Conservation of the chitin utilization pathway in the Vibrionaceae.
Published
Journal Article
Vibrionaceae are regarded as important marine chitin degraders, and attachment to chitin regulates important biological functions; yet, the degree of chitin pathway conservation in Vibrionaceae is unknown. Here, a core chitin degradation pathway is proposed based on comparison of 19 Vibrio and Photobacterium genomes with a detailed metabolic map assembled for V. cholerae from published biochemical, genomic, and transcriptomic results. Further, to assess whether chitin degradation is a conserved property of Vibrionaceae, a set of 54 strains from 32 taxa were tested for the ability to grow on various forms of chitin. All strains grew on N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), the monomer of chitin. The majority of isolates grew on alpha (crab shell) and beta (squid pen) chitin and contained chitinase A (chiA) genes. chiA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis suggest that this gene is a good indicator of chitin metabolism but appears subject to horizontal gene transfer and duplication. Overall, chitin metabolism appears to be a core function of Vibrionaceae, but individual pathway components exhibit dynamic evolutionary histories.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Hunt, DE; Gevers, D; Vahora, NM; Polz, MF
Published Date
- January 2008
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 74 / 1
Start / End Page
- 44 - 51
PubMed ID
- 17933912
Pubmed Central ID
- 17933912
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1098-5336
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0099-2240
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1128/AEM.01412-07
Language
- eng