Query: NC_017262:623351 Zymomonas mobilis subsp. mobilis ATCC 10988 chromosome, complete
Lineage: Zymomonas mobilis; Zymomonas; Sphingomonadaceae; Sphingomonadales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Country: Mexico; Environment: Food; Isolation: Fermenting Agave juice; Isolation: originally isolated as Pseudomonas lindneri; Temp: Mesophile; Temp: 30C. The natural habitat of this organism includes sugar-rich plant saps where the bacterium ferments sugar to ethanol. The high conversion of sugars to ethanol makes this organism useful in industrial production systems, particularly in production of bioethanol for fuel. A recombinant strain of this bacterium is utilized for the conversion of sugars, particularly xylose, which is not utilized by another common sugar-fermenting organism such as yeast, to ethanol. Since xylose is a common breakdown product of cellulose or a waste component of the agricultural industry, it is an attractive source for ethanol production. Zymomonas mobilis was chosen for this process as it is ethanol-tolerant (up to 120 grams of ethanol per litre) and productive (5-10% more ethanol than Saccharomyces). This bacterium ferments using the Enter-Doudoroff pathway, with the result that less carbon is used in cellular biomass production and more ends up as ethanol, another factor that favors this organism for ethanol production.
Subject: NC_007413:5264463 Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413, complete genome
Lineage: Anabaena variabilis; Anabaena; Nostocaceae; Nostocales; Cyanobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: These cyanobacteria are bluegreen algae that are capable of fixing carbon and nitrogen. They form long filaments and can be found worldwide in various aquatic environments as well as some terrestrial ones. These bacteria can form a variety of differentiated cell types, including spore-like cells (akinetes), small motile filaments (hormongia) and most importantly, heterocysts that are nitrogen-producing cells. The heterocyst produces multiple layers outside of its cell wall, shuts down photosystem II in order to inhibit oxygenic photosynthesis and ramps up metabolism in order to use up the oxygen present. Heterocysts donate fixed nitrogen compounds as amino acids to neighboring cells and in return receive a photosynthetically produced carbon source such as sucrose. These organisms produce toxic blooms in aquatic environments that are harmful or fatal to animals and humans due to the various cyanotoxins they produce. Anabaena variabilis is a filamentous heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium that fixes nitrogen and CO2 using the energy of sunlight via oxygen-evolving plant-type photosynthesis. In addition, this organism has been studied extensively for the production of hydrogen using solar energy.