Lactobacillus casei, L. paracasei, and L. rhamnosus form a closely related taxonomic group (Lactobacillus casei group) within the facultatively heterofermentative lactobacilli. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of L. paracasei JCM 8130 and L. casei ATCC 393, and the draft genome sequence of L. paracasei COM0101, all of which were isolated from daily products. Furthermore, we re-anno...

BACKGROUND The Salmonella genomic island 1 (SGI1) is a Salmonella enterica-derived integrative mobilizable element (IME) containing various complex multiple resistance integrons identified in several S. enterica serovars and in Proteus mirabilis. Previous studies have shown that SGI1 transfers horizontally by in trans mobilization in the presence of the IncA/C conjugative helper plasmid pR55. ...

Clusters of genes acquired by lateral gene transfer in microbial genomes, are broadly referred to as genomic islands (GIs). GIs often carry genes important for genome evolution and adaptation to niches, such as genes involved in pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance. Therefore, GI prediction has gradually become an important part of microbial genome analysis. Despite inherent difficulties in i...

Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii has been associated with infections of the female breast. Genome sequencing of two strains revealed a specific genomic island in the multidrug-resistant isolate CNM633/14 with similarity to the R plasmid pJA144188 of Corynebacterium resistens DSM 45100, being indicative of the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes to C. kroppenstedtii.

We have identified Salmonella genomic island I (SGI1) in an isolate of Salmonella enterica serotype Paratyphi B. This antibiotic-resistance gene cluster, which confers multidrug resistance, has been previously identified in S. enterica serotype Typhimurium phage types DT 104 and DT 120 and in S. enterica serotype Agona.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a highly toxic environment for most living organisms due to the presence of many lethal elements including arsenic (As). Thiomonas (Tm.) bacteria are found ubiquitously in AMD and can withstand these extreme conditions, in part because they are able to oxidize arsenite. In order to further improve our knowledge concerning the adaptive capacities of these bacteria, we...

Exiguobacterium and Psychrobacter are bacterial genera with several cold-adapted species. These extremophiles are commonly isolated from the same habitats in Earth's cryosphere and have great ecological and biotechnological relevance. Thus, through comparative genomic analyses, it was possible to understand the functional diversity of these psychrotrophic and psychrophilic species and present n...

Intercontinental spread of emerging plant diseases is one of the most serious threats to world agriculture. One emerging disease is bacterial canker of kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa and A. chinensis) caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (PSA). The disease first occurred in China and Japan in the 1980s and in Korea and Italy in the 1990s. A more severe form of the disease broke out in...

Although many theoretical models of sympatric speciation propose that genes responsible for assortative mating amongst incipient species should be associated with genomic regions protected from recombination, there are few data to support this theory. The malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, is known for its sympatric cryptic species maintained by pre-mating reproductive isolation and its putat...

Levels of genetic differentiation between populations can be highly variable across the genome, with divergent selection contributing to such heterogeneous genomic divergence. For example, loci under divergent selection and those tightly physically linked to them may exhibit stronger differentiation than neutral regions with weak or no linkage to such loci. Divergent selection can also increase...