Resistance of Permafrost and Modern Acinetobacter lwoffii Strains to Heavy Metals and Arsenic Revealed by Genome Analysis.

ABSTRACT: We performed whole-genome sequencing of five permafrost strains of Acinetobacter lwoffii (frozen for 15-3000 thousand years) and analyzed their resistance genes found in plasmids and chromosomes. Four strains contained multiple plasmids (8-12), which varied significantly in size (from 4,135 to 287,630 bp) and genetic structure; the fifth strain contained only two plasmids. All large plasmids and some medium-size and small plasmids contained genes encoding resistance to various heavy metals, including mercury, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, copper, chromium, and arsenic compounds. Most resistance genes found in the ancient strains of A. lwoffii had their closely related counterparts in modern clinical A. lwoffii strains that were also located on plasmids. The vast

SUBMITTER: Mindlin S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5067307 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature