The Biomedical Group of Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd cooperates with a Korean biotechnology company, BioLeaders Corporation, to analyze a whole genome of Symbiobacterium toebii, which was isolated from soil in Korea. The microorganism is one strain of symbiotic thermophiles which show normal growth only in co-culture with their supporting bacteria and its optimal growth temperature is 60°C. BioLeaders found that a thermophilic strain of Geobacillus is the supporting bacteria for Symbiobacterium toebii and established an axenic culture method of Symbiobacterium using the cell-free extracts from Geobacillus. This allowed its genomic DNA to be obtained and analyzed.

Dragon Genomics, a subsidiary wholly-owned by Takara Biomedical Group, has completed 3.5 million sequences of Symbiobacterium toebii's genome as one of their genome projects. It will be the first genomic analysis of a symbiotic microorganism. Scientists at Dragon are finding that its genome contains about 3500 genes and a half of the genes do not show any homology with genes known in other usual bacteria. This shows that the symbiotic microorganism is quite different from other bacteria of which genomes have been sequenced. BioLeaders and the Biomedical Group expect that functional analyses of these novel genes will lead to discovery of new enzymes useful in industries.

This article is translated from the press release in Japanese for your convenience.