Fructophilic lactic acid bacteria (FLAB) are associated with fructose-rich environments, including flowers and the honeybee gut. The FLAB group includes two distantly related bacterial genera, Apilactobacillus and Fructobacillus, which have independently evolved similar adaptations to fructose-rich habitats. This makes FLAB an interesting example of habitat-driven convergent evolution, and provides an opportunity to investigate how ecological conditions may shape bacterial genome evolution. Previous work by the research group of Professor Siv Andersson has included the sequencing and analysis of more than 100 Apilactobacillus kunkeei genomes. These studies have shown that the relatively small genome (around 1.5Mb) is functionally organized, with core genes encoding basic functions enriched in the chromosomal regions flanking the replication terminus, and accessory genes encoding for example host-adaptive functions more commonly found in regions flanking the replication origin. In depth analyses of two groups of genes encoding extracellular proteins, so-called giant proteins as well as enzymes involved in exopolysaccharide synthesis, have provided insights into the contributions of different evolutionary processes, including nucleotide substitutions, gene gain and loss, and recombination, to their diversification. Interestingly, analyses also suggested horizontal sequence transfer between Apilactobacillus and Fructobacillus. Despite these findings, several aspects of genome organization and evolutionary dynamics across FLAB species remain less well characterized. With an increasing number of high-quality, complete genomes becoming available, it is now possible to extend previous characterizations to additional FLAB members. Using comparative genomics approaches, this project aims to further explore genome diversity, organization and evolutionary processes across FLAB.