Why Sequence Free-Living and Endosymbiotic Polynucleobacter Species?
The Polynucleobacter group (Betaproteobacteria, Burkholderiaceae) is of enormous environmental relevance in freshwater habitats. These free-living heterotrophic bacteria contribute up to 60% of total bacterial cell numbers in the pelagic zone of surface freshwater habitats and have also been detected in groundwater. Despite their enormous ecological importance, knowledge of the physiology and specific ecological function of numerically relevant freshwater bacteria is completely lacking. Genome sequencing of the free-living Polynucleobacter strain will provide deep insights into the ecological function of an enormously important group of freshwater bacteria. This knowledge will deepen the understanding of how freshwater ecosystems function and will facilitate better modeling of carbon fluxes in these ecosystems. This will be the first genome project on nonpathogenic heterotrophic freshwater bacteria of environmental relevance. Endosymbiotic Polynucleobacter bacterium living in the cytop
