Choi, Jinna CatherineVibrio orientalis was first isolated from the Yellow Sea in China and described as a luminous bacterium. Since the bacterium was named, a surprisingly sparse amount of information is available. In this study, the genome of V. orientalis was sequenced; the draft genome consists of five contigs. The genome was explored using a comparative genomics approach to describe the genes that are in the genome. Genes and mobile elements were compared to other Vibrio species to determine the presence of mobile elements related to important cell functions and adaptive functions that provided evidence related to the environments in which the bacterium is able to adapt and survive. The genome also provided insight into nutrients that the bacterium may be able to metabolize.ThesisMicrobiologyorientalisVibrio