Methanothermobacter species Genome sequencing and assembly. Methanothermobacter spp.

Long-read PacBio Sequencing was performed on three Methanothermobacter species: Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus strain Z-245, Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus strain Delta H, and Methanothermobacter Marburgensis strain Marburg, in order to better understand these organisms for their use in biotechnological applications, such as the Power-to-Gas (PtG) and Power-to-X (PtX) platforms. These platforms provide the opportunity to convert waste (e.g., CO2) into a useful product (e.g., CH4), while simultaneously storing excess electrical energy produced from renewable sources (e.g., solar). For the latter two species, which have previously been sequenced using Illumina Sequencing Technology, the PacBio sequencing provides higher quality reads. The former species has never been sequenced. PacBio allowed for the elucidation of the DNA methylation patterns, a crucial piece of information when attempting genetic modifications, which are required for the PtX platform. The accurate sequences improves the quality of the genome annotation, which in turn, enhances the construction of an accurate genome-scale model and the analysis of 'omics (e.g., proteomics) data. These improvements help elucidate the metabolism of these organisms and ameliorate prediction-based modeling, bettering in the use of these microbes for biotechnological applications.