title: High-quality permanent draft genome sequence of Ensifer medicae strain WSM244, a microsymbiont isolated from Medicago polymorpha growing in alkaline soil.
abstract: Ensifer medicae WSM244 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that can exist as a soil saprophyte or as a legume microsymbiont of Medicago species. WSM244 was isolated in 1979 from a nodule recovered from the roots of the annual Medicago polymorpha L. growing in alkaline soil (pH 8.0) in Tel Afer, Iraq. WSM244 is the only acid-sensitive E. medicae strain that has been sequenced to date. It is effective at fixing nitrogen with M. polymorpha L., as well as with more alkaline-adapted Medicago spp. such as M. littoralis Loisel., M. scutellata (L.) Mill., M. tornata (L.) Mill. and M. truncatula Gaertn. This strain is also effective with the perennial M. sativa L. Here we describe the features of E. medicae WSM244, together with genome sequence information and its annotation. The 6,650,282 bp high-quality permanent draft genome is arranged into 91 scaffolds of 91 contigs containing 6,427 protein-coding genes and 68 RNA-only encoding genes, and is one of the rhizobial genomes sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project proposal.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9938-606X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ardley
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.affiliation: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA.
authors.forename: Rekha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seshadri
authors.affiliation: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA.
authors.forename: T B K
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA.
authors.forename: Amrita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pati
authors.affiliation: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Woyke
authors.affiliation: Biological Data Management and Technology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA USA.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.affiliation: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.affiliation: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA ; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kyrpides
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Howieson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Reeve
keywords: Alphaproteobacteria; Ensifer; GEBA-RNB; Nitrogen fixation; Root-nodule bacteria; Symbiosis