Bioinformatic analysis and gene prediction in genomic sequences from Clostridium sp. IBUN22A

This work was aimed at identifying gene sequences in recombinant clones obtained from a genomic library from the Colombian Clostridium sp. IBUN 22A native strain. Nine clones greater than 500 bp were sequenced and analysed using BLAST 2.2.8 to search for complete inserts or their translated open reading frames (ORFs) in GenBank 141.0 and Uniprot 6.6. Seven genes having high similarity to housekeeping genes from different Clostridium species were identified. An 851 bp sequence was located in the pBsIBUN22A-1 clone, having 99.74% identity with the gene encoding the Clostridium butyricum enzyme glycerol dehydratase (DhaBl) which is involved in 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) production. Identifying genes in the native IBUN 22A strain formed the starting point for basic research and metabolic engineering aimed at making 1,3-PD production more profitable and increasing knowledge of genes present in the native strain. Key words: glycerol dehydratase, 1,3-propanediol, genomic library, Clostridium, sequence analysis.