Abstract
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a type of biopolymer produced by most bacteria and archaea, resembling thermoplastic with biodegradability and biocompatibility features. Here, we report the complete genome of a PHA producer, Aquitalea sp. USM4, isolated from Perak, Malaysia. This bacterium possessed a 4.2 Mb circular chromosome and a 54,370 bp plasmid. A total of 4067 predicted protein-coding sequences, 87 tRNA genes, and 25 rRNA operons were identified using PGAP. Based on ANI and dDDH analysis, the Aquitalea sp. USM4 is highly similar to Aquitalea pelogenes. We also identified genes, including acetyl-CoA (phaA), acetoacetyl-CoA (phaB), PHA synthase (phaC), enoyl-CoA hydratase (phaJ), and phasin (phaP), which play an important role in PHA production in Aquitalea sp. USM4. The heterologous expression of phaC1 from Aquitalea sp. USM4 in Cupriavidus necator PHB−4 was able to incorporate six different types of PHA monomers, which are 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV), 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB), 5-hydroxyvalerate (5HV), 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HHx) and isocaproic acid (3H4MV) with suitable precursor substrates. This is the first complete genome sequence of the genus Aquitalea among the 22 genome sequences from 4 Aquitalea species listed in the GOLD database, which provides an insight into its genome evolution and molecular machinery responsible for PHA biosynthesis.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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JHW and SZN acknowledge the Graduate Student Financial Assistance (GRA‐Assist) awarded by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
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This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, titled “Soil analysis and value-addition to oil palm trunk (OPT) and sap through biotechnology” (203/PBIOLOGI/67811001 to KS) as well as Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS).
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JHW and LMN were involved in conceptualization. JHW, LMN, and RK designed and performed the experiment. JHW, LMN, and SZN were involved in formal analysis and wrote the original draft. KS and SK provided supervision. KS provided the funding. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript.
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Wan, J.H., Ng, LM., Neoh, S.Z. et al. Complete genome sequence of Aquitalea pelogenes USM4 (JCM19919), a polyhydroxyalkanoate producer. Arch Microbiol 205, 66 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-023-03406-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-023-03406-1