Novel Synechococcus Genomes Reconstructed from Freshwater Reservoirs

Freshwater picocyanobacteria including Synechococcus remain poorly studied at the genomic level, compared to their marine representatives. Here, using a metagenomic assembly approach we discovered two novel Synechococcus sp. genomes from two freshwater reservoirs Tous and Lake Lanier, both sharing 96% average nucleotide identity and displaying high abundance levels in these two lakes located at similar altitudes and temperate latitudes. These new genomes have the smallest estimated size (2.2 Mb) and average intergenic spacer length (20 bp) of any previously sequenced freshwater Synechococcus, which may contribute to their success in oligotrophic freshwater systems. Fluorescent in situ hybri…