Novel bacteria collected by undergraduate students

Three bacterial strains collected by Sierra College undergraduate students were tentatively identified as novel species based on 16S rDNA nucleotide sequencing. Morphological features and the results of enzymatic tests were used to verify these isolates as members of the genera Pontibacter, Hymenobacter and Planococcus or Planomicrobium. Additional information obtained through WGS sequencing and analyses of these data will be used to further characterize these isolates and determine their phylogenetic relationships with other species.