High-Quality Draft Genome Sequences of Eight Bacteria Isolated from Fungus Gardens Grown by Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Ants.

For their food source, Trachymyrmex septentrionalis ants raise symbiotic fungus gardens that contain bacteria whose functions are poorly understood. Here, we report the genome sequences of eight bacteria isolated from these fungus gardens to better describe the ecology of these strains and their potential to produce secondary metabolites in this niche.

Can They Make It on Their Own? Hosts, Microbes, and the Holobiont Niche.

Virtually all multicellular organisms host a community of symbionts composed of mutualistic, commensal, and pathogenic microbes, i.e., their microbiome.

Genomic heterogeneity and ecological speciation within one subspecies of Bacillus subtilis.

Closely related bacterial genomes usually differ in gene content, suggesting that nearly every strain in nature may be ecologically unique. We have tested this hypothesis by sequencing the genomes of extremely close relatives within a recognized taxon and analyzing the genomes for evidence of ecological distinctness. We compared the genomes of four Death Valley isolates plus the laboratory strain W23, all previously classified as Bacillus subtilis subsp.

Microbial genomics: E. coli relatives out of doors and out of body.

Genome comparisons have shown that several clades of Escherichia isolated primarily from non-host habitats are adapted to life outside of hosts, and that these very close relatives of E. coli have historically not shared environments with gut-associated E. coli.

Ecology of speciation in the genus Bacillus.

Microbial ecologists and systematists are challenged to discover the early ecological changes that drive the splitting of one bacterial population into two ecologically distinct populations. We have aimed to identify newly divergent lineages ("ecotypes") bearing the dynamic properties attributed to species, with the rationale that discovering their ecological differences would reveal the ecological dimensions of speciation. To this end, we have sampled bacteria from the Bacillus subtilis-Bacillus licheniformis clade from sites differing in solar exposure and soil texture within a Death Valley canyon.