Genomic sequencing-based mutational enrichment analysis identifies motility genes in a genetically intractable gut microbe.

ABSTRACT: A major roadblock to understanding how microbes in the gastrointestinal tract colonize and influence the physiology of their hosts is our inability to genetically manipulate new bacterial species and experimentally assess the function of their genes. We describe the application of population-based genomic sequencing after chemical mutagenesis to map bacterial genes responsible for motility in Exiguobacterium acetylicum, a representative intestinal Firmicutes bacterium that is intractable to molecular genetic manipulation. We derived strong associations between mutations in 57 E. acetylicum genes and impaired motility. Surprisingly, less than half of these genes were annotated as motility-related based on sequence homologies. We confirmed the genetic link between individual mutations and lo

SUBMITTER: Bae S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5150387 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature