Genomic characterization of theBacillus cereussensu lato species: Backdrop to the evolution ofBacillus anthracis

Abstract

The key genes required for Bacillus anthracis to cause anthrax have been acquired recently by horizontal gene transfer. To understand the genetic background for the evolution of B. anthracis virulence, we obtained high-redundancy genome sequences of 45 strains of the Bacillus cereus sensu lato (s.l.) species that were chosen for their genetic diversity within the species based on the existing multilocus sequence typing scheme. From the resulting data, we called more than 324,000 new genes representing more than 12,333 new gene families for this group. The core genome size for the B. cereus s.l. group was ∼1750 genes, with another 2150 genes found in almost every genome constituting the extended core. There was a paucity of genes specific and conserved in any clade. We found no evidence of recent large-scale gene loss in B. anthracis or for unusual accumulation of nonsynonymous DNA substitutions in the chromosome; however, several B. cereus genomes isolated from soil and not previously associated with human disease were degraded to various degrees. Although B. anthracis has undergone an ecological shift within the species, its chromosome does not appear to be exceptional on a macroscopic scale compared with close relatives.

Pseudomycoicidin, a Class II Lantibiotic from Bacillus pseudomycoides

“…The genome of the producer strain has been deposited in NCBI as a scaffold of 305 contigs (28). According to the NCBI entry, this sequence is located right at the 5= end of contig00045, which is separated by a gap from contig00074 (accession no.…”

“…Information on the lantibiotic gene cluster of Bacillus pseudomycoides was accessed via the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI; http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi) under the accession numbers CM000745 and ACMX01000000 (28). Subcellular localizations of the proteins were predicted using the online tool CELLOv.2.5 (subCELlular LOcalization predictor; http://cello.life .nctu.edu.tw/).…”

Bacteria Are Smartphones and Mobile Genes Are Apps

“…Of course, every strain has an array of other accessory modules for resistance, catabolism, etc., and if these were the focus of interest then biovars could be defined for these, too: each strain can belong to multiple biovars. This approach can readily be extended to other phenotypes in other bacteria, such as the very different pathogenicity phenotypes of the anthracis and thuringiensis biovars of Bacillus cereus [10], as we have argued elsewhere [3]. In a recent population genomics study, a previously unsuspected module for adaptation to serpentine soil was identified in Mesorhizobium by a genome-wide association approach [11].…”

Differentiation of Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus, and B. thuringiensis on the Basis of the csaB Gene Reflects Host Source

“…Bacillus cytotoxicus NVH 391-98, which was isolated from an outbreak of food poisoning (17), and B. cereus BAG5X-1, which was isolated from soil, are not related to the two groups. Other methods also identified the former strain as an outlier (18).…”