MiSeq Illumina shotgun sequencing technology was used to sequence two Lactobacillus casei strains, designated strains GCRL 163 and MJA 12. The estimated genome sizes for GCRL 163 and MJA 12 were 2.9 Mb and 3.1 Mb, with 46.35% and 46.31% GC contents, respectively.

Bacteria containing mycolic acids in their cell envelope are often recalcitrant to cell lysis, so extracting DNA of sufficient quality for third-generation sequencing and high-fidelity genome assembly requires optimization, even when using commercial kits with protocols for hard-to-lyse bacteria. We benchmarked three spin-column-based kits against a classical DNA extraction method employing lysozyme, proteinase K and SDS for six lysozyme-resistant, sub-Antarctic strains of Corynebaceriales. Prior cultivation in broths containing glycine at highly growth-inhibitory concentrations (4.0–4.5%) improved cell lysis using both classical and kit methods. The classical method produced DNA with average fragment sizes of 27–59 Kbp and tight fragment size ranges, meeting quality standards for genome sequencing, assembly and phylogenomic analyses. By 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we classified two strains as Williamsia and four strains as Rhodococcus species. Pairwise comparison of average nucleotide identity (ANI) and alignment fraction (AF), plus genome clustering analysis, confirmed Rhodococcus sp. 1163 and 1168 and Williamsia sp. 1135 and 1138 as novel species. Phylogenetic, lipidomic and biochemical analyses classified psychrotrophic strains 1139 and 1159 as R. qingshengii and R. erythropolis, respectively, using ANI similarity of >98% and AF >60% for species delineation. On this basis, some members of the R. erythropolis genome cluster groups, including strains currently named as R. enclensis, R. baikonurensis, R. opacus and R. rhodochrous, would be reclassified either as R. erythropolis or R. qingshengii.

The research was undertaken to know the effects of different level of sugar and mixed culture on qualitative characteristics of dahi. Milk samples were collected and boiled to reduce the 20% of their volume and divided into four portions after boiling. Sugar was added at 8, 10, 12 and 14% of of milk and boiled again for a while. After boiling milk samples were cooled down to 37°C and 1, 2, 3 and 4% mixed culture was added in each of the four level sugar added milk. The combination of 4 × 4 = 16 samples were prepared and were incubated at 37°C in an incubator until coagulation. From the organoleptic evaluation it was found that dahi samples prepared by adding 10 and 12% sugar level obtained more score then that of the 8 and 14% sugar added dahi samples. Culture level and sugar level both had influence on coagulation time. Coagulation time was less when low sugar and high level of culture was used, on the other hand coagulation time was more when high level sugar and low level culture was used. Chemical analysis showed that total solids and solids-not-fat, protein, carbohydrates content of dahi samples were significantly increased due to the increased level of sugar and culture. But on other parameters effects of sugar and culture were not appreciable. It was concluded that sugar level and culture level both can changes the quality of dahi samples. A combination of 10% sugar with 2% culture and 12% sugar with 3% culture was found appropriate for dahi making. Keywords: Misti Dahi; Starter Culture; Manufacture DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v8i2.7933 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 8(2): 245-252, 2010

The draft genome sequences of three sub-Antarctic Rhodococcus sp. strains—1159, 1163, and 1168—are reported here. The estimated genome sizes were 7.09 Mb with a 62.3% GC content for strain 1159, 4.45 Mb with a 62.3% GC content for strain 1163, and 5.06 Mb with a 62.10% GC content for strain 1168.

The draft genome sequence of subantarctic Rhodococcus sp. strain 1139 is reported here. The genome size is 7.04 Mb with high G+C content (62.3%) and it contains a large number of genes involved in lipid synthesis. This lipid synthesis system is characteristic of oleaginous Actinobacteria, which are of interest for biofuel production.