Complete genome sequence of Cellulophaga lytica type strain (LIM-21)

Cellulophaga lytica (Lewin 1969) Johansen et al. 1999 is the type species of the genus Cellulophaga, which belongs to the family Flavobacteriaceae within the phylum 'Bacteroidetes' and was isolated from marine beach mud in Limon, Costa Rica. The species is of biotechnological interest because its members produce a wide range of extracellular enzymes capable of degrading proteins and polysaccharides. After the genome sequence of Cellulophaga algicola this is the second completed genome sequence of a member of the genus Cellulophaga. The 3,765,936 bp long genome with its 3,303 protein-coding and 55 RNA genes consists of one circular chromosome and is a part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.     

Complete genome sequence of Cellulophaga algicola type strain (IC166)

Cellulophaga algicola Bowman 2000 belongs to the family Flavobacteriaceae within the phylum 'Bacteroidetes' and was isolated from Melosira collected from the Eastern Antarctic coastal zone. The species is of interest because its members produce a wide range of extracellular enzymes capable of degrading proteins and polysaccharides with temperature optima of 20-30°C. This is the first completed genome sequence of a member of the genus Cellulophaga. The 4,888,353 bp long genome with its 4,285 protein-coding and 62 RNA genes consists of one circular chromosome and is a part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.     

Development of anin situ assay to detect bacterial pathogens of the red algaGracilaria gracilis (Stackhouse) Steentoft,Irvine et Farnham

Since current protocols were found to be inadequate for the identification of bacteria pathogenic toGracilaria gracilis, an assay was developed which made use of axenic algae in order to attribute disease symptoms directly to the presence of a specific bacterial isolate. However, this assay proved to be as unreliable as existing procedures and failed to satisfy Koch's postulates. A second pathogenicity assay was developed which proved more reliable in that each bacterial strain consistently induced a particular symptom in the infected algal thallus. The bacterial strain LS2i was identified as a possible pathogen ofG. gracilis using this assay. However, this assay did not satisfy Koch's criteria for establishing an unequivocal link between the observed disease symptoms and strain LS2i, since significant bacterial contamination of the test alga occurred. A third protocol generated consistent results and satisfied Koch's postulates, enabling the identification of six pathogens ofG. gracilis. All the pathogenic bacterial strains were agarolytic.