Researchers have completed the first thorough, system-level assessment of the diversity of an environmentally important genus of microbes known as Shewanella. Microbes belonging to that genus frequently participate in bioremediation by confining and cleaning up contaminated areas in the environment.
The team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory analyzed the gene sequences, proteins expressed and physiology of 10 strains of Shewanella. They believe the study results will help researchers choose the best Shewanella strain for bioremediation projects based on each site’s environmental conditions and contaminants….
By comparing the 10 Shewanella genomes, which were sequenced at the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute, the research team found that while some of the strains shared 98 percent of the same genes, other strains only shared 70 percent. Out of the almost 10,000 protein-coding genes in the 10 strains, nearly half — 48 percent — of the genes were strain-specific, and the differences in expressed proteins were consistently larger than their differences at the gene content level.
The rest of the news release is available on EurekAlert, PhysOrg and on Science Centric.