Query: NC_011958:53426 Rhodobacter sphaeroides KD131 chromosome 2, complete genome
Lineage: Rhodobacter sphaeroides; Rhodobacter; Rhodobacteraceae; Rhodobacterales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Bacteria belonging to the Rhodobacter group are metabolically versatile as they are able to grow using photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, and usually can grow under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The most extensively studied bacteria with regards to its photosynthetic capabilities which includes the structure, function and regulation of its photosynthetic membranes, its mechanisms of CO2 and nitrogen fixation, cytochrome diversity and its electron transport systems. It can grow aerobically and anaerobically in the light and anaerobically in the dark. It produces an intracytoplasmic membrane system consisting of membrane invaginations where the light harvesting complexes (LH1 and LH2) and the reaction center are synthesized. Furthermore, it has the ability to detoxify metal oxides and oxyanions and hence has a role in bioremediation.
Subject: NC_011959:972798 Thermomicrobium roseum DSM 5159, complete genome
Lineage: Thermomicrobium roseum; Thermomicrobium; Thermomicrobiaceae; Thermomicrobiales; Chloroflexi; Bacteria
General Information: Thermomicrobium roseum DSM 5159 was isolated from Yellowstone National Park, USA. Obligate thermophile with unusual cell wall structure. Thermomicrobium roseum is a red-pigmented, rod-shaped, Gram-negative extreme thermophile that possesses both an atypical cell wall composition and an unusual cell membrane that is composed entirely of long-chain 1,2-diols. Analyses of environmental sequences from hot spring environments show that T.roseum displays a low quantity but ubiquitous presence in top layers of microbial mats. Few standard housekeeping genes are found on the megaplasmid, however, it does encode a complete system for chemotaxis including both chemosensory components and an entire flagellar apparatus. T. roseum oxidizes CO aerobically, making it the first thermophile known to do so. In addition, is is propose that glycosylation of its carotenoids plays a crucial role in the adaptation of the cell membrane to this bacterium's thermophilic lifestyle. Because T. roseum is a deep-branching member of this phylum, eventhough this species is not photosynthetic, analysis of the genome provides some insight into the origins of photosynthesis in the Chloroflexi.