Query: NC_010475:2896000 Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, complete genome
Lineage: Synechococcus; Synechococcus; Synechococcaceae; Chroococcales; Cyanobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: The cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 (formerly known as Agmenellum quadruplicatum strain PR-6) was originally isolated in 1961 by Chase Van Baalen from an onshore, marine mud flat sample derived from fish pens on Maguyes Island, La Parguera, Puerto Rico. The organism grows in brackish (euryhaline/marine) water and is unicellular but tends to form short filaments of two to four cells during exponential growth at the temperature optimum of 38 degrees C. The strain is extremely tolerant of high light intensities and has been grown at light intensities equivalent to two suns. This unique combination of physiological and genetic properties have long made this strain an important model system to studies of the oxygenic photosynthetic apparatus, the regulation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and other aspects of cyanobacterial physiology and metabolism.
Subject: NC_007952:1293024 Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 chromosome 2, complete sequence
Lineage: Burkholderia xenovorans; Burkholderia; Burkholderiaceae; Burkholderiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Originally identified as Pseudomonas sp. LB400 that was found in contaminated soil in upstate New York, USA, this organism is now classified in the genus Burkholderia. Polychlorinated biphenyl-degrading bacterium. Member of the genus Burkholderia are versatile organisms that occupy a surprisingly wide range of ecological niches. These bacteria are exploited for biocontrol, bioremediation, and plant growth promotion purposes. Burkholderia xenovorans has been found on fungi, animals, and from human clinical isolates such as from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. It may be tightly associated with white-rot fungus, as the degadation of lignin by the fungus results in aromatic compounds the bacterium can then degrade. This organism is exceptionally capable of degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are environmental pollutants, and thus it may play a role in bioremediation of polluted and toxic sites and is studied as a model bioremediator. PCBs can be utilized as the sole carbon and energy source by this organism. The pathways for degradation of PCBs have been extensively characterized at both the genetic and the molecular level and have become a model system for the bacterial breakdown of these very persistent environmental contaminants.