Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus B316

Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus (strain ATCC 51982 / DSM 14932 / B316) is an anaerobic, polysaccharide-degrading, butyrate-forming rumen, Gram-positive bacterium isolated from the bovine rumen and with a key role in plant polysaccharide degradation. The 4.4Mb genome consists of 4 replicons; a chromosome, a chromid and two megaplasmids. The chromid is the smallest reported for all bacteria, and the first identified from the phylum Firmicutes. B. proteoclasticus devotes a large proportion of its genome to the breakdown and reassembly of complex polysaccharides and has a highly developed glycobiome when compared to other sequenced bacteria. The secretion of a range of polysaccharide-degrading enzymes which initiate the breakdown of pectin, starch and xylan, a subtilisin family protease active against plant proteins, and diverse intracellular enzymes to break down oligosaccharides constitute the degradative capability of this organism. A prominent feature of B. proteoclasticus is the presence of multiple gene clusters predicted to be involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis. Metabolic reconstruction reveals the absence of an identifiable gene for enolase, a conserved enzyme of the glycolytic pathway. This is the first report of an organism lacking an enolase. (Adapted from PMID: 20689770). (EBI Integr8)