The genome sequence of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 substrain GT‐T and its implications for the evolution of PCC 6803 substrains

Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is a model cyanobacterium, glucose‐tolerant substrains of which are commonly used as laboratory strains. In recent years, it has become evident that ‘wild‐type’ strains used in different laboratories show some differences in their phenotypes. We report here the chromosome sequence of our Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 substrain, named substrain GT‐T. The chromosome sequence of GT‐T was compared to those of two other commonly used laboratory substrains, GT‐S and PCC‐M. We identified 11 specific mutations in the GT‐T substrain, whose physiological consequences are discussed. We also provide an update on evolutionary relationships between different Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 substrains.