Gene Loss and Horizontal Gene Transfer Contributed to the Genome Evolution of the Extreme Acidophile "Ferrovum".

ABSTRACT: Acid mine drainage (AMD), associated with active and abandoned mining sites, is a habitat for acidophilic microorganisms that gain energy from the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds and ferrous iron and that thrive at pH below 4. Members of the recently proposed genus "Ferrovum" are the first acidophilic iron oxidizers to be described within the Betaproteobacteria. Although they have been detected as typical community members in AMD habitats worldwide, knowledge of their phylogenetic and metabolic diversity is scarce. Genomics approaches appear to be most promising in addressing this lacuna since isolation and cultivation of "Ferrovum" has proven to be extremely difficult and has so far only been successful for the designated type strain "Ferrovum myxofaciens" P3G. In this study, the ge

SUBMITTER: Ullrich SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4886054 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature