Microbial Genome Sequencing: Life at the Land/Ocean Margin: Genomic Analysis of a Coastal Cyanobacterium

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A grant has been awarded to Dr. Brian Palenik of the University of California-San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in collaboration with Dr. Ian Paulsen, The Institute for Genomic Research, to sequence and analyze the complete genome of a coastal marine cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp. strain CC9311. This photosynthetic microorganism represents a widespread, ecologically relevant group that greatly contributes to the primary productivity of coastal environments. The investigators have hypothesized that this cyanobacterium, and coastal bacteria in general, have characteristic strategies for living in coastal, compared to open ocean, marine environments. For example these bacteria may have different or more protein pumps for excreting pollutants or toxic metals due to the higher level of these compounds in coastal environments. Using the genome sequence of CC9311 and comparing it to available genome sequences of open ocean cyanobacteria will help reveal these strategies.The information from this research will be available for future use to develop tools for monitoring cyanobacterial populations and their physiological status in coastal environments. Whether or not these microorganisms are being affected by pollutants at a particular coastal site can potentially be determined if genome information is available to develop monitoring techniques. Thus this project will contribute to the larger societal goal of monitoring coastal water quality. This project is also synergistic with costal marine projects funded by the NSF Microbial Observatories program. A broader impact of this project will be to communicate the basic concepts of genomics, their application to marine science, and the results of this research to the general public in the form of an exhibit at the Birch Aquarium, a significant tourist attraction and an important institution for science education in San Diego California. Training of future scientists (one graduate student and one post-doctoral fellow) will also occur in the emerging field of bioinformatics.