Codon usage bias reveals genomic adaptations to environmental conditions in an acidophilic consortium
Author
dc.contributor.author
Hart, Andrew
Author
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Cortés, Maria Paz
Author
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Latorre, Mauricio
Author
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Martínez Aguilera, Servet
Admission date
dc.date.accessioned
2018-10-29T13:56:36Z
Available date
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2018-10-29T13:56:36Z
Publication date
dc.date.issued
2018-05-09
Cita de ítem
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Plos One Volumen: 13 Número: 5 Número de artículo: e0195869
es_ES
Identifier
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10.1371/journal.pone.0195869
Identifier
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https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/152270
Abstract
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The analysis of codon usage bias has been widely used to characterize different communities of microorganisms. In this context, the aim of this work was to study the codon usage bias in a natural consortium of five acidophilic bacteria used for biomining. The codon usage bias of the consortium was contrasted with genes from an alternative collection of acidophilic reference strains and metagenome samples. Results indicate that acidophilic bacteria preferentially have low codon usage bias, consistent with both their capacity to live in a wide range of habitats and their slow growth rate, a characteristic probably acquired independently from their phylogenetic relationships. In addition, the analysis showed significant differences in the unique sets of genes from the autotrophic species of the consortium in relation to other acidophilic organisms, principally in genes which code for proteins involved in metal and oxidative stress resistance. The lower values of codon usage bias obtained in this unique set of genes suggest higher transcriptional adaptation to living in extreme conditions, which was probably acquired as a measure for resisting the elevated metal conditions present in the mine.