Draft Genome Sequence of Bifidobacterium lemurum DSM 28807T Isolated from the Gastrointestinal Tracts of Ring-Tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta).

Bifidobacterium lemurum DSM 28807T was isolated from the gastrointestinal tracts of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Here, we report the first draft genome sequence of this organism.

GENOME ANNOUNCEMENT

Bifidobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria with high G+C contents that are commonly found in the human and animal gastrointestinal tracts. Bifidobacteria are widely used as probiotic organisms, which confer a health benefit to the host when administered in adequate amounts. Genome sequences of bifidobacterial strains residing in the human gastrointestinal tract have been determined (1). However, studies of bifidobacteria of nonhuman primates are very few. Several studies recently have focused on bifidobacteria isolated from nonhuman primates. The novel species Bifidobacterium lemurum isolated from ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) was reported (2). The 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence of B. lemurum DSM 28807T, which was isolated from feces of a 5-year-old ring-tailed lemur (2), showed the highest similarity to that of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis ATCC 15697T (96%) and Bifidobacterium breve DSM 20213T (96%). Thus, B. lemurum seems to belong to the B. longum group (3).

The B. lemurum DSM 28807T genome was paired-end sequenced using Illumina’s MiSeq platform. Genomic libraries containing 600- to 1,000-bp inserts were constructed and sequenced, yielding 1,693,343 reads that provided 174-fold coverage of the genome. The sequence reads were assembled using CLC Genomics Workbench version 9.0.1, and the assembled genome consists of 47 contigs with a total length of 2,912,026 bp. This is the third largest bifidobacterial genome after Bifidobacterium biavatii (3.26 Mb) (4) and Bifidobacterium scardovii (3.16 Mb) (5) reported to date. The genome has a G+C content of 62.6%, which is the highest for a Bifidobacterium species. The draft genome of B. lemurum DSM 28807T contained 2,322 predicted protein-coding genes. In the B. longum group, the genome of B. lemurum DSM 28807T shared 1,445 and 1,400 protein-coding genes with those of Bifidobacterium saguini DSM 23967T (4) and Bifidobacterium reuteri DSM 23975T (4), respectively. In contrast, the genome of B. lemurum DSM 28807T shared 1,309 and 1,299 protein-coding genes with those of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis JCM 1222T (6) and Bifidobacterium breve JCM 1192T (7), respectively. Thus, B. lemurum DSM 28807T shared more genes with the strains isolated from monkey gut (B. saguini and B. reuteri) than those from human gut (B. longum subsp. infantis and B. breve) in the B. longum group. B. lemurum DSM 28807T contained more genes involved in carbohydrate transport and metabolism and transcription than bifidobacterial strains residing in the human gut. The genome information of this species will be useful for further studies of its physiology, taxonomy, and ecology.

Accession number(s).

The draft genome sequence for B. lemurum DSM 28807T has been deposited in the DDBJ/GenBank/EMBL database under accession numbers BDIS01000001 to BDIS01000047.