Query: NC_006177:520055 Symbiobacterium thermophilum IAM 14863, complete genome Lineage: Symbiobacterium thermophilum; Symbiobacterium; Shewanellaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria General Information: This symbiotic and thermophilic bacterium was discovered by screening for thermostable tryptanophases in Japanese compost. Cultured growth of this organism requires the presence of another bacterial species, such as a Bacillus or Escherichia coli, which provides diffusable metabolites required for its growth. Pure cultures can be obtained by growing Symbiobacterium thermophilum in a bioreactor, separated from its symbiotic counterpart by a dialysis membrane. Because of its symbiotic nature, it cannot be cultured with conventional methods. Despite a negative reaction for gram stain, this species is placed with the gram-positive bacteria based on 16s phylogenetic analysis.
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General Information: This red-pigmented organism's name means "strange berry that withstands radiation", marking the fact that this organism is one of the most radiation-resistant known. It can tolerate radiation levels at 1000 times the levels that would kill a human and it was originally isolated in 1956 from a can of meat that had been irradiated with X-rays. The resistance to radiation may reflect its resistance to dessication, which also causes DNA damage. This organism may be of use in cleaning up toxic metals found at nuclear weapons production sites due to the radiation resistance. This bacterium is also a highly efficient transformer, and can readily take up exogenous DNA from the environment, which may also aid DNA repair. This organism carries multiple copies of many DNA repair genes, suggesting a robust system for dealing with DNA damage. The recombination system may rely on multiple copies of various repeat elements found throughout the genome.