Cited by 222Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton DynamicsGenomics and Phylogenetic StudiesBacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

Highly plastic genome of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806, a ubiquitous toxic freshwater cyanobacterium

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Frangeul, Lionel, Quillardet, Philippe, Castets, Anne-Marie, Humbert, Jean-François, Matthijs, Hans CP, Cortez, Diego, Tolonen, Andrew, Zhang, Cheng-Cai +12 more·2008·BMC Genomics

Abstract

Background: The colonial cyanobacterium Microcystis proliferates in a wide range of freshwater ecosystems and is exposed to changing environmental factors during its life cycle.Microcystis blooms are often toxic, potentially fatal to animals and humans, and may cause environmental problems. There has been little investigation of the genomics of these cyanobacteria. Results: Deciphering the 5,172,804 bp sequence of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 has revealed the high plasticity of its genome: 11.7% DNA repeats containing more than 1,000 bases, 6.8% putative transposases and 21 putative restriction enzymes. Compared to the genomes of other cyanobacterial lineages, strain PCC 7806 contains a large number of atypical genes that may have been acquired by lateral transfers. Metabolic pathways, such as fermentation and a methionine salvage pathway, have been identified, as have genes for programmed cell death that may be related to the rapid disappearance of Microcystis blooms in nature. Analysis of the PCC 7806 genome also reveals striking novel biosynthetic features that might help to elucidate the ecological impact of secondary metabolites and lead to the discovery of novel metabolites for new biotechnological applications.M. aeruginosa and other large cyanobacterial genomes exhibit a rapid loss of synteny in contrast to other microbial genomes. Conclusion: Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 appears to have adopted an evolutionary strategy relying on unusual genome plasticity to adapt to eutrophic freshwater ecosystems, a property shared by another strain of M. aeruginosa(NIES-843). Comparisons of the genomes of PCC 7806 and other cyanobacterial strains indicate that a similar strategy may have also been used by the marine strain Crocosphaera watsonii WH8501 to adapt to other ecological niches, such as oligotrophic open oceans.

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  • Duplicated genes were usually adjacently located or duplication-linked with many unknown functions, some annotated by one or two of RTase, transposase, and integrase, and duplicated fragments varied in size from several to dozens of kilobases.

    “Another significant characteristic of duplicated genes was that they were usually adjacently located or duplication-linked with a plenty of unknown functions, some of which can be annotated by one or two of the three enzymes (RTase, transposase, and integrase), and these duplicated fragments varied in size from several to dozens of kilobases.57–59”

    From Whole genomic DNA sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of<i>Arthrospira platensis</i>: high genome plasticity and genetic diversity (2016) · cites this paper as [59]

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  • Previous studies have shown that a large proportion of transposases and RTase constituted long repeated sequences in some cyanobacteria.

    “Previous studies have shown that a large proportion of the transposases and RTase constituted the long repeated sequences in some cyanobacteria.57–60”

    From Whole genomic DNA sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of<i>Arthrospira platensis</i>: high genome plasticity and genetic diversity (2016) · cites this paper as [59]

    The Results and discussion section reports that 93% of 362 transposase-like coding sequences in M. aeruginosa PCC 7806 lie within long DNA repeated sequences. It also identifies several cyanobacterial genomes rich in those repeats. The passages do not establish the claim's additional point about RTase; searches for “RTase” and “reverse transcriptase” found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • 93% of 362 transposases of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 emerged in long repeats.

    “For example, 93% of 362 transposases of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 emerged in the long repeats.59”

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  1. Steffensen DA Economic costs of cyanobacterial blooms Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB), Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 2008 619 New York: Springer Verlag 843 853

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Authors
Frangeul, L., Quillardet, P., Castets, A.-M., Humbert, J.-F., Matthijs, H. C., Cortez, D., Tolonen, A., Zhang, C.-C., Gribaldo, S., Kehr, J.-C., Zilliges, Y., Ziemert, N., Becker, S., Talla, E., Latifi, A., Billault, A., Lepelletier, A., Dittmann, E., Bouchier, C., & Tandeau de Marsac, N.
Affiliations
  • Institut Pasteur (FR)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
  • Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NL)
  • Genoscope (FR)
Venue
BMC Genomics
Published
2008-06-05
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
274-274
ISSN
1471-2164 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2109250549
Cited by
221
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 17
FWCI
10.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMC Genomics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • KNAW research portal (Royal Academy of Art and Sciences (KNAW)) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • KNAW Research Portal (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
Keywords
genome plasticity, cyanobacterial genomics, repetitive DNA, transposase, restriction enzymes, horizontal gene transfer, methionine salvage pathway, programmed cell death, cyanobacterial blooms, secondary metabolites, biosynthetic genes
MeSH terms
Animals, DNA, Bacterial, DNA, Ribosomal, Fresh Water, Multigene Family, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid, Species Specificity, DNA Restriction-Modification Enzymes, Genome, Bacterial, Ecosystem, Evolution, Molecular, DNA, Intergenic, Microcystis

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