RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Extensive Horizontal Gene Transfer in Cheese-Associated Bacteria
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 079137
DO 10.1101/079137
A1 Kevin S. Bonham
A1 Benjamin E. Wolfe
A1 Rachel J. Dutton
YR 2016
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/05/079137.1.abstract
AB Acquisition of genes through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) allows microbes to rapidly gain new capabilities and adapt to new or changing environments. Identifying widespread HGT regions within multispecies microbiomes can pinpoint the molecular mechanisms that play key roles in microbiome assembly. We sought to identify horizontally transferred genes within a model microbiome, the cheese rind. Comparing 31 newly-sequenced and 134 previously sequenced bacterial isolates from cheese rinds, we identified over 200 putative horizontally transferred genomic regions containing 4,844 protein coding genes. The largest of these regions are enriched for genes involved in siderophore acquisition, and are widely distributed in cheese rinds in both Europe and the US. These results suggest that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is prevalent in cheese rind microbiomes, and the identification of genes that are frequently transferred in a particular environment may provide insight into the selective forces shaping microbial communities.