Project description:Cleaner shrimps are ecologically important members of coral reef communities, but for many species, cleaner status (i.e. dedicated, facultative and mimic), clientele and ecological role remain unverified or described. On Caribbean coral reefs, the spotted 'cleaner' shrimp Periclimenes yucatanicus forms symbioses with sea anemones that may serve as cleaning stations for reef fishes. The status of this species as a cleaner is ambiguous: only a single in situ cleaning interaction has been reported, and in the only test of its efficacy as a cleaner, it did not effectively reduce parasite loads from surgeonfish. It has subsequently been hypothesized by other authors to be a cleaner mimic. We conduct a comparative investigation of cleaning behaviour between P. yucatanicus and the ecologically similar, closely related, dedicated cleaner shrimp Ancylomenes pedersoni in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. We provide the first detailed field observations on cleaning behaviour for P. yucatanicus and test multiple behavioural expectations surrounding mimicry in cleaning symbioses. We found that P. yucatanicus regularly signals its availability to clean, client fishes visit regularly and the shrimp does engage in true symbiotic cleaning interactions, but these are brief and our video reflects a species that appears hesitant to engage posing clients. In comparison to A. pedersoni, P. yucatanicus stations had significantly fewer total visits and cleans, and 50% of all cleaning interactions at P. yucatanicus stations were shorter than 10 s in total duration. Our behavioural observations confirm that P. yucatanicus is a true cleaner shrimp; we reject the hypothesis of mimicry. However, investigation is needed to confirm whether this species is a dedicated or facultative cleaner. We hypothesize that P. yucatanicus has a specialized ecological role as a cleaner species, compared to A. pedersoni.
Project description:Saccharomonospora azurea Runmao et al. 1987 is a member of the genus Saccharomonospora, which is in the family Pseudonocardiaceae and thus far poorly characterized genomically. Members of the genus Saccharomonospora are of interest because they originate from diverse habitats, such as leaf litter, manure, compost, the surface of peat, and moist and over-heated grain, and may play a role in the primary degradation of plant material by attacking hemicellulose. Next to S. viridis, S. azurea is only the second member in the genus Saccharomonospora for which a completely sequenced type strain genome will be published. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence with project status 'Improved high quality draft', and the annotation. The 4,763,832 bp long chromosome with its 4,472 protein-coding and 58 RNA genes was sequenced as part of the DOE funded Community Sequencing Program (CSP) 2010 at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI).
Project description:Saccharomonospora cyanea Runmao et al. 1988 is a member of the genus Saccharomonospora in the family Pseudonocardiaceae that is moderately well characterized at the genome level thus far. Members of the genus Saccharomonospora are of interest because they originate from diverse habitats, such as soil, leaf litter, manure, compost, surface of peat, moist, over-heated grain, and ocean sediment, where they probably play a role in the primary degradation of plant material by attacking hemicellulose. Species of the genus Saccharomonospora are usually Gram-positive, non-acid fast, and are classified among the actinomycetes. S. cyanea is characterized by a dark blue (= cyan blue) aerial mycelium. After S. viridis, S. azurea, and S. marina, S. cyanea is only the fourth member in the genus for which a completely sequenced (non-contiguous finished draft status) type strain genome will be published. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the draft genome sequence, and annotation. The 5,408,301 bp long chromosome with its 5,139 protein-coding and 57 RNA genes was sequenced as part of the DOE funded Community Sequencing Program (CSP) 2010 at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI).