OPPORTUNITIES FOR GENETIC INVESTIGATION AFFORDED BYACINETOBACTER BAYLYI, A NUTRITIONALLY VERSATILE BACTERIAL SPECIES THAT IS HIGHLY COMPETENT FOR NATURAL TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

The genetic and physiological properties of Acinetobacter baylyi strain ADP1 make it an inviting subject for investigation of the properties underlying its nutritional versatility. The organism possesses a relatively small genome in which genes for most catabolic functions are clustered in several genetic islands that, unlike pathogenicity islands, give little evidence of horizontal transfer. Coupling mutagenic polymerase chain reaction to natural transformation provides insight into how structure influences function in transporters, transcriptional regulators, and enzymes. With appropriate selection, mutants in which such molecules have acquired novel function may be obtained. The extraordinary competence of A. baylyi for natural transformation and the ease with which it expresses heterologous genes make it a promising platform for construction of novel metabolic systems. Steps toward this goal should take into account the complexity of existing pathways in which transmembrane trafficking plays a significant role.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Selected Modeling Methods Used in Systems Biology

“…Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, a strictly aerobic gamma-proteobacterium, is a good model organism for genetic and metabolic investigations (Metzgar et al 2004;Young, Parke, and Ornston 2005) as well as for biotechnological applications (Abdel-El-Haleem 2003) thanks to its metabolic versatility and high competency for natural transformation. Following its sequencing and expert annotation (Barbe et al 2004), a genome-wide collection of singleknockout mutants was generated and mutant growth phenotypes were assayed in selected environmental conditions .…”

Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1: Transforming the choice of model organism

“…Cell lysates or whole cells that release DNA as they die are also excellent sources of donor DNA. The genetic tools made possible by the natural competence of ADP1 have been reviewed previously (1,2), but to elicit greater appreciation for the advantages of A. baylyi as a model organism, this review seeks to highlight significant advances made accessible, and in some cases uniquely possible, by its genetic malleability and metabolic breadth.…”

Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms, Volume 4

“…Beside strains BD413 and ADP1, only one other strain was reported to be highly competent for natural transformation, which is strain 93A2 . These three strains were recently grouped within one newly delineated species, A. baylyi (Young et al, 2005). Strain ADP1 was also referred to as A. calcoaceticus ADP1 (Geissdorfer et al, 1995Parche et al, 1997;Williams and Shaw, 1997; Kalscheuer and Steinbuchel, 2003; Krehenbrinkand Steinbuchel, 2004;Elbahloul et al, 2005), or more often as Acinetobacter sp.…”

“…ADP1 has been used as a model organism in genetic and genomics studies (section 6) and microbiology and molecular biology laboratories because of its versatile metabolism (section 3.2.2) and its remarkable propensity to undergo natural transformation (section 7.1). Strain ADP1 is generally considered as a non-toxic and non-pathogenic strain by scientists in the field (section 15), and therefore used liberally even in undergraduate laboratory training (Metzgar et al, 2004;Young et al, 2005). …”

“…ADP1 strain was chosen because of its robust physiological properties and capacity for genetic manipulations (Barbe et al, 2004). Strain ADP1 belongs to the species A. baylyi (Young et al, 2005), as discussed in section 2.3.4, and was derived from strain BD413 following UV irradiation, as discussed in paragraph 36. Whole genome sequencing revealed that ADP1 has a single, circular chromosome of 3 598 621 base pairs (bp) with an average G+C content of 40.3%.…”