ABSTRACT Paenibacillus dendritiformis is a Gram-positive, soil-dwelling, spore-forming social microorganism. An intriguing collective faculty of this strain is manifested by its ability to switch between different morphotypes, such as the branching (T) and the chiral (C) morphotypes. Here we report the 6.3-Mb draft genome sequence of the P. dendritiformis C454 chiral morphotype.

Background The pattern-forming bacterium Paenibacillus vortex is notable for its advanced social behavior, which is reflected in development of colonies with highly intricate architectures. Prior to this study, only two other Paenibacillus species ( Paenibacillus sp. JDR-2 and Paenibacillus larvae ) have been sequenced. However, no genomic data is available on the Paenibacillus species with pattern-forming and complex social motility. Here we report the de novo genome sequence of this Gram-positive, soil-dwelling, sporulating bacterium. Results The complete P. vortex genome was sequenced by a hybrid approach using 454 Life Sciences and Illumina, achieving a total of 289× coverage, with 99.8% sequence identity between the two methods. The sequencing results were validated using a custom designed Agilent microarray expression chip which represented the coding and the non-coding regions. Analysis of the P. vortex genome revealed 6,437 open reading frames (ORFs) and 73 non-coding RNA genes. Comparative genomic analysis with 500 complete bacterial genomes revealed exceptionally high number of two-component system (TCS) genes, transcription factors (TFs), transport and defense related genes. Additionally, we have identified genes involved in the production of antimicrobial compounds and extracellular degrading enzymes. Conclusions These findings suggest that P. vortex has advanced faculties to perceive and react to a wide range of signaling molecules and environmental conditions, which could be associated with its ability to reconfigure and replicate complex colony architectures. Additionally, P. vortex is likely to serve as a rich source of genes important for agricultural, medical and industrial applications and it has the potential to advance the study of social microbiology within Gram-positive bacteria.

Supplemental Figure S7. Increase in the frequencies of parallel deletion events in two adaptive recovery populations (66D, and 66E) and one control population (C3) containing another overlapping region on Chromosome X. The average copy-number per haploid genome was calculated from qPCR results and is indicated on the vertical axis. The number of recovery generations is indicated on the horizontal axis. The results show a strong decline in average copy-number of these three independent deletions that were initially detected by oaCGH. The deletions have reached fixation when the average copynumber has reached 0.