Thursday, July 30, 2009 - 2:30 PM
S154
Teredinibacter turnerae, a multitalented symbiont of shipworms (Teredinindae)
Margo Haygood1, Joyce C. Yang2, Nathan Ekborg2, Yvette Luyten2, Amaro Trinidade-Silva3, Carlos A.G. Soares3, Sherif Elshahawi1, Amro Hanora4, Eric W. Schmidt5, Naomi Ward6, Jonathan Eisen7, Jonathan Badger8, and Daniel Distel2. (1) Environmental and Biomolecular Systems Division, Oregon Health & Science University, 20000 NW Walker Rd., Beaverton, OR 97205, (2) Ocean Genome Legacy, 240 County Road, Ipswich, MA 01938, (3) Instituto de Biologia, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fudao, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, (4) Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Suez Canal University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ismailia, Egypt, (5) Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, 30 South 2000 East Rm 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, (6) Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, (7) UC Davis Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, (8) J. Craig Venter Insitute, 10355 Science Center Drive, San Diego, CA 92121
Teredinibacter turnerae, together with a few other closely related gamma proteobacteria, inhabit bacteriocytes in the gills of wood-boring bivalve mollusks known as shipworms. T. turnerae cells fix nitrogen and produce cellulolytic enzymes to support the nutrition of their hosts. The genome sequence of T. turnerae strain T7901 reveals a wealth of genes coding for enzymes involved in wood disgestion. The adaptations of this unusual symbiont make it a promising source of cellulolytic enzymes for conversion of wood to bioethanol.
In addition to the known capabilities of T. turnerae for nitrogen fixation and cellulose breakdown, the genome reveals a surprisingly substantial complement of large modular polyketide synthase, non-ribosomal peptide synthetase and hybrid gene clusters. These genes predict a robust secondary metabolism capability for this organism. T. turnerae strains may be a source of novel bioactive molecules, and may play a role in host defense in the symbiotic association.
In addition to the known capabilities of T. turnerae for nitrogen fixation and cellulose breakdown, the genome reveals a surprisingly substantial complement of large modular polyketide synthase, non-ribosomal peptide synthetase and hybrid gene clusters. These genes predict a robust secondary metabolism capability for this organism. T. turnerae strains may be a source of novel bioactive molecules, and may play a role in host defense in the symbiotic association.
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See more of Invited Oral Papers
See more of The Annual Meeting and Exhibition 2009 (July 26 - 30, 2009)