Planctomycetes strains from diverse aquatic habitats - Genome sequencing and assembly. Planctomycetales

For good reasons, most studies on bacteria rely on well-established model organisms. However, we were wondering if such model species sufficiently cover fundamental key aspects of the bacterial biology. To answer this question, we selected the barely studied conspicuous bacterial phylum Planctomycetes. We collected samples from diverse aquatic habitats around the globe and performed a diversity-driven deep-cultivation approach. In total, we obtained far more novel planctomycetal axenic cultures than are currently available in strain collections and sequenced and analysed their genomes.