Azospirillum formosense strain:Nfb7 Genome sequencing and assembly. Azospirillum formosense strain:Nfb7

This study focuses on the comparative analysis of the whole genome sequences of different Azospirillum strains, which will help to resolve the phylogenetic relationships within this clade of the phylogenetic tree. The relevance of this becomes clear when the importance of some of these strains is considered. The most prominent example, Azospirillum brasilense, has established as one of the best studied plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. As a non-symbiotic microbe that colonizes roots of a variety of important crop plants, it possesses a great potential for application as a biofertilizer. This important agricultural application potential makes it mandatory to be able to discriminate this beneficial species especially from the closely related strains Roseomonas fauriae and Roseomonas genomospecies 6, bacteria that can create opportunistic infections in humans. Previously, phylogenetic allocation was based on ribosomal and other household genes. However, analysis of phylogenetic marker molecules such as rRNA coding genes did not allow a clear phylogenetic separation, whereas whole genome DNA-DNA hybridization comparisons showed a clear difference in the genomes of these physiologically quite distant strains. Consequently, on the basis of whole genome sequences we aim for a clear phylogenetic resolution of this intersting Genus.