Draft Genome Sequence for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strain PAO579, a Mucoid Derivative of PAO381

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that establishes a chronic lung infection in individuals afflicted with cys-tic fibrosis. Here, we announce the draft genome of P. aeruginosa strain PAO579, an alginate-overproducing derivative of strain PAO381. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous, opportunistic patho-gen and the leading cause of mortality with individuals af-flictedwith cystic fibrosis (CF).P. aeruginosauses the overproduc-tion of an exopolysaccharide, called alginate, to form mucoid biofilms. Biofilm formation is responsible for the development of chronic infections, as well as increased resistance to antibiotic treatment (2), and reduced phagocytosis by macrophages (4). P. aeruginosa strain PAO579 was first isolated as a mucoid, alginate-overproducing variant of PAO381, a derivative of the nonmucoid reference strain PAO1 (3, 5). Both PAO579 and PAO381 have a wild-type mucA gene (mucA), and both strains are leucine auxot-rophic (leu38) and streptomycin resistant (strA2). Genomic DNA from P. aeruginosa strain PAO579 was isolate