Burkholderia xenovorans
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Burkholderia xenovorans
Classification
Higher order taxa
Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Betaprotobacteria; Burkholderiales; Burkholderiaceae; Burkholderia
Species
NCBI: Taxonomy |
Genus species
Burkholderia xenovorans
Description and significance
Burkholderia xenovorans is an important aerobic degrader of polychlorinatred biphenyl (PCB), which is an organic chemical that has industrial use but is toxic to animals and humans. The LB400 strain is the most studied strain due to its ability to oxidize over 20 different PCB congeners. It was isolated in a landfill contaminated by PCB in New York over 20 years ago. Burkholderia xenovorans' environmental niche is in soil rhizospheres, which is the soil area surrounding plant roots.
Genome structure
The genome size of Burkholderia xenovorans varies between 7.4 to 9.3 Mbp, depending upon the particular strain. Burkholderia xenovorans has three circular replicons: chromosome 1 at 4.90 Mbp and chromosome 2 at 3.36 Mbp and a megaplasmid at 1.47 Mbp. Chromosome 1 contains homologs of dnaA (a chromosomal replication initiation protein) and dnaN (a DNA polymerase subunit). Chromosome 2 contains genes important for plasmid replication and partitioning, as well as other genes that help Burkholderia xenovorans adapt to it environmental niche. Unlike the chromosomes, the megaplasmid at 1.47 Mbp does not contain any essential functions or RNA.
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Cell structure and metabolism
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Ecology
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Pathology
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Application to Biotechnology
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Current Research
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References
Edited by student of Rachel Larsen