Acid Rock Bacteria Genome ...

Just a little plug for a new paper of which I am a co-author. This is a report on the analysis of the genome sequence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans which was just published in BMC Genomics (an open access journal, by the way). This paper was a long long time coming - the genome was sequenced when I was at TIGR many years ago (Herve Tettelin coordinated most of the work). Since I was interested in the biology of this bug I volunteered to help turn the sequence into a paper, but was pretty lame about doing that. Thankfully David Holmes and Jorge Valdes in Chile helped make a paper from the data and much additional analyses. Here is the abstract:

Background
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a major participant in consortia of microorganisms used for the industrial recovery of copper (bioleaching or biomining). It is a chemolithoautrophic, γ-proteobacterium using energy from the oxidation of iron- and sulfur-containing minerals for growth. It thrives at extremely low pH (pH 1–2) and fixes both carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere. It solubilizes copper and other metals from rocks and plays an important role in nutrient and metal biogeochemical cycling in acid environments. The lack of a well-developed system for genetic manipulation has prevented thorough exploration of its physiology. Also, confusion has been caused by prior metabolic models constructed based upon the examination of multiple, and sometimes distantly related, strains of the microorganism.

Results
The genome of the type strain A. ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 was sequenced and annotated to identify general features and provide a framework for in silico metabolic reconstruction. Earlier models of iron and sulfur oxidation, biofilm formation, quorum sensing, inorganic ion uptake, and amino acid metabolism are confirmed and extended. Initial models are presented for central carbon metabolism, anaerobic metabolism (including sulfur reduction, hydrogen metabolism and nitrogen fixation), stress responses, DNA repair, and metal and toxic compound fluxes.

Conclusion
Bioinformatics analysis provides a valuable platform for gene discovery and functional prediction that helps explain the activity of A. ferrooxidans in industrial bioleaching and its role as a primary producer in acidic environments. An analysis of the genome of the type strain provides a coherent view of its gene content and metabolic potential.