Chalk and cheese

Genome Watch this month sees the publication of genome sequences of species from two genera that are worlds apart in terms of the motivation for studying - and therefore sequencing - them. The first, Desulfovibrio vulgaris, is non-pathogenic and is a model organism for the sulphate-reducing bacteria. The second publication presents the genome sequences - one complete and two unfinished - of three strains of a well-known pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes. This adds to the previously published L. monocytogenes and Listeria innocua genome sequences, and promotes Listeria into the same realms as Staphylococcus and Chlamydia in terms of the number of available genome sequences.