Genome sequencing and assembly of psychrotolerant marine bacteria

Phylum-specific changes in bacterial abundance and diversity in marine environments are due to several factors, including seasonal temperature cycles. To identify species which predominate during winter, we harvested bacteria from intertidal sediment (water temperature = 7 degrees C, March 2019) offshore of Virginia Beach, VA. Sediment and pore water from a depth of 1 meter were placed into a sterile plastic jar. Sediment was diluted (1:10) in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS), pH 7.4, vortexed, spread on Zobell Marine Agar 2216 plates, and incubated for five days at 4oC. Isolated colonies were picked, purified, and maintained at 4 degrees C. Based on 16S rRNA sequencing and sequence homology, putative novel psyhrotolerant species were identified and genomes sequenced. Such data will be helpful in the understanding the ecological role of these newly identified species during seasonal changes in temperature.