Abstract
Methanobrevibacter arboriphilus strain DH1 is an autotrophic methanogen that was isolated from the wetwood of methane-emitting trees. This species has been of considerable interest for its unusual oxygen tolerance and has been studied as a model organism for more than four decades. Strain DH1 is closely related to other host-associated Methanobrevibacter species from intestinal tracts of animals and the rumen, making this strain an interesting candidate for comparative analysis to identify factors important for colonizing intestinal environments. Here, the genome sequence of M. arboriphilus strain DH1 is reported. The draft genome is composed of 2.445.031 bp with an average GC content of 25.44% and predicted to harbour 1964 protein-encoding genes. Among the predicted genes, there are also more than 50 putative genes for the so-called adhesin-like proteins (ALPs). The presence of ALP-encoding genes in the genome of this non-host-associated methanogen strongly suggests that target surfaces for ALPs other than host tissues also need to be considered as potential interaction partners. The high abundance of ALPs may also indicate that these types of proteins are more characteristic for specific phylogenetic groups of methanogens rather than being indicative for a particular environment the methanogens thrives in.
Highlights
Methanogenic archaea comprise a phylogenetically diverse group of microorganisms that can grow in a wide variety of different anoxic environments, such as sediments or the intestinal tracts of animals and humans
Previous studies have shown that the methanogen communities in the rumens of cattle and sheep are dominated by two different Methanobrevibacter species, M. gottschalkii and M. ruminantium [4, 5], while microbiota analyses of the human gut revealed that M. smithii is the predominant methanogen in this habitat [6,7,8]
The Methanobrevibacter arboriphilus strain DH1 draft genome has been assembled into 40 contigs (>500 bp), with a N50 of 111,976 bp
Summary
Methanogenic archaea (methanogens) comprise a phylogenetically diverse group of microorganisms that can grow in a wide variety of different anoxic environments, such as sediments or the intestinal tracts of animals and humans. The energy metabolism of the two different types of methanogens, those that contain and those that lack cytochromes, has been investigated in detail [1]; it remains poorly understood how methanogens respond to some specific environmental stimuli or how they physically interact with their environment The latter is of particular interest for members of the genus Methanobrevibacter of the order Methanobacteriales. The growing number of sequenced Methanobrevibacter genomes allows performing comparative genome analysis in order to identify traits in strains and species that have adapted to a specific environment It must be noted, that all of these genomes have been derived from methanogens that are associated either with the human or animal intestinal tract
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