Comparative genomic study of Thermus strains isolated from hot spring sediment, Qucai county, Tibet, south-west China. Thermus strain:YIM 730264, YIM 73052, YIM 73518, YIM QC2-109, YIM 1627, YIM 1640, 77359, 71206, 71318, 72351, 77311, 77412, 77420, 77838, 77923, 77927

The project deals with comparative genomic study of seventeen Thermus strains, isolated from two different geographically thermal springs, Qucai hot springs in Tibet and Tengchong hot springs in Yunnan, China. Comparative genomics and Phylogenomic analyses were performed to unravel the genomic diversity among the strains belonging to the genus Thermus as well its adaptability strategies in geographically two different locations. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, supermatrix and gene content methods revealed a mixed distribution of the strains, which was uncoupled from their geographical origin. These results suggested that geography has no effect on genomes of Thermus strains from different environments. Our findings revealed the absence of specific genomic signatures marking the adaptations of Thermus strains towards two different thermal locations. This suggests fundamentally similar trends of adaptability of genus Thermus in a high-temperature environment.

本项目针对17株栖热菌属（Thermus）菌株开展比较基因组学研究，所涉菌株分离自中国两处不同地理区域的热泉：西藏曲才热泉与云南腾冲热泉。本研究通过比较基因组学与系统基因组学分析，解析了栖热菌属菌株间的基因组多样性，以及该属菌株在两处不同地理环境中的适应性策略。基于16S rRNA基因序列、超级矩阵（supermatrix）及基因含量分析的系统发育研究显示，菌株呈现混合分布模式，且该分布与其地理来源无关。上述结果表明，地理因素对来自不同环境的栖热菌菌株基因组并无显著影响。本研究发现，并未存在可标记栖热菌菌株对两种不同热泉环境适应性的特异性基因组特征。这表明栖热菌属在高温环境中的适应性演化趋势具有本质上的一致性。