resulted in 29 contigs with a total length of 5,155,092 bp. In total, 3,946 protein-coding genes and 139 RNA genes were identified. Comparison with the previously submitted strains of B. borstelensis strains illustrates that strain AK1 has a small genome size but high GC content. The strain possesses putative genes for degradation of a wide range of substrates including polyethylene (plastic) and long-chain hydrocarbons. These genomic features may be useful for future environmental/biotechnological applications.

Highlights

Thermophiles are a group of heat-loving microorganisms which have an optimum growth temperature of at least 50∘C [1]
We report the genomic insights of B. borstelensis strain AK1 that may help unravel the potential importance of the species in biotechnology
Phylogenetic analysis displayed that the strain was closely related to B. borstelensis AK2 and Brevibacillus sp

Summary

Introduction

Thermophiles are a group of heat-loving microorganisms which have an optimum growth temperature of at least 50∘C [1]. Many new strains were placed in the same group (e.g., B. brevis) including the strains that were not following the sensu stricto criteria that challenged the overall classification. This included discrepancies in maximum growth temperatures and a wide range of GC values, confirming B. brevis as a heterogeneous group [3, 4]. To resolve these ambiguities, a new genus named Brevibacillus was proposed in 1996 that resulted in reclassification of nearly 10 Bacillus species, based on 16S rDNA analysis [5, 6]. The genus Brevibacillus comprised environmental bacteria that have been observed in diverse habitats including agricultural soil, wastewaters, and hot springs [10, 11]

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