Genomic Islands Confer Heavy Metal Resistance in Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis and Mucilaginibacter rubeus Isolated from a Gold/Copper Mine
by
Yuan Ping Li 1,†, Nicolas Carraro 2,†, Nan Yang 1, Bixiu Liu 1, Xian Xia 3, Renwei Feng 1,*, Quaiser Saquib 4, Hend A Al-Wathnani 5, Jan Roelof Van der Meer 2 and Christopher Rensing 1,6,*
Yuan Ping Li 1,†, Nicolas Carraro 2,†, Nan Yang 1, Bixiu Liu 1, Xian Xia 3, Renwei Feng 1,*, Quaiser Saquib 4, Hend A Al-Wathnani 5, Jan Roelof Van der Meer 2 and Christopher Rensing 1,6,*
1
Institute of Environmental Microbiology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
2
Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
3
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
4
Zoology Department, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
5
Department of Botany & Microbiology, College of Sciences, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
6
Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academic of Sciences, 361021 Xiamen, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Genes 2018, 9(12), 573; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9120573
Received: 22 October 2018 / Revised: 16 November 2018 / Accepted: 19 November 2018 / Published: 23 November 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomics of Bacterial Metal Resistance)
Heavy metals (HMs) are compounds that can be hazardous and impair growth of living organisms. Bacteria have evolved the capability not only to cope with heavy metals but also to detoxify polluted environments. Three heavy metal-resistant strains of Mucilaginibacer rubeus and one of Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis were isolated from the gold/copper Zijin mining site, Longyan, Fujian, China. These strains were shown to exhibit high resistance to heavy metals with minimal inhibitory concentration reaching up to 3.5 mM Cu(II), 21 mM Zn(II), 1.2 mM Cd(II), and 10.0 mM As(III). Genomes of the four strains were sequenced by Illumina. Sequence analyses revealed the presence of a high abundance of heavy metal resistance (HMR) determinants. One of the strain, M. rubeus P2, carried genes encoding 6 putative PIB-1-ATPase, 5 putative PIB-3-ATPase, 4 putative Zn(II)/Cd(II) PIB-4 type ATPase, and 16 putative resistance-nodulation-division (RND)-type metal transporter systems. Moreover, the four genomes contained a high abundance of genes coding for putative metal binding chaperones. Analysis of the close vicinity of these HMR determinants uncovered the presence of clusters of genes potentially associated with mobile genetic elements. These loci included genes coding for tyrosine recombinases (integrases) and subunits of mating pore (type 4 secretion system), respectively allowing integration/excision and conjugative transfer of numerous genomic islands. Further in silico analyses revealed that their genetic organization and gene products resemble the Bacteroides integrative and conjugative element CTnDOT. These results highlight the pivotal role of genomic islands in the acquisition and dissemination of adaptive traits, allowing for rapid adaption of bacteria and colonization of hostile environments.
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Keywords:
Mucilaginibacer rubeus; Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis; genomic island; evolution; heavy metal resistance; draft genome sequence; CTnDOT
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MDPI and ACS Style
Li, Y.P.; Carraro, N.; Yang, N.; Liu, B.; Xia, X.; Feng, R.; Saquib, Q.; Al-Wathnani, H.A.; Van der Meer, J.R.; Rensing, C. Genomic Islands Confer Heavy Metal Resistance in Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis and Mucilaginibacter rubeus Isolated from a Gold/Copper Mine. Genes 2018, 9, 573.
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