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Bioinformatic evidence and characterization of novel putative large conjugative transposons residing in genomes of genera Bacteroides and Prevotella

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Abstract

Bioinformatic evidence of the presence of a large conjugative transposon in ruminal bacterium Prevotella bryantii B14T is presented. The described transposon appears to be related to another large conjugative transposon CTnBST, described in Bacteroides uniformis WH207 and to the conjugative transposon CTn3-Bf, which was observed in the genome of Bacteroides fragilis strain YCH46. All three transposons share tra gene regions with high amino acid identity and clearly conserved gene order. Additionally, a second conserved region consisting of hypothetical genes was discovered in all three transposons and named the GG region. This region served as a specific sequence signature and made possible the discovery of several other apparently related hypothetical conjugative transposons in bacteria from the genus Bacteroides. A cluster of genes involved in sugar utilization and metabolism was discovered within the hypothetical CTnB14, to a certain extent resembling the polysaccharide utilization loci which were described recently in some Bacteroides strains. This is the first firm report on the presence of a large mobile genetic element in any strain from the genus Prevotella.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (research program P4-0097).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnical Faculty, Animal Science Department, Chair for Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, University of Ljubljana, Groblje 3, 1230, Domžale, Slovenia

    Katja Gorenc, Tomaž Accetto & Gorazd Avguštin

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  1. Katja Gorenc
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  2. Tomaž Accetto
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  3. Gorazd Avguštin
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Correspondence to Gorazd Avguštin.

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Gorenc, K., Accetto, T. & Avguštin, G. Bioinformatic evidence and characterization of novel putative large conjugative transposons residing in genomes of genera Bacteroides and Prevotella . Folia Microbiol 57, 285–290 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-012-0126-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-012-0126-5

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