Ecology, evolution, and lifestyle of the diazotrophic phytopathogen Herbaspirillum rubrisubalbicans by means of comparative genomics

• Grant number: 24/00468-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Filipe Pereira Matteoli
• Grantee: Beatriz Augusto Domingos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The presence of nif genes in bacterial genome, which encode the nitrogenase enzyme that performs nitrogen fixation, is largely accepted as a genotypic hallmark of a plant growth promoting bacteria. The rod shaped, Gram-negative phytopathogen Herbaspirillum rubrisubalbicans has been extensively reported as a nif carrier, capable to fix atmosferic N2. Little is known about H. rubrisubalbicans biology, besides its nitrogen-fixing and phytopathogenic behavior towards a handful group of plants of economic interest. This ecological dichotomy added to the constitutive presence of nif across all known genomes of the species, along with the root behavior of H. rubrisubalbicans within Herbaspirillum genus, delineate this species as a promising model to investigate other possible roles of the nif cluster and the relation genotype-phenotype, with emphasis on the duality plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB)-pathogen. For these reasons, this project aims to study the nine available genomes of H. rubrisubalbicans, in order to uncover its metabolic pathways, annotating genes related to both beneficial and pathogenic behaviors towards plants. We will also study the whole set of genes predicted for this species, known as pangenome, along with the identification of unique regions and regions derived from horizontal gene transfers. At last, detailed analyses of the genomic region encoding the nif cluster will allow us to compare these sequences aiming to understand the gene flow of this cluster within the Oxalobacteraceae family.