Complete genome sequencing of Dehalococcoides sp. strain UCH007 using a differential reads picking method

Abstract A novel Dehalococcoides sp. strain UCH007 was isolated from the groundwater polluted with chlorinated ethenes in Japan. This strain is capable of dechlorinating trichloroethene, cis -1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride to ethene. Dehalococcoides bacteria are hardly cultivable, so genome sequencing has presented a challenge. In this study, we developed a differential reads picking method for mixed genomic DNA obtained from a co-culture, and applied it to the sequencing of strain UCH007. The genome of strain UCH007 consists of a 1,473,548-bp chromosome that encodes 1509 coding sequences including 29 putative reductive dehalogenase genes. Strain UCH007 is the first strain in the Victoria subgroup found to possess the pceA , tceA and vcrA genes.