Complete genome sequence and comparative analysis of the industrial microorganism Streptomyces avermitilis

Nat Biotechnol. 2003 May;21(5):526-31. doi: 10.1038/nbt820. Epub 2003 Apr 14.

Abstract

Species of the genus Streptomyces are of major pharmaceutical interest because they synthesize a variety of bioactive secondary metabolites. We have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the linear chromosome of Streptomyces avermitilis. S. avermitilis produces avermectins, a group of antiparasitic agents used in human and veterinary medicine. The genome contains 9,025,608 bases (average GC content, 70.7%) and encodes at least 7,574 potential open reading frames (ORFs). Thirty-five percent of the ORFs (2,664) constitute 721 paralogous families. Thirty gene clusters related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis were identified, corresponding to 6.6% of the genome. Comparison with Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) revealed that an internal 6.5-Mb region in the S. avermitilis genome was highly conserved with respect to gene order and content, and contained all known essential genes but showed perfectly asymmetric structure at the oriC center. In contrast, the terminal regions were not conserved and preferentially contained nonessential genes.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Base Sequence
  • Conserved Sequence / genetics
  • DNA, Bacterial / chemistry*
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Genome, Bacterial*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Sequence Alignment / methods*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA / methods
  • Sequence Analysis, Protein
  • Sequence Homology
  • Species Specificity
  • Streptomyces / classification*
  • Streptomyces / genetics*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial