Particularly interesting cases of mutualistic endosymbioses come from the establishment of co-obligate associations of more than one species of endosymbiotic bacteria. Throughout symbiotic accommodation from a free-living bacterium, passing through a facultative stage and ending as an obligate intracellular one, the symbiont experiences massive genomic losses and phenotypic adjustments. Here, w...

BACKGROUND Endophytic bacteria that have plant growth promoting traits are of great interest in green biotechnology. The previous thought that the Azoarcus genus comprises bacteria that fit into one of two major eco-physiological groups, either free-living anaerobic biodegraders of aromatic compounds or obligate endophytes unable to degrade aromatics under anaerobic conditions, is revisited her...

Alishewanella sp. WH16-1 (= CCTCC M201507) is a facultative anaerobic, motile, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium isolated from soil of a copper and iron mine. This strain efficiently reduces chromate (Cr(6+)) to the much less toxic Cr(3+). In addition, it reduces sulfate (SO4 (2-)) to S(2-). The S(2-) could react with Cd(2+) to generate precipitated CdS. Thus, strain WH16-1 shows a great pote...

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, is a facultative intracellular Gram-negative bacillus which can survive and multiply in both phagocytic and nonphagocytic cells. This bacterium could also induce apoptosis in various cell types. In the present study, we extend our finding to demonstrate the role of RpoS of B. pseudomallei in apoptosis induction. Unlike the wild-type...

Interactions of a facultative anaerobic bacterial isolate named Paenibacillus sp. JG-TB8 with U(VI) were studied under oxic and anoxic conditions in order to assess the influence of the oxygen-dependent cell metabolism on microbial uranium mobilization and immobilization. We demonstrated that aerobically and anaerobically grown cells of Paenibacillus sp. JG-TB8 accumulate uranium from aqueous s...

Many insects host facultative, bacterial symbionts that confer conditional fitness benefits to their hosts. Hamiltonella defensa is a common facultative symbiont of aphids that provides protection against parasitoid wasps. Protection levels vary among strains of H. defensa that are also differentially infected by bacteriophages named APSEs. However, little is known about trait variation among s...

A facultative alkalophile capable of utilizing 4-chlorobenzoate (4-CBA), strain SB8, was isolated from soil with an alkaline medium (pH 10.0) containing the haloaromatic compound as the carbon source. The strain, identified as an Arthrobacter sp., showed rather extensive 4-CBA-degrading ability. 4-CBA utilization by the strain was possible in the alkaline medium containing up to 10 g of the com...

Arthrobacter sp. B6 is a Gram-positive, non-motile, facultative aerobic bacterium, isolated from the arsenic-contaminated aquifer sediment in the Datong basin, China. This strain displays high resistance to arsenic, and can dynamically transform arsenic under aerobic condition. Here, we described the high quality draft genome sequence, annotations and the features of Arthrobacter sp. B6. The G ...