Synechococcus WH8101 Genome Sequencing

Synechococcus spp. are unicellular cyanobacteria that are globally distributed and are responsible for up to 16% of net primary production in the ocean. Significant proportions of marine Synechococcus communities can be lysed daily by viruses; nevertheless, studies have shown that Synechococcus can rapidly become resistant to co-occurring viruses. The goal of this project was to identify the genetic determinants that lead to viral-resistance in Synechococcus sp. WH8101. To obtain resistant isolates, long-term laboratory pairwise coevolution experiments were conducted using Synechococcus sp. WH8101 and three T4-like myoviruses (RIM8, RIM12, and RIM44). Here, the genome of the ancestral Synechococcus sp. WH8101 isolate was sequenced and assembled. This genome sequence will be used as a reference to identify genetic changes that occurred during the course of the coevolution experiments. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (OCE-1332782 and OIA-1736030)聚球藻属（Synechococcus spp.）是一类全球广泛分布的单细胞蓝细菌，其对海洋净初级生产力的贡献高达16%。海洋中相当比例的聚球藻群落每日会遭受病毒裂解；但已有研究证实，聚球藻可快速对共存病毒产生抗性。本研究旨在鉴定聚球藻菌株WH8101（Synechococcus sp. WH8101）中介导病毒抗性的遗传决定因子。为获得抗性分离株，本研究以聚球藻菌株WH8101与3株类T4肌尾病毒（T4-like myoviruses，RIM8、RIM12与RIM44）开展了长期实验室成对共进化实验。本研究完成了祖先代聚球藻菌株WH8101分离株的基因组测序与组装工作。该基因组序列将作为参考基因组，用于鉴定共进化实验过程中发生的遗传变异。本研究得到美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）资助，项目编号为OCE-1332782与OIA-1736030。