A new article, published in the ASM journal Microbiology Resource Announcements, reports the genome sequence of the marine bacterium Lentilitoribacter sp. EG35 isolated from the octocoral Eunicella gazella off the coast of Portugal. The bacterium has the capacity to biosynthesize polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biodegradable polyesters that may serve bioplastics production. Lentilitoribacter are slow-growing Alphaproteobacteria that are rarely retrieved in culture. The strain is available at Técnico’s MicroEcoEvo Collection, an extensive well-curated marine bacterial culture collection integrated into the Portuguese Blue Biobank. This work delivers the second RefSeq genome for the genus Lentilitoribacter. The first RefSeq genome derives from a Lentilioribacter strain isolated from a marine sponge and is also part of the MicroEcoEvo Collection. Strain EG35 was isolated and the genome assembled by MSc students Lydia Kozma and Selene Madureira in the framework of their MSc theses while PhD student Ana Fernandes tested its PHA production capacity. The work was led by iBB/DBE researchers Tina Keller-Costa and Rodrigo Costa.
Link to Article:
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mra.00872-24
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