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The H 2 -oxidizing lithoautotrophic bacterium Ralstonia eutropha H16 is a metabolically versatile organism capable of subsisting, in the absence of organic growth substrates, on H 2 and CO 2 as its sole sources of energy and carbon. R. eutropha H16 first attracted biotechnological interest nearly 50 years ago with the realization that the organism's ability to produce and store large amounts of poly[ R -(–)-3-hydroxybutyrate] and other polyesters could be harnessed to make biodegradable plastics. Here we report the complete genome sequence of the two chromosomes of R. eutropha H16. Together, chromosome 1 (4,052,032 base pairs (bp)) and chromosome 2 (2,912,490 bp) encode 6,116 putative genes. Analysis of the genome sequence offers the genetic basis for exploiting the biotechnological potential of this organism and provides insights into its remarkable metabolic versatility.

Ralstonia eutropha is a strictly respiratory facultative lithoautotrophic beta-proteobacterium. In the absence of organic substrates, H2 and CO2 are used as sole sources of energy and carbon. In the absence of oxygen, the organism can respire by denitrification. The recent determination of the complete genome sequence of strain H16 provides the opportunity to reconcile the results of previous physiological and biochemical studies in light of the coding capacity. These analyses revealed genes for several isoenzymes, permit assignment of well-known physiological functions to previously unidentified genes, and suggest the presence of unknown components of energy metabolism. The respiratory chain is fueled by two NADH dehydrogenases, two uptake hydrogenases and at least three formate dehydrogenases. The presence of genes for five quinol oxidases and three cytochrome oxidases indicates that the aerobic respiration chain adapts to varying concentrations of dioxygen. Several additional components may act in balancing or dissipation of redox energy. Paralogous sets of nitrate reductase and nitric oxide reductase genes result in enzymatic redundancy for denitrification.