Genome sequencing of an endemic filamentous Antarctic cyanobacterium

The strain Phormidium priestleyi ULC007 was isolated from a benthic mat located in a shallow freshwater pond in the Larsemann Hills (69°S), Western Antarctica. This strain belongs to a cyanobacterial cluster that appeared as potentially endemic (Taton et al. 2006). After obtaining an axenic isolate, we sequenced the genome of this strain in the frame of the BELSPO CCAMBIO project, in order to better understand the functioning, metabolism and adaptative strategies of cyanobacteria to the extreme Antarctic environment.