UBC team sequences and annotates bacterial genome

An international research team led by three microbiologists from the Univ of British Columbia (UBC) has completed and annotated the largest bacterial genome in history. It is the first bacterial genome to be entirely sequenced and annotated in Canada. The three researchers — Drs Lindsay Eltis, William Mohn and Julian Davies — conducted their research with financial support from Genome Canada and Genome British Columbia. The genome — Rhodococcus sp RHA1 — is a soil bacterium which has the ability to break down toxic pollutants such as PCBs. The bacterium also holds potential for reducing the production cost of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals. The sequencing was conducted at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre and the annotation was done at UBC’s Microbial Envirogenomics Group facility….