Whole-Genome Analysis of Novacetimonas cocois and the Effects of Carbon Sources on Synthesis of Bacterial Cellulose

Abstract

Novacetimonas cocois WE7 (formally named Komagataeibacter cocois WE7) is a strain isolated from contaminated coconut milk, capable of producing bacterial cellulose (BC). We sequenced its genome to investigate why WE7 cannot synthesize BC from glucose efficiently. It contains about 3.5 Mb and six plasmid DNAs. N. cocois WE7 contains two bcs operons (bacterial cellulose operon, bcs I and bcs II); the absence of bcs III operons may lead to reduced BC production. From genome predictions, glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, and glycerol can be utilized to generate BC, with WE7 unable to metabolize carbohydrate carbon sources through the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) pathway, but rather through the Hexose Monophosphate Pathway (HMP) and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) pathways. It has a complete gluconic acid production pathway, suggesting that BC yield might be very low when glucose, maltose, and trehalose are used as carbon sources. This study represents the first genome analysis of N. cocois. This information is crucial for understanding BC production and regulation mechanisms in N. cocois and lays a foundation for constructing engineered strains tailored for diverse BC application purposes.