Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Thermobifida fusca is a moderate thermophilic soil bacterium that belongs to actinobacteria. It is a major degrader of plant cell walls. Complete genome sequence showed that the T. fusca genome consists of a single circular chromosome of 3642249 bp with 85% of the genome sequence predicted to encode 3117 proteins and 65 RNA species. Genome analysis revealed the existence of 29 putative glycosyl hydrolases in addition to the 6 already identified cellulases. The glucosyl hydrolases include enzymes predicted to exhibit mainly dextran/starch and xylan degrading functions. At least two of the secreted cellulases have sequence signatures that indicate their secretion is mediated by the twin-arginine translocation system. Beside the twin-arginine translocation sysem, T. fusca possesses components of the sec system that allows proteins to cross the inner membrane and appears to lack other major secretion systems. T. fusca has the core phosphotransferase system components as other Actinobacteria but lacks PTS transporters. Genome comparisons reveal that 146 genes were laterally transferred to T. fusca. T. fusca has a small number (39) of unique genes.