SREL Reprint #3546

Genome-centric evaluation of Bacillus sp. strain - ATCC55673 and response to uranium biomineralization

Victor Ibeanusi1, Ashish Pathak1, Ashvini Chauhan1, Jada Hoyle-Gardner1, Tyrik Cooper1, Landon Turker1, Harley Howard1, Oluchukwu Obinegbo1, Gang Chen2, and John Seaman3

1Florida A&M University, USA
2Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, USA
3University of Georgia, Aiken, USA

Abstract: A patented microbial systems process was conducted on microbial-mediated biodegradative mechanisms at a coal-pile run off basin discharged from the coal fired plant at Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina (SC). One of the isolated strains, ATCC 55673, grew robustly on number of dissolved toxic metals. Genome-centric evaluation revealed the isolate to belong to the genus Bacillus with close affiliation to B. cereus, an aggressive polychlorinated biphenyl-degrader. At a coverage of 90x, the genome of strain ATCC 55673 consisted of 4,615,850 bases with a total number of 4,590 putative genes assembling into 51 contigs with an N50 contig length of 2,597,36 bases. Several gene homologues coding for resistance to heavy metals were identified, such as a suite of outer membrane efflux pump proteins like nickel/cobalt transporter regulators, peptide/nickel transport substrate and ATP-binding proteins, permease proteins, a high-affinity nickel-transport protein, and several genes for metabolism of aromatic compounds.

Keywords: Biomineralization of uranium and heavy metals, organic waste; Metal resistance genes; Whole genome sequencing (WGS); Bacillus sp. (ATCC 55673)

SREL Reprint #3546

Ibeanusi, V., A. Pathak, A. Chauhan, J. Hoyle-Gardner, T. Cooper, L. Turker, H. Howard, O. Obinegbo, G. Chen, and J. C. Seaman. 2018. Genome-centric evaluation of Bacillus sp. strain - ATCC55673 and response to uranium biomineralization. Significances of Bioengineering and Biosciences 2(3): 157-164.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).