Browsing by Author "Tanizawa, Yasuhiro"

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    Comparative genomics of Fructobacillus spp. and Leuconostoc spp. reveals nichespecific evolution of Fructobacillus spp.
    (BioMed Central, 2015) Endo, Akihito; Tanizawa, Yasuhiro; Tanaka, Naoto; Maeno, Shintaro; Kumar, Himanshu; Shiwa, Yuh; Okada, Sanae; Yoshikawa, Hirofumi; Dicks, Leon Milner Theodore, 1961-; Nakagawa, Junichi; Arita, Masanori
    Background: Fructobacillus spp. in fructose-rich niches belong to the family Leuconostocaceae. They were originally classified as Leuconostoc spp., but were later grouped into a novel genus, Fructobacillus, based on their phylogenetic position, morphology and specific biochemical characteristics. The unique characters, so called fructophilic characteristics, had not been reported in the group of lactic acid bacteria, suggesting unique evolution at the genome level. Here we studied four draft genome sequences of Fructobacillus spp. and compared their metabolic properties against those of Leuconostoc spp. Results: Fructobacillus species possess significantly less protein coding sequences in their small genomes. The number of genes was significantly smaller in carbohydrate transport and metabolism. Several other metabolic pathways, including TCA cycle, ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis and phosphotransferase systems, were characterized as discriminative pathways between the two genera. The adhE gene for bifunctional acetaldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase, and genes for subunits of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex were absent in Fructobacillus spp. The two genera also show different levels of GC contents, which are mainly due to the different GC contents at the third codon position. Conclusion: The present genome characteristics in Fructobacillus spp. suggest reductive evolution that took place to adapt to specific niches.
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    Unique niche-specific adaptation of fructophilic lactic acid bacteria and proposal of three Apilactobacillus species as novel members of the group
    (BMC (part of Springer Nature), 2021-02-09) Maeno, Shintaro; Nishimura, Hiroya; Tanizawa, Yasuhiro; Dicks, Leon; Arita, Masanori; Endo, Akihito
    Background: Fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) found in D-fructose rich niches prefer D-fructose over Dglucose as a growth substrate. They need electron acceptors for growth on D-glucose. The organisms share carbohydrate metabolic properties. Fructobacillus spp., Apilactobacillus kunkeei, and Apilactobacillus apinorum are members of this unique group. Here we studied the fructophilic characteristics of recently described species Apilactobacillus micheneri, Apilactobacillus quenuiae, and Apilactobacillus timberlakei. Results: The three species prefer D-fructose over D-glucose and only metabolize D-glucose in the presence of electron acceptors. The genomic characteristics of the three species, i.e. small genomes and thus a low number of coding DNA sequences, few genes involved in carbohydrate transport and metabolism, and partial deletion of adhE gene, are characteristic of FLAB. The three species thus are novel members of FLAB. Reduction of genes involved in carbohydrate transport and metabolism in accordance with reduction of genome size were the common characteristics of the family Lactobacillaceae, but FLAB markedly reduced the gene numbers more than other species in the family. Pan-genome analysis of genes involved in metabolism displayed a lack of specific carbohydrate metabolic pathways in FLAB, leading to a unique cluster separation. Conclusions: The present study expanded FLAB group. Fructose-rich environments have induced similar evolution in phylogenetically distant FLAB species. These are examples of convergent evolution of LAB.