Conclusion - nuriagaralon/genome-analysis GitHub Wiki

The genome of Leptospirillum ferriphilum's type strain was assembled successfully, as it was coherent with the available reference genome. Genes specific to its niche were predicted and annotated on this genome, as well as the expected housekeeping genes. Their metabolic pathways were mapped and it was shown that L. ferriphilum possessed genes related to nitrogen fixation, biofilm formation, flagellar assembly and chemotaxis, among others. Some of these genes were also found in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, which shares the iron oxidiser niche. Synteny was very conserved within strains of the same species, but not so much with different species, even within the same genus.

The transcriptome was also analysed and differences in expression were found between chemostat cultures and bioleaching cultures, specially in those related to motility and biofilm formation. These were more expressed in bioleaching cultures, as flagella and biofilms are required to acquire nutrients when they are not in solution.