Abstract
Bacterioplankton of the SAR11 clade dominate aquatic ecosystems but knowledge of their freshwater members remains limited due to a lack of cultured representatives. Here, we report the first isolate from the freshwater SAR11 subclade lllb, a.k.a. LD12, obtained from surface waters in Lake Borgne, a lagoon on the southeastern coast of Louisiana. Consistent with pervasive ecological data, strain LSUCC0530 is highly restricted to growth at low salinities. Comparison of its distribution with the sister clade subclade llla, however, suggests that niche differentiation between sister taxa in coastal environments may be driven by more than salinity alone.
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Statement. The authors declare no competing financial interests in relation to the work described.
This work was supported by the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Board of Regents (grant LEQSF(2014-17)-RD-A-06).