Comparative Genomic Analysis of Closely Related Acetobacter pasteurianus Strains Provides Evidence of Horizontal Gene Transfer and Reveals Factors Necessary for Thermotolerance.

ABSTRACT

Acetobacter pasteurianus is an industrial strain used for the vinegar production. Many A. pasteurianus strains with different phenotypic characteristics have been isolated so far. To understand the genetic background underpinning these phenotypes, a comparative genomic analysis of A. pasteurianus strains was conducted. Based on bioinformatics and experimental results, we report the following. (i) The gene repertoire related to the respiratory chains showed that several horizontal gene transfer events occurred after the divergence of these strains, indicating that the respiratory chain in A. pasteurianus has the diversity to adapt to its environment. (ii) There is a clear difference in thermotolerance even between 12 closely related strains. NBRC 3279, NBRC 3284, and NBRC 3283, in particular, which have only 55 mutations in total, showed differences in thermotolerance. The Na+/H+ antiporter gene nhaK2 was mutated in the thermosensitive NBRC 3279 and NBRC 3284 strains and not in the thermotolerant NBRC 3283 strain. The Na+/H+ antiporter activity of the three strains and expression of nhaK2 gene from NBRC 3283 in the two thermosensitive strains showed that these mutations are critical for thermotolerance. These results suggested that horizontal gene transfer events and several mutations have affected the phenotypes of these closely related strains.IMPORTANCEAcetobacter pasteurianus, an industrial vinegar-producing strain, exhibits diverse phenotypic differences such as respiratory activity related to acetic acid production, acetic acid resistance, or thermotolerance. In this study, we investigated the correlations between genome sequences and phenotypes among closely related A. pasteurianus strains. The gene repertoire related to the respiratory chains showed that the respiratory components of A. pasteurianus has a diversity caused by several horizontal gene transfers and mutations. In three closely related strains with clear differences in their thermotolerances, we found that the insertion or deletion that occurred in the Na+/H+ antiporter gene nhaK2 is directly related to their thermotolerance. Our study suggests that a relatively quick mutation has occurred in the closely related A. pasteurianus due to its genetic instability and that this has largely affected its phenotype.