Genome sequencing and assembly of multi-metal-resistant Rhodococcus spp. isolated from arctic soil.. Rhodococcus

The Arctic region consists of extraordinary microbial soil ecosystems subject to extreme environmental conditions such as low humidity, strong wind, high salinity, freeze-thaw cycle, UV light exposition, and low nutrient availability. Such niches are good candidates to study overall microbial ecology within primal (with limited anthropogenic influence) habitats since the High Arctic is considered one of the wildest and endemic environments. These types of environments are also interesting subjects to screening for unique strains for biotechnological application. In this study we screened arctic soil samples from Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway for multi-metal resistant bacteria, potentially encoding new and unknown heavy metal resistance mechanisms.