Microbial Genome Sequencing: Genomic Sequencing of Two Globally Ubiquitous Members of the Epsilon Proteobacteria Found in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Environments

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A grant has been awarded to Drs. Craig Cary and Barbara Campbell of the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies to sequence the genome of Am-H, a free-living bacterium that represents the dominant type of bacteria found at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the deep subsurface biosphere. In addition, a pilot study will be undertaken in collaboration with Lucigen Corporation to prove our ability to sequence a genome from a single cell of a bacterium found in a symbiotic relationship with the deep-sea hydrothermal vent annelid, Alvinella pompejana. Both target bacteria belong to the epsilon Proteobacteria. No environmentally relevant epsilon Proteobacteria have been sequenced except the human intestinal pathogens, Helicobacter and Campylobacter. Both marine bacteria are physiologically distinct from these human pathogens, where they fix carbon dioxide for their metabolism. They perform this task via a poorly described alternative carbon fixation pathway. The investigators will sequence the Am-H genome to completion using standard methods currently available at the University of Delaware and at The Institute for Genome Research (TIGR). Genome sequence information from these bacteria will expand the research of a wide range of investigators working on these globally ubiquitous bacteria. Studying these genomes will also help researchers to understand bacterial evolution and even the early history of life on Earth. This study will advance the knowledge of researchers interested in global carbon cycling and carbon dioxide fixation processes. Finally, the ramifications of single cell genomic technology will make a substantial impact on the future of environmental genomics. Directly, this research will provide extremely valuable training for both graduate and undergraduate students in environmental genomics and bioinformatics. This project will also be a focus of the University of Delaware's national and international outreach program for secondary schools that has directly reached over 100,000 students in the last 3 years of operation. (www.ocean.udel.edu/expeditions/index.html). Sequences resulting from this project will be submitted to two public databases and will be presented in both presentation and publication form.