Evidence of Mobility in the 3-chlorobenzoate Degradative Genes in a Pristine Soil Isolate, Burkholderia phytofirmans OLGA172

The genome of B. phytofirmans OLGA172 has been sequenced by Next Generation sequencing methods. Over 42 kbp of its genome surrounding its 3CBA degradative genes, tfdCIDIEIFI, was assembled and annotated. The most important method used was the synteny method, which implies homology between the genes, and descent from a common ancestor (Guttman, 2008). The conserved gene order between B. phytofirmans PsJN, B. xenovorans LB400, and OLGA172 was used as a confirmation of annotation through BLASTn, enabled closing of the gaps in the sequencing data, and allowed prediction of genes further downstream. Though the whole genome is not yet assembled, a very significant region carrying a concentrated area of mobile genetic elements (MGE) has been found to surround the degradative genes in OLGA172. This thesis details the sequence evidence that, upon examination of closely related strains, OLGA172 and its related strain from pristine soils may be the ancestral chlorobenzoate degraders.MAS