Agarose biodegradation by deep‐sea bacterium Vibrio natriegens WPAGA4 with the agarases through horizontal gene transfer

Abstract This study aimed to reveal the importance of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) for the agarose‐degrading ability and the related degradation pathway of a deep‐sea bacterium Vibrio natriegens WPAGA4, which was rarely reported in former works. A total of four agarases belonged to the GH50 family, including Aga3418, Aga3419, Aga3420, and Aga3472, were annotated and expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The agarose degradation products of Aga3418, Aga3420, and Aga3472 were neoagarobiose, while those of Aga3419 were neoagarobiose and neoagarotetraose. The RT‐qPCR analysis showed that the expression level ratio of Aga3418, Aga3419, Aga3420, and Aga3472 was stable at about 1:1:1.5:2.5 during the degradation, which indicated the optimal expression level ratio of the agarases for agarose degradation by V. natriegens WPAGA4. Based on the genomic information, three of four agarases and other agarose‐degrading related genes were in a genome island with a G + C content that was obviously lower than that of the whole genome of V. natriegens WPAGA4, indicating that these agarose‐degrading genes were required through HGT. Our results demonstrated that the expression level ratio instead of the expression level itself of agarase genes was crucial for agarose degradation by V. natriegens WPAGA4, and HGT occurred in the deep‐sea environment, thereby promoting the deep‐sea carbon cycle and providing a reference for studying the evolution and transfer pathways of agar‐related genes.