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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01844-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

The genome of the epsilonproteobacterial chemolithoautotroph Sulfurimonas denitrificans

Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Biology Department, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Departments of Biology and Microbiology & Immunology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, California; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Kiel, Germany; Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois; The Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, Maryland; Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: ssievert{at}whoi.edu. kscott{at}cas.usf.edu.

	Abstract

Sulfur-oxidizing epsilonproteobacteria are common in a variety of sulfidogenic environments. These autotrophic and mixotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are believed to contribute substantially to the oxidative portion of the global sulfur cycle. In order to better understand the ecology and roles of sulfur-oxidizing epsilonproteobacteria, in particular the widespread genus Sulfurimonas, in biogeochemical cycles, the genome of Sulfurimonas denitrificans DSM1251 was sequenced. This genome has many features, including a larger size (2.2 Mbp), that suggest a greater degree of metabolic versatility or responsiveness to the environment than most of the other sequenced epsilonproteobacteria. A branched electron transport chain is apparent, with genes encoding complexes for the oxidation of hydrogen, reduced sulfur compounds, and formate, and the reduction of nitrate and oxygen. Genes are present for a complete, autotrophic reductive citric acid cycle. Many genes are present that could facilitate growth in the spatially and temporally heterogeneous sediment habitat from where Sulfurimonas denitrificans was originally isolated. Many resistance-nodulation-development-family transporter genes (11 total) are present, several of which are predicted to encode heavy metal efflux transporters. An elaborate arsenal of sensory and regulatory protein-encoding genes is in place, as well as genes necessary to prevent and respond to oxidative stress.