Complete genome sequence of the complex carbohydrate-degrading marine bacterium, Saccharophagus degradans strain 2-40 T.
Weiner RM,
Taylor LE 2nd,
Henrissat B,
Hauser L,
Land M,
Coutinho PM,
Rancurel C,
Saunders EH,
Longmire AG,
Zhang H,
Bayer EA,
Gilbert HJ,
Larimer F,
Zhulin IB,
Ekborg NA,
Lamed R,
Richardson PM,
Borovok I,
Hutcheson S.
Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA. RWeiner@umd.edu
The marine bacterium Saccharophagus degradans strain 2-40 (Sde 2-40) is emerging as a vanguard of a recently discovered group of marine and estuarine bacteria that recycles complex polysaccharides. We report its complete genome sequence, analysis of which identifies an unusually large number of enzymes that degrade >10 complex polysaccharides. Not only is this an extraordinary range of catabolic capability, many of the enzymes exhibit unusual architecture including novel combinations of catalytic and substrate-binding modules. We hypothesize that many of these features are adaptations that facilitate depolymerization of complex polysaccharides in the marine environment. This is the first sequenced genome of a marine bacterium that can degrade plant cell walls, an important component of the carbon cycle that is not well-characterized in the marine environment.
PMID: 18516288 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID: PMC2386152