Microbial Genome Sequencing: Genome sequencing of Plant-associated Azospirillum brasilense

佐治亚理工学院的伊戈尔·B·朱林博士与佐治亚大学的安德鲁·帕特森博士和布法罗大学的马修斯·科法斯博士合作，并在澳大利亚、加拿大、比利时、法国、德国和以色列的参与下，对植物相关细菌巴西固氮螺杆菌的完整基因组进行了测序。该菌具有作为小麦、水稻、玉米、高粱等重要作物有机肥的潜力。巴西固氮螺菌具有独特的生物学特性，可用于抗氧化剂等重要生物分子的工业化生产。为了充分挖掘这种生物的生物学、农学和工业潜力，将使用最先进的高通量技术对其全基因组进行测序。生物信息将利用现代生物信息学技术从基因组序列中提取出来，并在互联网上以用户友好的数据库向整个学术界和公众展示。这笔赠款将使美国三所公立大学的研究人员和学生在基因组技术的前沿获得实验和生物科学方面的独特经验。它的目的是促进美国和许多外国科学家在从农学到遗传学再到代谢工程等跨学科领域的合作和交流。以固氮螺菌为基础的生物肥料今后的使用将大大降低与目前使用化肥有关的健康问题的危险，并将促进可持续农业。根据这项资助获得的固氮螺菌基因组序列将使代谢工程师能够开发新一代环境友好型生物技术产品。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Igor B. Jouline of the Georgia Institute of Technology, in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Paterson of the University of Georgia and Dr. Mattheos Koffas of the University at Buffalo and with participation of several laboratories from Australia, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany and Israel to sequence the complete genome of the plant-associated bacterium Azospirillum brasilense. This bacterium has a potential to be developed as an organic fertilizer for important crops, such as wheat, rice, corn and sorghum. Azospirillum brasilense possesses unique biological characteristics that can also be used in the industrial production of important biological molecules, such as anti-oxidants. In order to fully uncover the biological, agronomical and industrial potential of this organism, its whole genome will be sequenced using the state-of-the-art high-throughput technology. Biological information will be derived from the genomic sequence using modern bioinformatic techniques and displayed to the entire academic community and general public in a user-friendly database on the Internet.This grant will enable researchers and students in three public US universities to gain a unique experience in both experimental and biological science on the forefront of the genome technology. It will serve a purpose of promoting collaboration and communication between scientists in the United States and many foreign countries in cross-disciplinary areas: from agronomy to genetics to metabolic engineering. The future use of Azospirillum-based biological fertilizers will significantly decrease the danger of health problems associated with the current use of chemical fertilizers and will promote sustainable agriculture. Genomic sequence of Azospirillum obtained under this grant will enable metabolic engineers to develop a new generation of environmentally friendly biotechnological products.