ena-PROJECT-UCSC-17-01-2013-22:07:49:700-4
Genome sequence of Crocosphaera watsonii strain WH0005
This genome is part of a comparative genomic study of six strains of Crocosphaera watsonii - a biogeochemically important nitrogen-fixing marine cyanobacterium.  Four genomes were sequenced for the study and two had been previously sequenced.  The six strains are a single species but fall into two phenotypic groups, three large-cell types and three small-cell types, with ecosystem implications for some of the phenotypic differences. For example, the large-cell types produce up to 10 times the amount of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) as the small cell-strains, indicating that their contribution to marine carbon cycling is much larger than the small-cell types. In previous work, DNA sequences for genetic markers were identical for all strains, despite the known phenotypic differences.  In this study, whole-genome comparisons were used to identify the genetic basis for observed differences between strains.  The strain of this project, WH0005, is a large-cell strain.
This genome is part of a comparative genomic study of six strains of Crocosphaera watsonii - a biogeochemically important nitrogen-fixing marine cyanobacterium.  Four genomes were sequenced for the study and two had been previously sequenced.  The six strains are a single species but fall into two phenotypic groups, three large-cell types and three small-cell types, with ecosystem implications for some of the phenotypic differences. For example, the large-cell types produce up to 10 times the amount of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) as the small cell-strains, indicating that their contribution to marine carbon cycling is much larger than the small-cell types. In previous work, DNA sequences for genetic markers were identical for all strains, despite the known phenotypic differences.  In this study, whole-genome comparisons were used to identify the genetic basis for observed differences between strains.  The strain of this project, WH0005, is a large-cell strain.