An exceedingly novel bacterium has very unusual capacities encoded by highly divergent genes
Scientific Achievement
Parcunitrobacter nitroensis, a Candidate Phylum Radiation (CPR) bacterium, has versatile energy pathways and the first complete electron transport chain described in a member of this major subdivision within Domain Bacteria
Significance and Impact
The CPR is a major group of environmentally-relevant bacteria elucidated our in prior DOE-funded research. Unlike virtually all CPR, we report an exceedingly novel organism that challenges understanding of CPR evolution.
Research Details
- We sampled microbial communities from an aquifer adjacent to the Colorado River in Rifle, Colorado
- Whole community DNA was sequenced
- A near-complete genome was reconstructed
- Metabolic predictions uncover unexpected capacities encoded by highly divergent genes
Citation
Castelle, C. J.; Brown, C. T.; Thomas, B. C.; Williams, K. H.; Banfield, J. F. (2017), Unusual respiratory capacity and nitrogen metabolism in a Parcubacterium (OD1) of the Candidate Phyla Radiation, Scientific Reports, 7, 40101 DOI: 10.1038/srep40101
