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Michoud G, Kohler TJ, Ezzat L, Peter H, Nattabi JK, Nalwanga R, Pramateftaki P, Styllas M, Tolosano M, De Staercke V, Schön M, Marasco R, Daffonchio D, Bourquin M, Busi SB, Battin TJ. The dark side of the moon: first insights into the microbiome structure and function of one of the last glacier-fed streams in Africa. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230329. [PMID: 37564072 PMCID: PMC10410210 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
The glaciers on Africa's 'Mountains of the Moon' (Rwenzori National Park, Uganda) are predicted to disappear within the next decades owing to climate change. Consequently, the glacier-fed streams (GFSs) that drain them will vanish, along with their resident microbial communities. Despite the relevance of microbial communities for performing ecosystem processes in equatorial GFSs, their ecology remains understudied. Here, we show that the benthic microbiome from the Mt. Stanley GFS is distinct at several levels from other GFSs. Specifically, several novel taxa were present, and usually common groups such as Chrysophytes and Polaromonas exhibited lower relative abundances compared to higher-latitude GFSs, while cyanobacteria and diatoms were more abundant. The rich primary producer community in this GFS likely results from the greater environmental stability of the Afrotropics, and accordingly, heterotrophic processes dominated in the bacterial community. Metagenomics revealed that almost all prokaryotes in the Mt. Stanley GFS are capable of organic carbon oxidation, while greater than 80% have the potential for fermentation and acetate oxidation. Our findings suggest a close coupling between photoautotrophs and other microbes in this GFS, and provide a glimpse into the future for high-latitude GFSs globally where primary production is projected to increase with ongoing glacier shrinkage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grégoire Michoud
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tyler J. Kohler
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Leïla Ezzat
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Hannes Peter
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Juliet Kigongo Nattabi
- Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences (ZEFs), College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Rosemary Nalwanga
- Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences (ZEFs), College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Paraskevi Pramateftaki
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michail Styllas
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Matteo Tolosano
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vincent De Staercke
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Martina Schön
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ramona Marasco
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Daniele Daffonchio
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Massimo Bourquin
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Susheel Bhanu Busi
- Systems Ecology Group, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Tom J. Battin
- River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
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Pittino F, Ambrosini R, Seeger M, Azzoni RS, Diolaiuti G, Alviz Gazitua P, Franzetti A. Geographical variability of bacterial communities of cryoconite holes of Andean glaciers. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2633. [PMID: 36788266 PMCID: PMC9929092 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24373-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryoconite holes, ponds full of melting water with sediment on the bottom, are hotspots of biodiversity on glacier surfaces and host dynamic micro-ecosystems. They have been extensively investigated in different areas of the world (e.g., the Arctic, Antarctic, Alps, and Himalaya), but so far no study has described the bacterial communities of the glaciers in the Andes, the world's longest mountain range. In this study, we describe the bacterial communities of three small (< 2 km2) high-elevation (< 4200 m a.s.l.) glaciers of the Central Andes (Iver, East Iver and Morado glaciers) and two large (> 85 km2) glaciers of the Patagonian Andes (Exploradores and Perito Moreno glaciers) whose ablation tongues reach low altitude (< 300 m a.s.l.). Results show that the bacterial communities were generally similar to those observed in the cryoconite holes of other continents, but with few cyanobacteria (0.5% of sequences). The most abundant orders were Betaproteobacteriales, Cytophagales, Chitinophagales, Acetobacterales, Frankiales, Armatimonadales, Sphingobacteriales, Rhizobiales, Bacteroidales, Sphingomonadales, and Micrococcales. The bacterial communities differed between glaciers and both water pH and O2 concentration appeared to influence the bacterial community composition. This work thus provides the first description of the bacterial communities in cryoconite holes of South American glaciers.
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Affiliation(s)
- F. Pittino
- grid.7563.70000 0001 2174 1754Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy ,grid.419754.a0000 0001 2259 5533WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - R. Ambrosini
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Laboratory of Glacier Ecology, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - M. Seeger
- grid.12148.3e0000 0001 1958 645XMolecular Microbiology and Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaiso, Chile
| | - R. S. Azzoni
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Laboratory of Glacier Ecology, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy ,grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Earth Science “Ardito Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - G. Diolaiuti
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Laboratory of Glacier Ecology, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - P. Alviz Gazitua
- grid.442234.70000 0001 2295 9069Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Lagos, Osorno, Chile
| | - A. Franzetti
- grid.7563.70000 0001 2174 1754Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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Microinvertebrate Colonization of New Zealand’s Thermally Extreme Environments. Evol Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-022-09578-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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4
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Liu Y, Ji M, Yu T, Zaugg J, Anesio AM, Zhang Z, Hu S, Hugenholtz P, Liu K, Liu P, Chen Y, Luo Y, Yao T. A genome and gene catalog of glacier microbiomes. Nat Biotechnol 2022; 40:1341-1348. [PMID: 35760913 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-022-01367-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Glaciers represent a unique inventory of microbial genetic diversity and a record of evolution. The Tibetan Plateau contains the largest area of low-latitude glaciers and is particularly vulnerable to global warming. By sequencing 85 metagenomes and 883 cultured isolates from 21 Tibetan glaciers covering snow, ice and cryoconite habitats, we present a specialized glacier microbial genome and gene catalog to archive glacial genomic and functional diversity. This comprehensive Tibetan Glacier Genome and Gene (TG2G) catalog includes 883 genomes and 2,358 metagenome-assembled genomes, which represent 968 candidate species spanning 30 phyla. The catalog also contains over 25 million non-redundant protein-encoding genes, the utility of which is demonstrated by the exploration of secondary metabolite biosynthetic potentials, virulence factor identification and global glacier metagenome comparison. The TG2G catalog is a valuable resource that enables enhanced understanding of the structure and functions of Tibetan glacial microbiomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongqin Liu
- Center for Pan-third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Mukan Ji
- Center for Pan-third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Tao Yu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Julian Zaugg
- The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Alexandre M Anesio
- Department of Environmental Science, iClimate, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Zhihao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Songnian Hu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Philip Hugenholtz
- The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Keshao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Pengfei Liu
- Center for Pan-third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yuying Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yingfeng Luo
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Tandong Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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5
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Shain DH, Novis PM, Cridge AG, Zawierucha K, Geneva AJ, Dearden PK. Five animal phyla in glacier ice reveal unprecedented biodiversity in New Zealand's Southern Alps. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3898. [PMID: 33594128 PMCID: PMC7887191 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-83256-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Glacier ice is an extreme environment in which most animals cannot survive. Here we report the colonization of high elevation, climate-threatened glaciers along New Zealand's southwestern coast by species of Arthropoda, Nematoda, Platyhelminthes, Rotifera and Tardigrada. Based on DNA barcoding and haplotype-inferred evidence for deep genetic variability, at least 12 undescribed species are reported, some of which have persisted in this niche habitat throughout the Pleistocene. These findings identify not only an atypical biodiversity hotspot but also highlight the adaptive plasticity of microinvertebrate Animalia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H Shain
- Biology Department, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, 08103, USA.
| | - Philip M Novis
- Allan Herbarium, Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, Lincoln, 7608, New Zealand
| | - Andrew G Cridge
- Genomics Aotearoa and Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand
| | - Krzysztof Zawierucha
- Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Anthony J Geneva
- Biology Department, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, 08103, USA
| | - Peter K Dearden
- Genomics Aotearoa and Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand
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Zawierucha K, Buda J, Jaromerska TN, Janko K, Gąsiorek P. Integrative approach reveals new species of water bears (Pilatobius, Grevenius, and Acutuncus) from Arctic cryoconite holes, with the discovery of hidden lineages of Hypsibius. ZOOL ANZ 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2020.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Bochnak M, Vončina K, Kristensen RM, Gąsiorek P. Continued Exploration of Tanzanian Rainforests Reveals a New Echiniscid Species (Heterotardigrada). Zool Stud 2020; 59:e18. [PMID: 33262842 PMCID: PMC7691842 DOI: 10.6620/zs.2020.59-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The Afrotropical tardigrade fauna is insufficiently studied, and consequently its diversity in this region is severely underestimated. Ongoing sampling in the Udzungwa Mountains, Morogoro Region of Tanzania has revealed a new representative of the genus Echiniscus C.A.S. Schultze, 1840 (Echiniscidae). Echiniscus tantulus sp. nov. belongs to the spinulosus group, but it stands out from other members of this speciose Echiniscus clade by having a heteromorphic sculpture of the dorsal plates and an uncommonly stable body appendage configuration A-C-C d -D d -E. The new species is characteristic by being equipped with long dorsal spines and very short lateral spicules, which so far have been found only in one other species of the group, Echiniscus spinulosus (Doyère, 1840). An updated checklist of Tanzanian Echiniscidae is provided, incorporating recent advances in their classification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcin Bochnak
- Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Kraków, Poland. E-mail: (Gąsiorek); (Bochnak); (Vončina)
| | - Katarzyna Vončina
- Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Kraków, Poland. E-mail: (Gąsiorek); (Bochnak); (Vončina)
| | - Reinhardt M Kristensen
- Section for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen Ø DK-2100, Denmark. E-mail: (Kristensen)
| | - Piotr Gąsiorek
- Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, 30-387 Kraków, Poland. E-mail: (Gąsiorek); (Bochnak); (Vončina)
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Stibal M, Bradley JA, Edwards A, Hotaling S, Zawierucha K, Rosvold J, Lutz S, Cameron KA, Mikucki JA, Kohler TJ, Šabacká M, Anesio AM. Glacial ecosystems are essential to understanding biodiversity responses to glacier retreat. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:686-687. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1163-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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