Comparative genomics of Nitratiruptor bacteria and their induced bactriophages

Genus Nitratiruptor is one of the most abundant chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms associated with the deep-sea hydrothermal environments in the Okinawa Trough, Japan. To know the evolutional history of Epsilonproteobacteria especially in the acquisition of pathogenicity and widespread propagation and adaptation to various ecological niches, it is necessary to reveal the co-evolution of temperate phages and deeply branching epsilonproteobacterial lineage in more details. Here, we characterized phages induced from diverse Nitratiruptor strains, and conducted comparative genomic analyses.

硝酸破裂杆菌属（Nitratiruptor）是日本冲绳海槽深海热液环境中丰度最高的化能自养微生物类群之一。为阐明ε变形菌门（Epsilonproteobacteria）的演化历史，尤其是其致病性的获得、广泛传播以及对多样生态位的适应机制，亟需更细致地揭示温和噬菌体（temperate phages）与深度分支ε变形菌谱系之间的协同演化过程。本研究对从多种硝酸破裂杆菌属菌株中诱导得到的噬菌体开展了系统特征解析，并完成了比较基因组学分析。