Project description:Kazachstania aerobia and Kazachstania servazzii can affect wine aroma by increasing acetate ester concentrations, most remarkably phenylethyl acetate and isoamyl acetate. The genetic basis of this is unknown, there being little to no sequence data available on the genome architecture. We report for the first time the near-complete genome sequence of the two species using long-read (PacBio) sequencing (K. aerobia 20 contigs, one scaffold; and K. servazzii 22 contigs, one scaffold). The annotated genomes of K. aerobia (12.5 Mb) and K. servazzii (12.3 Mb) were compared to Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomes (laboratory strain S288C and wine strain EC1118). Whilst a comparison of the two Kazachstania spp. genomes revealed few differences between them, divergence was evident in relation to the genes involved in ester biosynthesis, for which gene duplications or absences were apparent. The annotations of these genomes are valuable resources for future research into the evolutionary biology of Kazachstania and other yeast species (comparative genomics) as well as understanding the metabolic processes associated with alcoholic fermentation and the production of secondary 'aromatic' metabolites (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics).
Project description:The Spirochaetota phylum represents the most basal lineage within the bacterial kingdom Pseudomonadati. These bacteria are distinguished by their long, thin helical shape and a unique flagellum located between the inner and outer membranes. While some spirochetes are pathogenic, causing diseases such as syphilis (Treponema), Lyme disease (Borrelia), and leptospirosis (Leptospira), this study focuses on the non-pathogenic, free-living Spirochaeta africana as a model organism. This approach allows for the investigation of fundamental aspects of gene regulation in spirochetes, free from the genomic reduction often observed in pathogenic spirochetes due to their parasitic lifestyle. We utilized RNA-Seq to assess the in vivo activities of spirochetal promoters and the relative abundance of transcripts encoding components of the spirochetal transcription system. These findings supplement detailed in vitro analyses of spirochetal RNA polymerase and transcription regulators by biochemical and structural methods.
Project description:The aim of this analysis was to analyze nucleosome distribution in the filamentous ascomycete Sordaria macrospora by micrococcal nuclease digestion and sequencing.
