Staphylococcus species Genome sequencing and assembly

Staphylococcus species isolates collected from dairy cattle quarter milk. Isolates were collected from 10 Vermont organic dairy farms participating in an observational field study. The goal of the study was to describe the prevalence of intramammary bacterial pathogens on organic dairy farms in Vermont. Specifically, our goal was to describe the diversity and frequency of staphylococci species and strains on the participating dairy farms. Twenty-two different species of staphylococci and mammaliicocci were identified from 1272 quarters of 360 cows from monthly samples over 3 months across 10 herds in a repeated measures design. The most frequent species identified were Staphylococcus chromogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Staphylococcus simulans. Our genome sequencing and assembly will start with S. chromogenes isolates.