Draft genome sequence of a novel Bacillus glycinifermentans strain having antifungal and antibacterial properties

Bacillus spp. have been used as biocontrol agents against soilborne pathogens because they produce secondary metabolites that exhibit a wide range of antibacterial or antifungal properties. In this study, a novel strain of Bacillus glycinifermentans sp. (JRCGR-1) was identified and its genome was sequenced and annotated. The genome was explored for putative genes involved in antimicrobial activity.

Whole-genome sequencing was performed on an Illumina NextSeq 500 platform. Read quality was checked by FastQC, paired-end reads were trimmed using Sickle, and de novo assembly was performed using SPAdes v.3.11.11. QUAST 5.02 was used to assess the quality of contigs and scaffolds. Finally, the assembled scaffolds were annotated by Prokka v.1.13. Genes involved in antimicrobial metabolite biosynthesis were predicted using antiSMASH. Virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes were predicted using BacWGSTdb and the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD), respectively.

The genome of B. glycinifermentans JRCGR-1 was 4 700 692 bp in size with a G + C content of 45.52%. Final assembly of the genome resulted into 84 contigs and 83 scaffolds (>500 bp length). Overall, the genome comprises 5174 genes, 32 tRNAs, 4 rRNAs, 1 tmRNA and 92 misc_RNAs. Eleven putative gene clusters responsible for antimicrobial metabolite biosynthesis were identified, including genes for biosynthesis of non-ribosomal lipopeptides and polyketides. Virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes were also identified in the genome.

The presence of antimicrobial resistance genes in the genome of B. glycinifermentans JRCGR-1 makes it a potential biocontrol agent against soilborne pathogens.