Complete Genome Sequence of Bifidobacterium longum W11 (LMG P-21586), Used as a Probiotic Strain.

We report the complete genome sequence of Bifidobacterium longum W11 (LMG P-21586) isolated from the intestinal microbiota of a healthy man. The analysis of the sequence may provide insights into the microbiological characteristics and the functional activity of this probiotic strain.

GENOME ANNOUNCEMENT

Members of the genus Bifidobacterium are nonmotile non-spore-forming Gram-positive polymorphic anaerobic rods, with a high G+C DNA content. Bifidobacterium spp. ferment carbohydrates to produce acetic acid and lactic acid but no carbon dioxide, and they metabolize glucose via the fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase shunt (1–3). This genus represents an important commensal group of the human intestinal microbiota, particularly during breastfeeding (4). Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum W11 (LMG P-21586) has been isolated from the intestinal microbiota of a healthy man and has been studied for some microbial characteristics (5–8).

Genomic DNA of B. longum W11 was subject to whole-genome sequencing using MiSeq (Illumina, United Kingdom) at GenProbio s.r.l. (Parma, Italy). Paired-end reads obtained from targeted genome sequencing were used as input for the genome assemblies through the MEGAnnotator pipeline (9). The MIRA program (version 4.0) was used for the de novo assembly, while proteins encoded by open reading frames (ORFs) were predicted using Prodigal. The circular chromosome contains 2,329,981 bp with 1,884 ORFs, with these total numbers being higher than those in the representative B. longum NCC2705. The average of G+C content of the genome is 59.9%.

The complete genome sequence of B. longum W11 may be useful to better understand the health-promoting characteristics of this probiotic strain and to clarify the mechanisms involved in its interaction with the host.

Accession number(s).

This whole-genome shotgun project has been deposited at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under the accession number MRBG00000000. The version described in this paper is version MRBG01000000.