Microbial Genome Sequencing: Sequencing of the Frankia CcI3 Genome, a Nitrogen-Fixing Plant Symbiotic Actinomycete

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A grant has been awarded to Drs. David R. Benson of the University of Connecticut, and his collaborators, Dr. Pilar Francino at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, and Dr. Louis S. Tisa, University of New Hampshire to establish the first complete nucleotide sequence of the genome from Frankia sp. strain HFPCcI3. Members of this group of bacteria live in root nodules on certain woody plants and provide nitrogen for plant growth. The plants colonize nitrogen poor soils in subarctic, temperate and tropical regions of the world and help remediate soil impacted by human activity. Frankia strains also display some unique characteristics. They are filamentous, produce spores in sporangia and make unique cellular structures known as "vesicles" that are induced specifically to house the biochemical machinery that fixes nitrogen. The DNA of the organism will be isolated, purified and extracted and each fragment will be sequenced and subsequently the complete genetic code will be pieced together by a combination of state-of-the art molecular and computational techniques. The genome sequence generated in this project will provide researchers who study plant symbioses and Frankia biology, with a wealth of information and tools for years to come. More broadly, this project will be felt by the scientific community as a whole, and by schools and colleges who will be able to access the genome via a website constructed at different levels of complexity. The broader scientific community, especially those studying the evolution of related bacteria, including antibiotic-producing bacteria, will benefit by having access to the sequences as they emerge in public databases. Sequence information will be exploited concurrent with its emergence for stimulating existing undergraduate and graduate courses at the Univ. Connecticut and Univ. New Hampshire. To introduce students to the ecological significance of the symbiosis, readily grasped biological concepts will be integrated with insights derived from the genome sequence at a Frankia-dedicated website created to be accessible in classrooms for high school and beginning undergraduate students.