Draft Genome Sequence of Aeromonas veronii Hm21, a Symbiotic Isolate from the Medicinal Leech Digestive Tract

This is a brief genome announcement reporting the 4.68-Mbp draft genome sequence of Aeromonas veronii strain Hm21, isolated from the digestive tract of the medicinal leech Hirudo verbana. The strain has been used to study genes important for host colonization and is also recognized as a zebrafish gut symbiont and a pathogen of mammals and fish. For ASH's domain, this genome resource is relevant to understanding the bacterial biology of a prominent leech digestive-tract symbiont, which informs research on host-microbe interactions within the leech and may have implications for Aeromonas-related infection risk in hirudotherapy contexts. The honest caveat is that this is a genome sequence report with no functional experiments, no clinical data, and no direct findings about hirudotherapy; it provides a reference sequence for downstream studies rather than actionable therapeutic insight.