Corynebacterium jeikeium

Classification

Higher order taxa

Bacteria; Actinobacteria; Actinobacteridae; Actinomycetales; Corynebacterineae; Corynebacteriaceae; Corynebacterium

Genus

Corynebacterium jeikeium strain K411

NCBI: Taxonomy

Description and significance

Corynebacteria are gram positive, catalase-positive, aerobic, generally non-motile rods. Corynebacterium jeikeium, an opportunistic pathogen, commonly colonizes in the skin, especially in immunocompromised hosts. Because of its broad-spectrum resistance to antimicrobial agents, the susceptibility of C. jeikeium strains is studied to a range of antibiotics. The strains were separated into two groups depending on the susceptibility to erythromycin, with one group representing resistant organism and the other representing susceptible organisms.

(Describe the appearance, habitat, etc. of the organism, and why it is important enough to have its genome sequenced. Describe how and where it was isolated. Include a picture or two (with sources) if you can find them.)

Genome structure

The genome of C. jeikeium K411 consists of a circular chromosome of 2,462,499 base pairs, and around 14,000 of them are bacteriocin-producing plasmid. Bacteriocins are proteinaceous toxins produced by bacteria to inhibit the growth of similar or closely related bacterial strains. The chromosome of C. jeikeium K411 contains 2,104 predicted coding sequences, 52% of which were considered to originate from the same ancestor as in the Corynebacterium glutamicum, Corynebacterium efficiens, and Corynebacterium diphtheriae genomes.

(Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence? Does it have any plasmids? Are they important to the organism's lifestyle?)

Cell structure and metabolism

Corynebacterium jeikeium is a "lipophilic" bacterial species, meaning its growth is generally enhanced by the presence of lipids. Anaylyses of the genome sequence indicated that this feature most likely originated from the absence of fatty acid synthase, which leads to lipids becoming an essential nutritional requirement. Fatty acids are building blocks for the synthesis of cell walls, which are organized with other lipids to form a permeability barrier that contributes to the natural resistance of C. jeikeium to different types of antibiotics. Another special metabolic feature in C. jeikeium is their utilization of carbohydrates. Since the components of phosphotranferase systems (PTS) are not encoded by C. jeikeium, carbohydrate uptake may be mediated by a putative sodium:solute symporter, or by putative sugar-specific ATP-binding cassette(ABC) transporter. The restricted carbohydrate utilization reflects their adaptation to the availability of nutrients in the predominantly colonized areas of human skin.

Describe any interesting features and/or cell structures; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.

Ecology

Describe any interactions with other organisms (included eukaryotes), contributions to the environment, effect on environment, etc.

Pathology

Corynebacterium jeikeium is a multidrug-resistant bacteria of the human skin flora that causes infection in severely immunocompromised patients with indwelling medical devices. This pathogenic characteristic is particularly common in neutropenic patients with intravasular catheter, prolonged neutropenia, and/or those undergoing multiple antibiotic regiments. Patients who are diagnosed with Corynebacterium jeikeium show signs of normal bacterial infection such as fever. The predicted virulence factors of Corynebacterium jeikeium are mainly involved in ensuring the availability of exogenous fatty acids by damaging the host tissue. Studies done on the presnces of plasmids in C. jeikeium has shown that the multiresistance phenotype is encoded by the bacterial chromosome rather than associated with extrachromosomal DNA.

(How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.)

Application to Biotechnology

Does this organism produce any useful compounds or enzymes? What are they and how are they used?

Current Research

Enter summaries of the most recent research here--at least three required

References

C C Wang1, D Mattson2 and A Wald1,3. February 2001. " Corynebacterium jeikeium bacteremia in bone marrow transplant patients with Hickman catheters". Proceedings of Nature.com, Volume 27, Number 4, Pages 445-449

Adriana E. Rosato,† Bonnie S. Lee, and Kevin A. Nash* 2001. "Inducible Macrolide Resistance in Corynebacterium jeikeium" Proceedings of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, vol.45

Andreas Tauch,1* Olaf Kaiser,2 Torsten Hain,3 Alexander Goesmann,4 Bernd Weisshaar,5 Andreas Albersmeier,1 Thomas Bekel,4 Nicole Bischoff,1 Iris Brune,1 Trinad Chakraborty,3 Jörn Kalinowski,1 Folker Meyer,4 Oliver Rupp,4 Susanne Schneiker,2 Prisca Viehoever,5 and Alfred Pühler2. 2005. "Complete Genome Sequence and Analysis of the Multiresistant Nosocomial Pathogen Corynebacterium jeikeium K411, a Lipid-Requiring Bacterium of the Human Skin Flora."Proceedings of Journal of Bacteriology, vol. 187; July 2005

example:

Glockner, F. O., M. Kube, M. Bauer, H. Teeling, T. Lombardot, W. Ludwig, D. Gade, A. Beck, K Borzym, K Heitmann, R. Rabus, H. Schlesner, R. Amann, and R. Reinhardt. 2003. "Complete genome sequence of the marine planctomycete Pirellula sp. strain 1." Proceedings of the National Acedemy of Sciences, vol. 100, no. 14. (8298-8303)

Edited by student of Rachel Larsen and Kit Pogliano