Genomic Characterization and Environmental Distribution of a Thermophilic Anaerobe <i>Dissulfurirhabdus thermomarina</i> SH388^T Involved in Disproportionation of Sulfur Compounds in Shallow Sea Hydrothermal Vents

• Main Authors: Maxime Allioux, Stéven Yvenou, Galina Slobodkina, Alexander Slobodkin, Zongze Shao, Mohamed Jebbar, Karine Alain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Microorganisms
• Subjects: genome annotation; <i>Dissulfurirhabdus</i>; shallow sea hydrothermal vents; inorganic sulfur compound disproportionation
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/8/1132

Marine hydrothermal systems are characterized by a pronounced biogeochemical sulfur cycle with the participation of sulfur-oxidizing, sulfate-reducing and sulfur-disproportionating microorganisms. The diversity and metabolism of sulfur disproportionators are studied to a much lesser extent compared with other microbial groups. <i>Dissulfurirhabdus thermomarina</i> SH388^T is an anaerobic thermophilic bacterium isolated from a shallow sea hydrothermal vent. <i>D. thermomarina</i> is an obligate chemolithoautotroph able to grow by the disproportionation of sulfite and elemental sulfur. Here, we present the results of the sequencing and analysis of the high-quality draft genome of strain SH388^T. The genome consists of a one circular chromosome of 2,461,642 base pairs, has a G + C content of 71.1 mol% and 2267 protein-coding sequences. The genome analysis revealed a complete set of genes essential to CO₂ fixation via the reductive acetyl-CoA (Wood-Ljungdahl) pathway and gluconeogenesis. The genome of <i>D. thermomarina</i> encodes a complete set of genes necessary for the dissimilatory reduction of sulfates, which are probably involved in the disproportionation of sulfur. Data on the occurrences of <i>Dissulfurirhabdus</i> 16S rRNA gene sequences in gene libraries and metagenome datasets showed the worldwide distribution of the members of this genus. This study expands our knowledge of the microbial contribution into carbon and sulfur cycles in the marine hydrothermal environments.