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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2009, p. 6027-6037, Vol. 75, No. 19
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01508-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

MINIREVIEW

Surface Colonization by Marine Roseobacters: Integrating Genotype and Phenotype{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Rachael N. Slightom{ddagger} and Alison Buchan*

Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996

The Roseobacter clade is a broadly distributed, abundant, and biogeochemically relevant group of marine bacteria. Representatives are often associated with organic surfaces in disparate marine environments, suggesting that a sessile lifestyle is central to the ecology of lineage members. The importance of surface association and colonization has been demonstrated recently for select strains, and it has been hypothesized that production of antimicrobial agents, cell density-dependent regulatory mechanisms, and morphological features contribute to the colonization success of roseobacters. Drawing on these studies, insight into a broad representation of strains is facilitated by the availability of a substantial collection of genome sequences that provides a holistic view of these features among clade members. These genome data often corroborate phenotypic data but also reveal significant variation in terms of gene content and synteny among group members, even among closely related strains (congeners and conspecifics). Thus, while detailed studies of representative strains are serving as models for how roseobacters transition between planktonic and sessile lifestyles, it is becoming clear that additional studies are needed if we are to have a more comprehensive view of how these transitions occur in different lineage members. This is important if we are to understand how associations with surfaces influence metabolic activities contributing to the cycling of carbon and nutrients in the world's oceans.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, M409 Walters Life Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. Phone: (865) 974-5234. Fax: (865) 974-4007. E-mail: abuchan{at}utk.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 7 August 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

{ddagger} Present address: Agronomic Traits Division, Monsanto Company, 700 Chesterfield Parkway West, GG4A, Chesterfield, MO 63017.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2009, p. 6027-6037, Vol. 75, No. 19
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01508-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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