Comparative Genomic Analysis of Limosilactobacillus Pontis Reveals Genetic Characteristics of High GC Content and Potential Niches Adaptations
Abstract Limosilactobacillus pontis is a species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) found in fermented milk, sourdough and broiler chickens gastrointestinal tract and so on. However, the evolutionary strategies and genomic characteristics of the species remain unknown, which limits its application. In this study, whole genome sequencing was combined with a comparative genomic approach to investigate genomic characteristics and evolutionary strategies of L. pontis; this includes three published genomic sequences and two strains isolated from fermented milk in Inner Mongolia, China. The mean genome size and GC content of L. pontis was 1.70 Mb and 53.06%, respectively. Within the LAB L. pontis has a high GC content. The phylogenetic tree based on 1,281 core genomes showed that strains from the same sources aggregated together in clusters. Genome information, average nucleotide identity values, and phylogenetic relationships amongst L. pontis from different sources indicated that strains have potential niche adaptability. Functional genomic aspects, GT2 and GT4 (glycosyltransferases, GTs) involved in the synthesis of cellulose and sucrose were the family with the largest number of carbohydrate enzymes in L. pontis, particularly strains isolated from fermented milk. It is worth mentioning that the ability of L. pontis to produce bacteriocin may increase its application potential. This study provides new insight into the genetic characteristics and potential niche adaptations of L. pontis.