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Yan A, Pan Z, Liang Y, Mo X, Guo T, Li J. Archaea communities in aerobic granular sludge: A mini-review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 949:174974. [PMID: 39053544 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2024] [Revised: 06/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Recent research on the archaea community in aerobic granular sludge (AGS) has attracted considerable attention. This review summarizes the existing literature on composition, distribution, and related functions of archaea community in AGS. Furthermore, the effects of granulation, substrate, temperature, process types, and aeration models on the archaea community were discussed. Significantly, the layered structure of AGS facilitates the enrichment of archaea, including methanogenic archaea and ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Archaea engage in metabolic interactions with other microorganisms, enhancing the ecological functionalities of AGS and its tolerance to adverse conditions. Future investigations should focus on minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and exploring the roles and interactive mechanisms of archaea and other microorganisms within AGS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anqi Yan
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Zengrui Pan
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Yifan Liang
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Xinyan Mo
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Tao Guo
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Jun Li
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
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2
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Zhou J, Zheng Y, Hou L, Qi L, Mao T, Yin G, Liu M. Nitrogen input modulates the effects of coastal acidification on nitrification and associated N 2O emission. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 261:122041. [PMID: 38972235 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Revised: 06/28/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
Acidification of coastal waters, synergistically driven by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and intensive land-derived nutrient inputs, exerts significant stresses on the biogeochemical cycles of coastal ecosystem. However, the combined effects of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs and aquatic acidification on nitrification, a critical process of N cycling, remains unclear in estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Here, we showed that increased loading of ammonium (NH4+) in estuarine and coastal waters alleviated the inhibitory effect of acidification on nitrification rates but intensified the production of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O), thus accelerating global climate change. Metatranscriptomes and natural N2O isotopic signatures further suggested that the enhanced emission of N2O may mainly source from hydroxylamine (NH2OH) oxidation rather than from nitrite (NO2-) reduction pathway of nitrifying microbes. This study elucidates how anthropogenic N inputs regulate the effects of coastal acidification on nitrification and associated N2O emissions, thereby enhancing our ability to predict the feedbacks of estuarine and coastal ecosystems to climate change and human perturbations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Yanling Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Yangtze Delta Estuarine Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Ministry of Education & Shanghai, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China.
| | - Lijun Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Yangtze Delta Estuarine Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Ministry of Education & Shanghai, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China.
| | - Lin Qi
- School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Tieqiang Mao
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Yangtze Delta Estuarine Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Ministry of Education & Shanghai, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Guoyu Yin
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai 200241, China
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Baker BJ, Hyde E, Leão P. Nature should be the model for microbial sciences. J Bacteriol 2024:e0022824. [PMID: 39158294 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00228-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Until recently, microbiologists have relied on cultures to understand the microbial world. As a result, model organisms have been the focus of research into understanding Bacteria and Archaea at a molecular level. Diversity surveys and metagenomic sequencing have revealed that these model species are often present in low abundance in the environment; instead, there are microbial taxa that are cosmopolitan in nature. Due to the numerical dominance of these microorganisms and the size of their habitats, these lineages comprise mind-boggling population sizes upward of 1028 cells on the planet. Many of these dominant groups have cultured representatives and have been shown to be involved in mediating key processes in nature. Given their importance and the increasing need to understand changes due to climate change, we propose that members of Nitrosophaerota (Nitrosopumilus maritimus), SAR11 (Pelagibacter ubique), Hadesarchaeia, Bathyarchaeia, and others become models in the future. Abundance should not be the only measure of a good model system; there are other organisms that are well suited to advance our understanding of ecology and evolution. For example, the most well-studied symbiotic bacteria, like Buchnera, Aliivibrio, and Rhizobium, should be models for understanding host-associations. Also, there are organisms that hold new insights into major transitions in the evolution of life on the planet like the Asgard Archaea (Heimdallarchaeia). Innovations in a variety of in situ techniques have enabled us to circumvent culturing when studying everything from genetics to physiology. Our deepest understanding of microbiology and its impact on the planet will come from studying these microbes in nature. Laboratory-based studies must be grounded in nature, not the other way around.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett J Baker
- Department of Marine Science, University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, Texas, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Emily Hyde
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Pedro Leão
- Department of Marine Science, University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, Texas, USA
- Department of Microbiology-RIBES, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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4
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Kong L, Wang Y, Cui D, He W, Zhang C, Zheng C. Application of single-cell Raman-deuterium isotope probing to reveal the resistance of marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea SCM1 against common antibiotics. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 362:142500. [PMID: 38852635 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in oceans poses a significant threat to human health through the seafood supply chain. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are important marine microorganisms and play a key role in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle around the world. However, the AMR of marine AOA to aquicultural antibiotics is poorly explored. Here, Raman-deuterium isotope probing (Raman-DIP), a single-cell tool, was developed to reveal the AMR of a typical marine species of AOA, Nitrosopumilus maritimus (designated SCM1), against six antibiotics, including erythromycin, tetracycline, novobiocin, neomycin, bacitracin, and vancomycin. The D2O concentration (30% v/v) and culture period (9 days) were optimized for the precise detection of metabolic activity in SCM1 cells through Raman-DIP. The relative metabolic activity of SCM1 upon exposure to antibiotics was semi-quantitatively calculated based on single-cell Raman spectra. SCM1 exhibited high resistance to erythromycin, tetracycline, novobiocin, neomycin, and vancomycin, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 100 and 400 mg/L, while SCM1 is very sensitive to bacitracin (MIC: 0.8 mg/L). Notably, SCM1 cells were completely inactive under the metabolic activity minimum inhibitory concentration conditions (MA-MIC: 1.6-800 mg/L) for the six antibiotics. Further genomic analysis revealed the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of SCM1, including 14 types categorized into 33 subtypes. This work increases our knowledge of the AMR of marine AOA by linking the resistant phenome to the genome, contributing to the risk assessment of AMR in the underexplored ocean environment. As antibiotic resistance in marine microorganisms is significantly affected by the concentration of antibiotics in coastal environments, we encourage more studies concentrating on both the phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic resistance of marine archaea. This may facilitate a comprehensive evaluation of the capacity of marine microorganisms to spread AMR and the implementation of suitable control measures to protect environmental safety and human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingchao Kong
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China; Eastern Institute for Advanced Study, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, 315200, China
| | - Yi Wang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Eastern Institute for Advanced Study, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, 315200, China.
| | - Dongyu Cui
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Wei He
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Chuanlun Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Chunmiao Zheng
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China; Eastern Institute for Advanced Study, Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo, 315200, China
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McKnight MM, Neufeld JD. Comammox Nitrospira among dominant ammonia oxidizers within aquarium biofilter microbial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0010424. [PMID: 38899882 PMCID: PMC11267875 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00104-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/26/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Nitrification by aquarium biofilters transforms ammonia waste (NH3/NH4+) to less toxic nitrate (NO3-) via nitrite (NO2-). Prior to the discovery of complete ammonia-oxidizing ("comammox" or CMX) Nitrospira, previous research revealed that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) dominated over ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in freshwater aquarium biofilters. Here, we profiled aquarium biofilter microbial communities and quantified the abundance of all three known ammonia oxidizers using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and quantitative PCR (qPCR), respectively. Biofilter and water samples were each collected from representative residential and commercial freshwater and saltwater aquaria. Distinct biofilter microbial communities were associated with freshwater and saltwater biofilters. Comammox Nitrospira amoA genes were detected in all 38 freshwater biofilter samples (average CMX amoA genes: 2.2 × 103 ± 1.5 × 103 copies/ng) and dominant in 30, whereas AOA were present in 35 freshwater biofilter samples (average AOA amoA genes: 1.1 × 103 ± 2.7 × 103 copies/ng) and only dominant in 7 of them. The AOB were at relatively low abundance within biofilters (average of 3.2 × 101 ± 1.1 × 102 copies of AOB amoA genes/ng of DNA), except for the aquarium with the highest ammonia concentration. For saltwater biofilters, AOA or AOB were differentially abundant, with no comammox Nitrospira detected. Additional sequencing of Nitrospira amoA genes revealed differential distributions, suggesting niche adaptation based on water chemistry (e.g., ammonia, carbonate hardness, and alkalinity). Network analysis of freshwater microbial communities demonstrated positive correlations between nitrifiers and heterotrophs, suggesting metabolic and ecological interactions within biofilters. These results demonstrate that comammox Nitrospira plays a previously overlooked, but important role in home aquarium biofilter nitrification. IMPORTANCE Nitrification is a crucial process that converts toxic ammonia waste into less harmful nitrate that occurs in aquarium biofilters. Prior research found that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were dominant over ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in freshwater aquarium biofilters. Our study profiled microbial communities of aquarium biofilters and quantified the abundance of all currently known groups of aerobic ammonia oxidizers. The findings reveal that complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira were present in all freshwater aquarium biofilter samples in high abundance, challenging our previous understanding of aquarium nitrification. We also highlight niche adaptation of ammonia oxidizers based on salinity. The network analysis of freshwater biofilter microbial communities revealed significant positive correlations among nitrifiers and other community members, suggesting intricate interactions within biofilter communities. Overall, this study expands our understanding of nitrification in aquarium biofilters, emphasizes the role of comammox Nitrospira, and highlights the value of aquaria as microcosms for studying nitrifier ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Josh D. Neufeld
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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Li J, Xiang S, Li Y, Cheng R, Lai Q, Wang L, Li G, Dong C, Shao Z. Arcobacteraceae are ubiquitous mixotrophic bacteria playing important roles in carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling in global oceans. mSystems 2024; 9:e0051324. [PMID: 38904399 PMCID: PMC11265409 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00513-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Mixotrophy is an important trophic strategy for bacterial survival in the ocean. However, the global relevance and identity of the major mixotrophic taxa remain largely elusive. Here, we combined phylogenetic, metagenomic, and metatranscriptomic analyses to characterize ubiquitous Arcobacteraceae based on our deep-sea in situ incubations and the global data. The phylogenomic tree of Arcobacteraceae is divided into three large clades, among which members of clades A and B are almost all from terrestrial environments, while those of clade C are widely distributed in various marine habitats in addition to some terrestrial origins. All clades harbor genes putatively involved in chitin degradation, sulfide oxidation, hydrogen oxidation, thiosulfate oxidation, denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, microaerophilic respiration, and metal (iron/manganese) reduction. Additionally, in clade C, more unique pathways were retrieved, including thiosulfate disproportionation, ethanol fermentation, methane oxidation, fatty acid oxidation, cobalamin synthesis, and dissimilatory reductions of sulfate, perchlorate, and arsenate. Within this clade, two mixotrophic Candidatus genera represented by UBA6211 and CAIJNA01 harbor genes putatively involved in the reverse tricarboxylic acid pathway for carbon fixation. Moreover, the metatranscriptomic data in deep-sea in situ incubations indicated that the latter genus is a mixotroph that conducts carbon fixation by coupling sulfur oxidation and denitrification and metabolizing organic matter. Furthermore, global metatranscriptomic data confirmed the ubiquitous distribution and global relevance of Arcobacteraceae in the expression of those corresponding genes across all oceanic regions and depths. Overall, these results highlight the contribution of previously unrecognized Arcobacteraceae to carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling in global oceans.IMPORTANCEMarine microorganisms exert a profound influence on global carbon cycling and ecological relationships. Mixotrophy, characterized by the simultaneous utilization of both autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition, has a significant impact on the global carbon cycling. This report characterizes a group of uncultivated bacteria Arcobacteraceae that thrived on the "hot time" of bulky particulate organic matter and exhibited mixotrophic strategy during the in situ organic mineralization. Compared with clades A and B, more unique metabolic pathways were retrieved in clade C, including the reverse tricarboxylic acid pathway for carbon fixation, thiosulfate disproportionation, methane oxidation, and fatty acid oxidation. Global metatranscriptomic data from the Tara Oceans expeditions confirmed the ubiquitous distribution and extensive transcriptional activity of Arcobacteraceae with the expression of genes putatively involved in carbon fixation, methane oxidation, multiple sulfur compound oxidation, and denitrification across all oceanic regions and depths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianyang Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Shizheng Xiang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Yufei Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Ruolin Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Qiliang Lai
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Liping Wang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Guizhen Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Chunming Dong
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
| | - Zongze Shao
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources of Fujian Province, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of PR China, Xiamen, China
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
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7
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Sato Y. Transcriptome analysis: a powerful tool to understand individual microbial behaviors and interactions in ecosystems. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2024; 88:850-856. [PMID: 38749545 DOI: 10.1093/bbb/zbae064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Transcriptome analysis is a powerful tool for studying microbial ecology, especially individual microbial functions in an ecosystem and their interactions. With the development of high-throughput sequencing technology, great progress has been made in analytical methods for microbial communities in natural environments. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (ie microbial community structure analysis) and shotgun metagenome analysis have been widely used to determine the composition and potential metabolic capability of microorganisms in target environments without requiring culture. However, even if the types of microorganisms present and their genes are known, it is difficult to determine what they are doing in an ecosystem. Gene expression analysis (transcriptome analysis; RNA-seq) is a powerful tool to address these issues. The history and basic information of gene expression analysis, as well as examples of studies using this method to analyze microbial ecosystems, are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuya Sato
- Environmental Management Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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Zhou X, Liu X, Liu M, Liu W, Xu J, Li Y. Comparative evaluation of 16S rRNA primer pairs in identifying nitrifying guilds in soils under long-term organic fertilization and water management. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1424795. [PMID: 39077744 PMCID: PMC11284604 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1424795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Compared with 454 sequencing technology, short-read sequencing (e.g., Illumina) technology generates sequences of high accuracy, but limited length (<500 bp). Such a limitation can prove that studying a target gene using a large amplicon (>500 bp) is challenging. The ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), which plays a crucial part in the nitrification process, is such a gene. By providing a full overview of the community of a functional microbial guild, 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequencing could overcome this problem. However, it remains unclear how 16S rRNA primer selection influences the quantification of relative abundance and the identification of community composition of nitrifiers, especially AOA. In the present study, a comparison was made between the performance of primer pairs 338F-806R, 515F-806R, and 515F-907R to a shotgun metagenome approach. The structure of nitrifier communities subjected to different long-term organic matter amendment and water management protocols was assessed. Overall, we observed higher Chao1 richness diversity of soil total bacteria by using 515F-806R compared to 338F-806R and 515F-907R, while higher Pielou's evenness diversity was observed by using 515F-806R and 515F-907R compared to 338F-806R. The studied primer pairs revealed different performances on the relative abundance of Thaumarchaeota, AOB, and NOB. The Thaumarchaeota 16S rRNA sequence was rarely detected using 338F-806R, while the relative abundances of Thaumarchaeota detected using 515F-806R were higher than those detected by using 515F-907R. AOB showed higher proportions in the 338F-806R and 515F-907R data, than in 515F-806R data. Different primers pairs showed significant change in relative proportion of NOB. Nonetheless, we found consistent patterns of the phylotype distribution of nitrifiers in different treatments. Nitrosopumilales (NP) and Nitrososphaerales (NS) clades were the dominant members of the AOA community in soils subject to controlled irrigation, whereas Ca. Nitrosotaleales (NT) and NS clades dominated the AOA community in soils subject to flooding irrigation. Nitrospira lineage II was the dominant NOB phylotype in all samples. Overall, ideal 16S rRNA primer pairs were identified for the analysis of nitrifier communities. Moreover, NP and NT clades of AOA might have distinct environmental adaptation strategies under different irrigation treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Zhou
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Soil-Water Efficient Utilization, Carbon Sequestration and Emission Reduction, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaoyin Liu
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Soil-Water Efficient Utilization, Carbon Sequestration and Emission Reduction, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Meiyu Liu
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Weixuan Liu
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Soil-Water Efficient Utilization, Carbon Sequestration and Emission Reduction, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Junzeng Xu
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Soil-Water Efficient Utilization, Carbon Sequestration and Emission Reduction, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yawei Li
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Soil-Water Efficient Utilization, Carbon Sequestration and Emission Reduction, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
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9
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Zhao Z, Zhao Y, Marotta F, Xamxidin M, Li H, Xu J, Hu B, Wu M. The microbial community structure and nitrogen cycle of high-altitude pristine saline lakes on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1424368. [PMID: 39132143 PMCID: PMC11312105 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1424368] [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: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The nitrogen (N) cycle is the foundation of the biogeochemistry on Earth and plays a crucial role in global climate stability. It is one of the most important nutrient cycles in high-altitude lakes. The biogeochemistry of nitrogen is almost entirely dependent on redox reactions mediated by microorganisms. However, the nitrogen cycling of microbial communities in the high-altitude saline lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), the world's "third pole" has not been investigated extensively. In this study, we used a metagenomic approach to investigate the microbial communities in four high-altitude pristine saline lakes in the Altun mountain on the QTP. We observed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteriota were dominant in these lakes. We reconstructed 1,593 bacterial MAGs and 8 archaeal MAGs, 1,060 of which were found to contain nitrogen cycle related genes. Our analysis revealed that nitrite reduction, nitrogen fixation, and assimilatory nitrate reduction processes might be active in the lakes. Denitrification might be a major mechanism driving the potential nitrogen loss, while nitrification might be inactive. A wide variety of microorganisms in the lake, dominated by Proteobacteria, participate together in the nitrogen cycle. The prevalence of the dominant taxon Yoonia in these lakes may be attributed to its well-established nitrogen functions and the coupled proton dynamics. This study is the first to systematically investigate the structure and nitrogen function of the microbial community in the high-altitude pristine saline lakes in the Altun mountain on the QTP. As such, it contributes to a better comprehension of biogeochemistry of high-altitude saline lakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Zhao
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Yuxiang Zhao
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Federico Marotta
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Huan Li
- Lab of Plateau Ecology and Nature Conservation, The Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China
| | - Junquan Xu
- Lab of Plateau Ecology and Nature Conservation, The Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China
| | - Baolan Hu
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Min Wu
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Ricci F, Greening C. Chemosynthesis: a neglected foundation of marine ecology and biogeochemistry. Trends Microbiol 2024; 32:631-639. [PMID: 38296716 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Chemosynthesis is a metabolic process that transfers carbon to the biosphere using reduced compounds. It is well recognised that chemosynthesis occurs in much of the ocean, but it is often thought to be a negligible process compared to photosynthesis. Here we propose that chemosynthesis is the underlying process governing primary production in much of the ocean and suggest that it extends to a much wider range of compounds, microorganisms, and ecosystems than previously thought. In turn, this process has had a central role in controlling marine biogeochemistry, ecology, and carbon budgets across the vast realms of the ocean, from the dawn of life to contemporary times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Ricci
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
| | - Chris Greening
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Centre to Impact AMR, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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11
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Hu Y, Wang Y, Wang R, Wang X, Liu SJ. Dirammox-dominated microbial community for biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:389. [PMID: 38904674 PMCID: PMC11192851 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-024-13214-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
Direct ammonia oxidation (Dirammox) might be of great significance to advance the innovation of biological nitrogen removal process in wastewater treatment systems. However, it remains unknown whether Dirammox bacteria can be selectively enriched in activated sludge. In this study, a lab-scale bioreactor was established and operated for 2 months to treat synthetic wastewater with hydroxylamine as a selection pressure. Three Dirammox strains (Alcaligenes aquatilis SDU_AA1, Alcaligenes aquatilis SDU_AA2, and Alcaligenes sp. SDU_A2) were isolated from the activated sludge, and their capability to perform Dirammox process was confirmed. Although these three Dirammox bacteria were undetectable in the seed sludge (0%), their relative abundances rapidly increased after a month of operation, reaching 12.65%, 0.69%, and 0.69% for SDU_A2, SDU_AA1, and SDU_AA2, respectively. Among them, the most dominant Dirammox (SDU_A2) exhibited higher nitrogen removal rate (32.35%) than the other two strains (13.57% of SDU_AA1 and 14.52% of SDU_AA2). Comparative genomic analysis demonstrated that the most dominant Dirammox bacterium (SDU_A2) possesses fewer complete metabolic modules compared to the other two less abundant Alcaligenes strains. Our findings expanded the understanding of the application of Dirammox bacteria as key functional microorganisms in a novel biological nitrogen and carbon removal process if they could be well stabilized. KEY POINTS: • Dirammox-dominated microbial community was enriched in activated sludge bioreactor. • The addition of hydroxylamine played a role in Dirammox enrichment. • Three Dirammox bacterial strains, including one novel species, were isolated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, P. R. China
| | - Yulin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, P. R. China.
| | - Runhua Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Xiaokang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Shuang-Jiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, P. R. China.
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
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12
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Padalko A, Nair G, Sousa FL. Fusion/fission protein family identification in Archaea. mSystems 2024; 9:e0094823. [PMID: 38700364 PMCID: PMC11237513 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00948-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The majority of newly discovered archaeal lineages remain without a cultivated representative, but scarce experimental data from the cultivated organisms show that they harbor distinct functional repertoires. To unveil the ecological as well as evolutionary impact of Archaea from metagenomics, new computational methods need to be developed, followed by in-depth analysis. Among them is the genome-wide protein fusion screening performed here. Natural fusions and fissions of genes not only contribute to microbial evolution but also complicate the correct identification and functional annotation of sequences. The products of these processes can be defined as fusion (or composite) proteins, the ones consisting of two or more domains originally encoded by different genes and split proteins, and the ones originating from the separation of a gene in two (fission). Fusion identifications are required for proper phylogenetic reconstructions and metabolic pathway completeness assessments, while mappings between fused and unfused proteins can fill some of the existing gaps in metabolic models. In the archaeal genome-wide screening, more than 1,900 fusion/fission protein clusters were identified, belonging to both newly sequenced and well-studied lineages. These protein families are mainly associated with different types of metabolism, genetic, and cellular processes. Moreover, 162 of the identified fusion/fission protein families are archaeal specific, having no identified fused homolog within the bacterial domain. Our approach was validated by the identification of experimentally characterized fusion/fission cases. However, around 25% of the identified fusion/fission families lack functional annotations for both composite and split states, showing the need for experimental characterization in Archaea.IMPORTANCEGenome-wide fusion screening has never been performed in Archaea on a broad taxonomic scale. The overlay of multiple computational techniques allows the detection of a fine-grained set of predicted fusion/fission families, instead of rough estimations based on conserved domain annotations only. The exhaustive mapping of fused proteins to bacterial organisms allows us to capture fusion/fission families that are specific to archaeal biology, as well as to identify links between bacterial and archaeal lineages based on cooccurrence of taxonomically restricted proteins and their sequence features. Furthermore, the identification of poorly characterized lineage-specific fusion proteins opens up possibilities for future experimental and computational investigations. This approach enhances our understanding of Archaea in general and provides potential candidates for in-depth studies in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasiia Padalko
- Genome Evolution and Ecology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Govind Nair
- Genome Evolution and Ecology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Filipa L. Sousa
- Genome Evolution and Ecology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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13
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Wang S, Li S, Ji M, Li J, Huang J, Dang Z, Jiang Z, Zhang S, Zhu X, Ji G. Long-neglected contribution of nitrification to N 2O emissions in the Yellow River. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 351:124099. [PMID: 38703980 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Revised: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
Rivers play a significant role in the global nitrous oxide (N2O) budget. However, the microbial sources and sinks of N2O in river systems are not well understood or quantified, resulting in the prolonged neglect of nitrification. This study investigated the isotopic signatures of N2O, thereby quantifying the microbial source of N2O production and the degree of N2O reduction in the Yellow River. Although denitrification has long been considered to be the dominant pathway of N2O production in rivers, our findings indicated that denitrification only accounted for 18.3% (8.2%-43.0%) of the total contribution to N2O production in the Yellow River, with 50.2%-80.2% being concurrently reduced. The denitrification contribution to N2O production (R2 = 0.44, p < 0.01) and N2O reduction degree (R2 = 0.70, p < 0.01) were positively related to the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content. Similar to urban rivers and eutrophic lakes, denitrification was the primary process responsible for N2O production (43.0%) in certain reaches with high organic content (DOC = 5.29 mg/L). Nevertheless, the denitrification activity was generally constrained by the availability of electron donors (average DOC = 2.51 mg/L) throughout the Yellow River basin. Consequently, nitrification emerged as the primary contributor in the well-oxygenated Yellow River. Additionally, our findings further distinguished the respective contribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) to N2O emissions. Although AOB dominated the N2O production in the Yellow River, the AOA specie abundance (AOA/(AOA + AOB)) contributed up to 32.6%, which resulted in 25.6% of the total nitrifier-produced N2O, suggesting a significant occurrence of AOA in the oligotrophic Yellow River. Overall, this study provided a non-invasive approach for quantifying the microbial sources and sinks to N2O emissions, and demonstrated the substantial role of nitrification in the large oligotrophic rivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Wang
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Shengjie Li
- Department of Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359, Bremen, Germany
| | - Mingfei Ji
- Collaborative Innovation Centre of Water Security for the Water Source Region of the Mid-line of the South-to-North Diversion Project of Henan Province, College of Life Sciences and Agricultural Engineering, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China
| | - Jiarui Li
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Jilin Huang
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Zhengzhu Dang
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Zhuo Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Shuqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Xianfang Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Guodong Ji
- Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
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14
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von Kügelgen A, Cassidy CK, van Dorst S, Pagani LL, Batters C, Ford Z, Löwe J, Alva V, Stansfeld PJ, Bharat TAM. Membraneless channels sieve cations in ammonia-oxidizing marine archaea. Nature 2024; 630:230-236. [PMID: 38811725 PMCID: PMC11153153 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07462-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Nitrosopumilus maritimus is an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon that is crucial to the global nitrogen cycle1,2. A critical step for nitrogen oxidation is the entrapment of ammonium ions from a dilute marine environment at the cell surface and their subsequent channelling to the cell membrane of N. maritimus. Here we elucidate the structure of the molecular machinery responsible for this process, comprising the surface layer (S-layer), using electron cryotomography and subtomogram averaging from cells. We supplemented our in situ structure of the ammonium-binding S-layer array with a single-particle electron cryomicroscopy structure, revealing detailed features of this immunoglobulin-rich and glycan-decorated S-layer. Biochemical analyses showed strong ammonium binding by the cell surface, which was lost after S-layer disassembly. Sensitive bioinformatic analyses identified similar S-layers in many ammonia-oxidizing archaea, with conserved sequence and structural characteristics. Moreover, molecular simulations and structure determination of ammonium-enriched specimens enabled us to examine the cation-binding properties of the S-layer, revealing how it concentrates ammonium ions on its cell-facing side, effectively acting as a multichannel sieve on the cell membrane. This in situ structural study illuminates the biogeochemically essential process of ammonium binding and channelling, common to many marine microorganisms that are fundamental to the nitrogen cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andriko von Kügelgen
- Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - C Keith Cassidy
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Sofie van Dorst
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Lennart L Pagani
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Christopher Batters
- Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
| | - Zephyr Ford
- Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jan Löwe
- Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
| | - Vikram Alva
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Phillip J Stansfeld
- School of Life Sciences and Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Tanmay A M Bharat
- Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.
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15
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Ali A, Vishnivetskaya TA, Chauhan A. Comparative analysis of prokaryotic microbiomes in high-altitude active layer soils: insights from Ladakh and global analogues using In-Silico approaches. Braz J Microbiol 2024:10.1007/s42770-024-01365-3. [PMID: 38758507 DOI: 10.1007/s42770-024-01365-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The active layer is the portion of soil overlaying the permafrost that freezes and thaws seasonally. It is a harsh habitat in which a varied and vigorous microbial population thrives. The high-altitude active layer soil in northern India is a unique and important cryo-ecosystem. However, its microbiology remains largely unexplored. It represents a unique reservoir for microbial communities with adaptability to harsh environmental conditions. In the Changthang region of Ladakh, the Tsokar area is a high-altitude permafrost-affected area situated in the southern part of Ladakh, at a height of 4530 m above sea level. Results of the comparison study with the QTP, Himalayan, Alaskan, Russian, Canadian and Polar active layers showed that the alpha diversity was significantly higher in the Ladakh and QTP active layers as the environmental condition of both the sites were similar. Moreover, the sampling site in the Ladakh region was in a thawing condition at the time of sampling which possibly provided nutrients and access to alternative nitrogen and carbon sources to the microorganisms thriving in it. Analysis of the samples suggested that the geochemical parameters and environmental conditions shape the microbial alpha diversity and community composition. Further analysis revealed that the cold-adapted methanogens were present in the Ladakh, Himalayan, Polar and Alaskan samples and absent in QTP, Russian and Canadian active layer samples. These methanogens could produce methane at slow rates in the active layer soils that could increase the atmospheric temperature owing to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Ali
- Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Sector 14, 160014, Chandigarh, India
| | | | - Archana Chauhan
- Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Sector 14, 160014, Chandigarh, India.
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16
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Tan Q, Wu H, Zheng L, Wang X, Xing Y, Tian Q, Zhang Y. Urban and agricultural land use led to niche differentiation of AOA, AOB and comammox along the Beiyun River continuum. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 255:121480. [PMID: 38518415 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
River ecological health has been severely threatened by anthropogenic land-use pressures. Here, by combining remote sensing and molecular biology methods, we evaluated the impact of land-use activities on nitrification, a fundamental ecological process in rivers, which is conducted by ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB), or the newly discovered complete ammonia oxidisers (comammox). We explored the relationships of the abundance, activity, and diversity of AOA, AOB, and comammox in river sediments with land-use pressure by proposing a quantitative land use pattern index (LPI) over a 184 km continuum along the Beiyun River in North China. We found that comammox dominated nitrification in the forestry upstream (67.07 % in summer, 56.40 % in winter), while AOB became the major player in the urban middle (56.51 % in summer, 53.08 % in winter) and agricultural downstream reaches (62.98 % in summer, 50.74 % in winter). In addition, urban and agricultural land use lowered the α diversity of AOA and comammox, as well as simplified their co-occurrence networks, but promoted AOB diversity and complicated their networks. The structural equation model illustrated that the key drivers affecting the key taxa and activities were ammonia, and C/N for AOB, and total organic matter, and pH for comammox. We thus conclude that watershed urban and agricultural land use drive the niche differentiation of AOA, AOB, and comammox, specifically leading to a robust AOB community but weakened AOA and comammox communities. Our study connects the macro and micro worlds and provides a new paradigm for studying the variation in microbial communities as well as the potential ecological consequences under the increased anthropogenic land-use pressures in the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuyang Tan
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
| | - Haoming Wu
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
| | - Lei Zheng
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
| | - Xue Wang
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
| | - Yuzi Xing
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
| | - Qi Tian
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
| | - Yaoxin Zhang
- College of Water Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China
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17
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Shah AS, Hsu PC, Chisholm C, Podolyan A, Cameron K, Luo J, Stenger R, Carrick S, Hu W, Ferguson SA, Wei W, Shen J, Zhang L, Liu H, Zhao T, Wei W, Ding W, Pan H, Liu Y, Li B, Du J, Di HJ. Nitrification inhibitor chlorate and nitrogen substrates differentially affect comammox Nitrospira in a grassland soil. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1392090. [PMID: 38808273 PMCID: PMC11130707 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1392090] [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: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Through the combined use of two nitrification inhibitors, Dicyandiamide (DCD) and chlorate with nitrogen amendment, this study aimed to investigate the contribution of comammox Nitrospira clade B, ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) to nitrification in a high fertility grassland soil, in a 90-day incubation study. Methods The soil was treated with nitrogen (N) at three levels: 0 mg-N kg-1 soil, 50 mg-N kg-1 soil, and 700 mg-N kg-1 soil, with or without the two nitrification inhibitors. The abundance of comammox Nitrospira, AOA, AOB, and nitrite oxidising bacteria (NOB) was measured using qPCR. The comammox Nitrospira community structure was assessed using Illumina sequencing. Results and Discussion The results showed that the application of chlorate inhibited the oxidation of both NH4+ and NO2- in all three nitrogen treatments. The application of chlorate significantly reduced the abundance of comammox Nitrospira amoA and nxrB genes across the 90-day experimental period. Chlorate also had a significant effect on the beta diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) of the comammox Nitrospira clade B community. Whilst AOB grew in response to the N substrate additions and were inhibited by both inhibitors, AOA showed litle or no response to either the N substrate or inhibitor treatments. In contrast, comammox Nitrospira clade B were inhibited by the high ammonium concentrations released from the urine substrates. These results demonstrate the differential and niche responses of the three ammonia oxidising communities to N substrate additions and nitrification inhibitor treatments. Further research is needed to investigate the specificity of the two inhibitors on the different ammonia oxidising communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anish S. Shah
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Pei-Chun Hsu
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Chris Chisholm
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Andriy Podolyan
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Keith Cameron
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | | | - Roland Stenger
- Lincoln Agritech, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Sam Carrick
- Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Wei Hu
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Scott A. Ferguson
- Department of Microbiology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Wenhua Wei
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Limei Zhang
- Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hongbin Liu
- Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tongke Zhao
- Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wenxue Wei
- Institute of Subtropical Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
| | - Weixin Ding
- Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Hong Pan
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China
| | - Yimeng Liu
- Centre for Innovation and Development, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Bowen Li
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Jianjun Du
- College of Resources and Environment, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hong J. Di
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
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18
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Chisholm C, Di H, Cameron K, Podolyan A, Shen J, Zhang L, Sirisena K, Godsoe W. Contrasting response of comammox Nitrospira, ammonia oxidising bacteria, and archaea to soil pH and nitrogen inputs. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 924:171627. [PMID: 38471592 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of soil pH change, and nitrogen amendment on ammonia oxidiser abundance and comammox Nitrospira community composition. The experimental design used soil mesocosms placed in a temperature-controlled incubator for 90 days. A Templeton silt loam was used as its physiochemical properties are typical of the region's dairy farms. The results showed that comammox Nitrospira clade B preferred the natural (pH 6.1-6.2) soil pH with no applied nitrogen. Furthermore, synthetic urine (N700) decreased the abundance of comammox Nitrospira clade B. This may have been because the large amounts of available ammonia in the N700 treatments inhibited the growth of comammox Nitrospira. These results suggest that while comammox Nitrospira clade B are present in New Zealand dairy farm soils, but their role in nitrification in the very high nitrogen environment under a urine patch in grazed pastures may be limited. Further research is needed to confirm this. In contrast to comammox, the AOB community (dominated by Nitrosospira) responded positively to the application of synthetic urine. The response was greatest in the high pH soil (7.1), followed by the natural and then the low pH (4.9) soils. This may be due to the difference in ammonia availability. At high pH, the ammonia/ammonium equilibrium favours ammonia production. Calculated ammonia availability in the N700 treatments accurately predicted the AOB amoA gene abundance. Interestingly, the AOA community abundance (which was predominantly made up of Thaumarchaeota group I.1b clade E) seemed to prefer the natural and high pH soils over the low pH. This may be due to the specific lineage of AOA present. AOA did not respond to the application of nitrogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Chisholm
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - H Di
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand.
| | - K Cameron
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - A Podolyan
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - J Shen
- Fujian Normal University, China
| | - L Zhang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
| | - K Sirisena
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - W Godsoe
- Department of Pest Management and Conservation, Lincoln University, New Zealand
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19
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Zhang A, Zhu M, Zheng Y, Tian Z, Mu G, Zheng M. The significant contribution of comammox bacteria to nitrification in a constructed wetland revealed by DNA-based stable isotope probing. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2024; 399:130637. [PMID: 38548031 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
The discovery of Comammox bacteria (CMX) has changed our traditional concept towards nitrification, yet its role in constructed wetlands (CWs) remains unclear. This study investigated the contributions of CMX and two canonical ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea to nitrification in four regions (sediment, shoreside, adjacent soil, and water) of a typical CW using DNA-based stable isotope probing. The results revealed that CMX not only widely occurred in sediment and shoreside zones with high abundance (5.08 × 104 and 6.57 × 104 copies g-1 soil, respectively), but also actively participated in ammonia oxidation, achieving ammonia oxidation rates of 1.43 and 2.00 times that of AOB in sediment and shoreside, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that N. nitrosa was the dominant and active CMX species. These findings uncovered the crucial role of CMX in nitrification of sediment and shoreside, providing a new insight into nitrogen cycle of constructed wetlands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Mingyang Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Yize Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Zhichao Tian
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Guangli Mu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Maosheng Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China.
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20
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Cai S, Lao Q, Chen C, Zhu Q, Chen F. The impact of algal blooms on promoting in-situ N 2O emissions: A case in Zhanjiang bay, China. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 358:120935. [PMID: 38648725 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Under the influence of many factors, such as climate change, anthropogenic eutrophication, and the development of aquaculture, the area and frequency of algal blooms have showed an increasing trend worldwide, which has become a challenging issue at present. However, the coupled relationship between nitrous oxide (N2O) and algal blooms and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To address this issue, 15N isotope cultures and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) experiments were conducted in Zhanjiang Bay during algal and non-algal bloom periods. The results showed that denitrification and nitrification-denitrification were the two processes responsible for the in-situ production of N2O during algal and non-algal bloom periods. Stable isotope rate cultivation experiments indicated that denitrification and nitrification-denitrification were promoted in the water during the algal bloom period. The in-situ production of N2O during the algal bloom period was three-fold that during the non-algal bloom period. This may be because fresh particulate organic matter (POM) from the organisms responsible for the algal bloom provides the necessary anaerobic and hypoxic environment for denitrification and nitrification-denitrification in the degradation environment. Additionally, a positive linear correlation between N2O concentrations and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and denitrifying bacteria (nirK and nirS) also supported the significant denitrification and nitrification-denitrification occurring in the water during the algal bloom period. However, the algal bloom changed the main process for the in-situ production of N2O, wherein it shifted from denitrification during the non-algal bloom period to nitrification-denitrification during the algal bloom period. The results of our study will improve our understanding of the processes responsible for the in-situ production of N2O during the algal bloom period, and can help formulate effective policies to mitigate N2O emissions in the bay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shangjun Cai
- College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; School of Chemistry and Environment, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China
| | - Qibin Lao
- College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; School of Chemistry and Environment, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China
| | - Chunqing Chen
- College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; School of Chemistry and Environment, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China
| | - Qingmei Zhu
- College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; School of Chemistry and Environment, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; Key Laboratory for Coastal Ocean Variation and Disaster Prediction, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; Key Laboratory of Climate, Resources and Environment in Continental Shelf Sea and Deep Sea of Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China
| | - Fajin Chen
- College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; School of Chemistry and Environment, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; Key Laboratory for Coastal Ocean Variation and Disaster Prediction, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China; Key Laboratory of Climate, Resources and Environment in Continental Shelf Sea and Deep Sea of Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China.
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Peng L, Jia M, Li S, Wang X, Liang C, Xu Y. Developing antibiotics-based strategies to efficiently enrich ammonia-oxidizing archaea from wastewater treatment plants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 923:171479. [PMID: 38458444 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2024] [Revised: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
The effects of five antibiotics (i.e., ampicillin, streptomycin, carbenicillin, kanamycin and tetracycline) on ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) enrichment from anoxic activated sludge were investigated. The combined use of five antibiotics during 90-day cultivation could selectively inhibit nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) with AOA unaffected, as evidenced by the nitrite accumulation ratio of 100 % and the proportion of AOA in ammonia-oxidizing microbes over 91 %. The alternative use of five antibiotics was the optimal approach to screening for AOA during 348-day cultivation, which inhibited AOB growth at a level equivalent to the combined use of five antibiotics (the AOB-amoA gene decreased by over 99.90 %), further promoted AOA abundance (the much higher AOA-amoA to AOB-amoA gene copy number ratio (1453.30) than that in the groups with the combined use of five antibiotics (192.94)), eliminated bacterial adaptation to antibiotics and reduced antibiotic-resistant bacteria to form Nitrocosmicus-dominant community (42.35 % in abundance).
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Affiliation(s)
- Lai Peng
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Mengwen Jia
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shengjun Li
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China.
| | - Xi Wang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Chuanzhou Liang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yifeng Xu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
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22
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Zhou Y, Yan A, Yang J, He W, Guo S, Li Y, Wu J, Dai Y, Pan X, Cui D, Pereira O, Teng W, Bi R, Chen S, Fan L, Wang P, Liao Y, Qin W, Sui SF, Zhu Y, Zhang C, Liu Z. Ultrastructural insights into cellular organization, energy storage and ribosomal dynamics of an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from oligotrophic oceans. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1367658. [PMID: 38737410 PMCID: PMC11082331 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1367658] [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: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Nitrososphaeria, formerly known as Thaumarchaeota, constitute a diverse and widespread group of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) inhabiting ubiquitously in marine and terrestrial environments, playing a pivotal role in global nitrogen cycling. Despite their importance in Earth's ecosystems, the cellular organization of AOA remains largely unexplored, leading to a significant unanswered question of how the machinery of these organisms underpins metabolic functions. Methods In this study, we combined spherical-chromatic-aberration-corrected cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to unveil the cellular organization and elemental composition of Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1, a representative member of marine Nitrososphaeria. Results and Discussion Our tomograms show the native ultrastructural morphology of SCM1 and one to several dense storage granules in the cytoplasm. STEM-EDS analysis identifies two types of storage granules: one type is possibly composed of polyphosphate and the other polyhydroxyalkanoate. With precise measurements using cryo-ET, we observed low quantity and density of ribosomes in SCM1 cells, which are in alignment with the documented slow growth of AOA in laboratory cultures. Collectively, these findings provide visual evidence supporting the resilience of AOA in the vast oligotrophic marine environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangkai Zhou
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - An Yan
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiawen Yang
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Wei He
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Shuai Guo
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yifan Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Jing Wu
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yanchao Dai
- Shanghai NanoPort, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Shanghai, China
| | - Xijiang Pan
- Shanghai NanoPort, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Shanghai, China
| | - Dongyu Cui
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Olivier Pereira
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Institut AMU-WUT, Aix-Marseille Université and Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Wenkai Teng
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Ran Bi
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Songze Chen
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Lu Fan
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Peiyi Wang
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yan Liao
- Australian Institute for Microbiology & Infection, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia
| | - Wei Qin
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Sen-Fang Sui
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structures, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuanqing Zhu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Shanghai Sheshan National Geophysical Observatory, Shanghai, China
| | - Chuanlun Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Shanghai Sheshan National Geophysical Observatory, Shanghai, China
- Advanced Institute for Ocean Research, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Zheng Liu
- Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
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Zhang Q, Yu X, Yang Y, Ruan J, Zou Y, Wu S, Chen F, Zhu R. Enhanced ammonia removal in tidal flow constructed wetland by incorporating steel slag: Performance, microbial community, and heavy metal release. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 922:171333. [PMID: 38423325 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 02/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Utilizing alkaline solid wastes, such as steel slag, as substrates in tidal flow constructed wetlands (TFCWs) can effectively neutralize the acidity generated by nitrification. However, the impacts of steel slag on microbial communities and the potential risk of heavy metal release remain poorly understood. To address these knowledge gaps, this study compared the performance and microbial community structure of TFCWs filled with a mixture of steel slag and zeolite (TFCW-S) to those filled with zeolite alone (TFCW-Z). TFCW-S exhibited a much higher NH4+-N removal efficiency (98.35 %) than TFCW-Z (55.26 %). Additionally, TFCW-S also achieved better TN and TP removal. The steel slag addition helped maintain the TFCW-S effluent pH at around 7.5, while the TFCW-Z effluent pH varied from 3.74 to 6.25. The nitrification and denitrification intensities in TFCW-S substrates were significantly higher than those in TFCW-Z, consistent with the observed removal performance. Moreover, steel slag did not cause excessive heavy metal release, as the effluent concentrations were below the standard limits. Microbial community analysis revealed that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing archaea, and complete ammonia-oxidizing bacteria coexisted in both TFCWs, albeit with different compositions. Furthermore, the enrichment of heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification bacteria in TFCW-S likely contributed to the high NH4+-N removal. In summary, these findings demonstrate that the combined use of steel slag and zeolite in TFCWs creates favorable pH conditions for ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms, leading to efficient ammonia removal in an environmentally friendly manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Xingyu Yu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Yongqiang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China.
| | - Jingjun Ruan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Yuhuan Zou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Shijun Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China
| | - Fanrong Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China
| | - Runliang Zhu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Materials, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, 511 Kehua Street, 510640 Guangzhou, China
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24
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Han P, Tang X, Koch H, Dong X, Hou L, Wang D, Zhao Q, Li Z, Liu M, Lücker S, Shi G. Unveiling unique microbial nitrogen cycling and nitrification driver in coastal Antarctica. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3143. [PMID: 38609359 PMCID: PMC11014942 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47392-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Largely removed from anthropogenic delivery of nitrogen (N), Antarctica has notably low levels of nitrogen. Though our understanding of biological sources of ammonia have been elucidated, the microbial drivers of nitrate (NO3-) cycling in coastal Antarctica remains poorly understood. Here, we explore microbial N cycling in coastal Antarctica, unraveling the biological origin of NO3- via oxygen isotopes in soil and lake sediment, and through the reconstruction of 1968 metagenome-assembled genomes from 29 microbial phyla. Our analysis reveals the metabolic potential for microbial N2 fixation, nitrification, and denitrification, but not for anaerobic ammonium oxidation, signifying a unique microbial N-cycling dynamic. We identify the predominance of complete ammonia oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira, capable of performing the entire nitrification process. Their adaptive strategies to the Antarctic environment likely include synthesis of trehalose for cold stress, high substrate affinity for resource utilization, and alternate metabolic pathways for nutrient-scarce conditions. We confirm the significant role of comammox Nitrospira in the autotrophic, nitrification process via 13C-DNA-based stable isotope probing. This research highlights the crucial contribution of nitrification to the N budget in coastal Antarctica, identifying comammox Nitrospira clade B as a nitrification driver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
- Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Xiufeng Tang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Hanna Koch
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Center for Health & Bioresources, Bioresources Unit, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, A-3430, Tulln, Austria
| | - Xiyang Dong
- Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China
- State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Marine Genetic Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China
- Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Genetic Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Lijun Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
- Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Danhe Wang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Qian Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Zhe Li
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China.
- Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China.
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Guitao Shi
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China.
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Liu J, Huang X, Jiang X, Qing C, Li Y, Xia P. Loss of submerged macrophytes in shallow lakes alters bacterial and archaeal community structures, and reduces their co-occurrence networks connectivity and complexity. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1380805. [PMID: 38601927 PMCID: PMC11004660 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1380805] [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: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Bacteria and archaea are important components in shallow lake ecosystems and are crucial for biogeochemical cycling. While the submerged macrophyte loss is widespread in shallow lakes, the effect on the bacteria and archaea in the sediment and water is not yet widely understood. Methods In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to explore the bacteria and archaea in samples taken from the sediment and water in the submerged macrophyte abundant (MA) and submerged macrophyte loss (ML) areas of Caohai Lake, Guizhou, China. Results The results showed that the dominant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi in the sediment; the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, and Bacteroidota in the water. The dominant archaea in sediment and water were the same, in the order of Crenarchaeota, Thermoplasmatota, and Halobacterota. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses showed that bacterial and archaeal community structures in the water were significantly affected by the loss of submerged macrophytes, but not by significant changes in the sediment. This suggests that the loss of submerged macrophytes has a stronger effect on the bacterial and archaeal community structures in water than in sediment. Furthermore, plant biomass (PB) was the key factor significantly influencing the bacterial community structure in water, while total nitrogen (TN) was the main factor significantly influencing the archaeal community structure in water. The loss of submerged macrophytes did not significantly affect the alpha diversity of the bacterial and archaeal communities in either the sediment or water. Based on network analyses, we found that the loss of submerged macrophytes reduced the connectivity and complexity of bacterial patterns in sediment and water. For archaea, network associations were stronger for MA network than for ML network in sediment, but network complexity for archaea in water was not significantly different between the two areas. Discussion This study assesses the impacts of submerged macrophyte loss on bacteria and archaea in lakes from microbial perspective, which can help to provide further theoretical basis for microbiological research and submerged macrophytes restoration in shallow lakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahui Liu
- Guizhou Province Key Laboratory for Information System of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Xianfei Huang
- Guizhou Province Key Laboratory for Information System of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Xin Jiang
- Guizhou Province Key Laboratory for Information System of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Chun Qing
- Guizhou Province Key Laboratory for Information System of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Yue Li
- Guizhou Caohai National Nature Reserve Management Committee, Bijie, Guizhou, China
| | - Pinhua Xia
- Guizhou Province Key Laboratory for Information System of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
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Ghimire-Kafle S, Weaver ME, Kimbrel MP, Bollmann A. Competition between ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia oxidizers from freshwater environments. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0169823. [PMID: 38349190 PMCID: PMC10952389 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01698-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Aerobic ammonia oxidizers (AOs) are prokaryotic microorganisms that contribute to the global nitrogen cycle by performing the first step of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate. While aerobic AOs are found ubiquitously, their distribution is controlled by key environmental conditions such as substrate (ammonium) availability. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) are generally found in oligotrophic environments with low ammonium availability. However, whether AOA and comammox share these habitats or outcompete each other is not well understood. We assessed the competition for ammonium between an AOA and comammox enriched from the freshwater Lake Burr Oak. The AOA enrichment culture (AOA-BO1) contained Nitrosarchaeum sp. BO1 as the ammonia oxidizer and Nitrospira sp. BO1 as the nitrite oxidizer. The comammox enrichment BO4 (cmx-BO4) contained the comammox strain Nitrospira sp. BO4. The competition experiments were performed either in continuous cultivation with ammonium as a growth-limiting substrate or in batch cultivation with initial ammonium concentrations of 50 and 500 µM. Regardless of the ammonium concentration, Nitrospira sp. BO4 outcompeted Nitrosarchaeum sp. BO1 under all tested conditions. The dominance of Nitrospira sp. BO4 could be explained by the ability of comammox to generate more energy through the complete oxidation of ammonia to nitrate and their more efficient carbon fixation pathway-the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle. Our results are supported by the higher abundance of comammox compared to AOA in the sediment of Lake Burr Oak. IMPORTANCE Nitrification is a key process in the global nitrogen cycle. Aerobic ammonia oxidizers play a central role in the nitrogen cycle by performing the first step of nitrification. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) are the dominant nitrifiers in environments with low ammonium availability. While AOA have been studied for almost 20 years, comammox were only discovered 8 years ago. Until now, there has been a gap in our understanding of whether AOA and comammox can co-exist or if one strain would be dominant under ammonium-limiting conditions. Here, we present the first study characterizing the competition between freshwater AOA and comammox under varying substrate concentrations. Our results will help in elucidating the niches of two key nitrifiers in freshwater lakes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matt E. Weaver
- Department of Microbiology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA
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Sarkar J, Mondal M, Bhattacharya S, Dutta S, Chatterjee S, Mondal N, N S, Peketi A, Mazumdar A, Ghosh W. Extremely oligotrophic and complex-carbon-degrading microaerobic bacteria from Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone sediments. Arch Microbiol 2024; 206:179. [PMID: 38498215 DOI: 10.1007/s00203-024-03875-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Sediments underlying marine hypoxic zones are huge sinks of unreacted complex organic matter, where despite acute O2 limitation, obligately aerobic bacteria thrive, and steady depletion of organic carbon takes place within a few meters below the seafloor. However, little knowledge exists about the sustenance and complex carbon degradation potentials of aerobic chemoorganotrophs in these sulfidic ecosystems. We isolated and characterized a number of aerobic bacterial chemoorganoheterotrophs from across a ~ 3 m sediment horizon underlying the perennial hypoxic zone of the eastern Arabian Sea. High levels of sequence correspondence between the isolates' genomes and the habitat's metagenomes and metatranscriptomes illustrated that the strains were widespread and active across the sediment cores explored. The isolates catabolized several complex organic compounds of marine and terrestrial origins in the presence of high or low, but not zero, O2. Some of them could also grow anaerobically on yeast extract or acetate by reducing nitrate and/or nitrite. Fermentation did not support growth, but enabled all the strains to maintain a fraction of their cell populations over prolonged anoxia. Under extreme oligotrophy, limited growth followed by protracted stationary phase was observed for all the isolates at low cell density, amid high or low, but not zero, O2 concentration. While population control and maintenance could be particularly useful for the strains' survival in the critically carbon-depleted layers below the explored sediment depths (core-bottom organic carbon: 0.5-1.0% w/w), metagenomic data suggested that in situ anoxia could be surmounted via potential supplies of cryptic O2 from previously reported sources such as Nitrosopumilus species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jagannath Sarkar
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India.
| | - Mahamadul Mondal
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India
- National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, West Bengal, India
| | - Subhajit Dutta
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Sumit Chatterjee
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Nibendu Mondal
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India
- International Institute of Innovation and Technology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Saran N
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India
| | - Aditya Peketi
- Geological Oceanography, CSIR National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India
| | - Aninda Mazumdar
- Geological Oceanography, CSIR National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India
| | - Wriddhiman Ghosh
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 700091, West Bengal, India.
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28
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Zhang IH, Borer B, Zhao R, Wilbert S, Newman DK, Babbin AR. Uncultivated DPANN archaea are ubiquitous inhabitants of global oxygen-deficient zones with diverse metabolic potential. mBio 2024; 15:e0291823. [PMID: 38380943 PMCID: PMC10936187 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02918-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Archaea belonging to the DPANN (Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, and Nanohaloarchaeota) superphylum have been found in an expanding number of environments and perform a variety of biogeochemical roles, including contributing to carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen cycling. Generally characterized by ultrasmall cell sizes and reduced genomes, DPANN archaea may form mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic interactions with various archaeal and bacterial hosts, influencing the ecology and functioning of microbial communities. While DPANN archaea reportedly comprise a sizeable fraction of the archaeal community within marine oxygen-deficient zone (ODZ) water columns, little is known about their metabolic capabilities in these ecosystems. We report 33 novel metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) belonging to the DPANN phyla Nanoarchaeota, Pacearchaeota, Woesearchaeota, Undinarchaeota, Iainarchaeota, and SpSt-1190 from pelagic ODZs in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific and the Arabian Sea. We find these archaea to be permanent, stable residents of all three major ODZs only within anoxic depths, comprising up to 1% of the total microbial community and up to 25%-50% of archaea as estimated from read mapping to MAGs. ODZ DPANN appear to be capable of diverse metabolic functions, including fermentation, organic carbon scavenging, and the cycling of sulfur, hydrogen, and methane. Within a majority of ODZ DPANN, we identify a gene homologous to nitrous oxide reductase. Modeling analyses indicate the feasibility of a nitrous oxide reduction metabolism for host-attached symbionts, and the small genome sizes and reduced metabolic capabilities of most DPANN MAGs suggest host-associated lifestyles within ODZs. IMPORTANCE Archaea from the DPANN (Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, and Nanohaloarchaeota) superphylum have diverse metabolic capabilities and participate in multiple biogeochemical cycles. While metagenomics and enrichments have revealed that many DPANN are characterized by ultrasmall genomes, few biosynthetic genes, and episymbiotic lifestyles, much remains unknown about their biology. We report 33 new DPANN metagenome-assembled genomes originating from the three global marine oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs), the first from these regions. We survey DPANN abundance and distribution within the ODZ water column, investigate their biosynthetic capabilities, and report potential roles in the cycling of organic carbon, methane, and nitrogen. We test the hypothesis that nitrous oxide reductases found within several ODZ DPANN genomes may enable ultrasmall episymbionts to serve as nitrous oxide consumers when attached to a host nitrous oxide producer. Our results indicate DPANN archaea as ubiquitous residents within the anoxic core of ODZs with the potential to produce or consume key compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene H. Zhang
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Benedict Borer
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Rui Zhao
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Steven Wilbert
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Dianne K. Newman
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Andrew R. Babbin
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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29
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Peoples LM, Seixas MH, Evans KA, Bilbrey EM, Ranieri JR, Tappenbeck TH, Dore JE, Baumann A, Church MJ. Out of sight, but not out of season: Nitrifier distributions and population dynamics in a large oligotrophic lake. Environ Microbiol 2024; 26:e16616. [PMID: 38517638 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Nitrification is an important control on the form and distribution of nitrogen in freshwater ecosystems. However, the seasonality of nitrogen pools and the diversity of organisms catalyzing this process have not been well documented in oligotrophic lakes. Here, we show that nitrogen pools and nitrifying organisms in Flathead Lake are temporally and vertically dynamic, with nitrifiers displaying specific preferences depending on the season. While the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) Nitrosomonadaceae and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) Nitrotoga dominate at depth in the summer, the ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) Nitrososphaerota and NOB Nitrospirota become abundant in the winter. Given clear seasonality in ammonium, with higher concentrations during the summer, we hypothesize that the succession between these two nitrifying groups may be due to nitrogen affinity, with AOB more competitive when ammonia concentrations are higher and AOA when they are lower. Nitrifiers in Flathead Lake share more than 99% average nucleotide identity with those reported in other North American lakes but are distinct from those in Europe and Asia, indicating a role for geographic isolation as a factor controlling speciation among nitrifiers. Our study shows there are seasonal shifts in nitrogen pools and nitrifying populations, highlighting the dynamic spatial and temporal nature of nitrogen cycling in freshwater ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan M Peoples
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
| | - Miranda H Seixas
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
| | - Kate A Evans
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
| | - Evan M Bilbrey
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA
| | - John R Ranieri
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
| | - Tyler H Tappenbeck
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
| | - John E Dore
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - Adam Baumann
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
| | - Matthew J Church
- Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, Montana, USA
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30
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Nguyen Quoc B, Peng B, De Clippeleir H, Winkler MKH. Case study: Bioaugmenting the comammox dominated biomass from B-stage to enhance nitrification in A-stage at Blue Plains AWWTP. WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH : A RESEARCH PUBLICATION OF THE WATER ENVIRONMENT FEDERATION 2024; 96:e11005. [PMID: 38407520 DOI: 10.1002/wer.11005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
A comprehensive case study was undertaken at the Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to explore the bioaugmentation technique of introducing nitrifying sludge into the non-nitrifying stage over the course of two operational years. This innovative approach involved the return of waste activated sludge (WAS) from the biological nutrient removal (BNR) system to enhance the nitrification in the high carbon removal rate system. The complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) Nitrospira Nitrosa was identified as the main nitrifier in the system. Bioaugmentation was shown to be successful as nitrifiers returned from BNR were able to increase the nitrifying activity of the high carbon removal rate system. There was a positive correlation between returned sludge from the BNR stage and the specific total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal rate in A stage. The bioaugmentation process resulted in a remarkable threefold increase in the specific TKN removal rate within the A stage. Result suggested that recycling of WAS is a simple technique to bio-augment a low SRT system with nitrifiers and add ammonia oxidation to a previously non-nitrifying stage. The results from this case study hold the potential for applicable implications for other WWTPs that have a similar operational scheme to Blue Plains, allowing them to reuse WAS from the B stage, previously considered waste, to enhance nitrification and thus improving overall nitrogen removal performance. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Comammox identifying as main nitrifier in the B stage. Comammox enriched sludge from B stage successfully bio-augmented the East side of A stage up to threefold. Bioaugmentation of comammox in the West side of A stage was potentially inhibited by the gravity thickened overflow. Sludge returned from B stage to A stage can improve nitrification with a very minor retrofits and short startup times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bao Nguyen Quoc
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Bo Peng
- DC Water and Sewer Authority, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | - Mari-Karoliina H Winkler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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31
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Jiang C, Wu J, Ye J, Hong Y. High throughput amplicon analysis reveals potential novel ammonia oxidizing prokaryotes in the eutrophic Jiaozhou Bay. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 200:116046. [PMID: 38246016 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes (AOPs) are the major contributors of ammonia oxidization with widely distribution. Here we investigated the phylogenetic diversity, community composition, and regulating factors of AOPs in Jiaozhou Bay (JZB) with high-throughput sequencing of amoA gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed most of the OTUs could not be clustered with any known AOPs, indicating there might exist putative novel AOPs. With new developed protocols for AOP community analysis, we confirmed that only 3 OTUs of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) could be affiliated to known Nitrosopumilaceae and Nitrososphaera, and the other OTUs were identified as novel AOA based on the threshold. All abstained OTUs of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were identified as novel clusters based on the threshold. Further analysis showed the novel AOPs had different distribution characteristics related to environmental factors. The high abundance and widespread distribution of these novel AOPs indicated that they played an important role in ammonia conversion in eutrophic JZB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cuihong Jiang
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Jiapeng Wu
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Jiaqi Ye
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Yiguo Hong
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
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32
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Fray D, McGovern CA, Casamatta DA, Biddanda BA, Hamsher SE. Metabarcoding reveals unique microbial mat communities and evidence of biogeographic influence in low-oxygen, high-sulfur sinkholes and springs. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11162. [PMID: 38529029 PMCID: PMC10961586 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024] Open
Abstract
High-sulfur, low-oxygen environments formed by underwater sinkholes and springs create unique habitats populated by microbial mat communities. To explore the diversity and biogeography of these mats, samples were collected from three sites in Alpena, Michigan, one site in Monroe, Michigan, and one site in Palm Coast, Florida. Our study investigated previously undescribed eukaryotic diversity in these habitats and further explored their bacterial communities. Mat samples and water parameters were collected from sulfur spring sites during the spring, summer, and fall of 2022. Cyanobacteria and diatoms were cultured from mat subsamples to create a culture-based DNA reference library. Remaining mat samples were used for metabarcoding of the 16S and rbcL regions to explore bacterial and diatom diversity, respectively. Analyses of water chemistry, alpha diversity, and beta diversity articulated a range of high-sulfur, low-oxygen habitats, each with distinct microbial communities. Conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, sulfate, and chloride had significant influences on community composition but did not describe the differences between communities well. Chloride concentration had the strongest correlation with microbial community structure. Mantel tests revealed that biogeography contributed to differences between communities as well. Our results provide novel information on microbial mat composition and present evidence that both local conditions and biogeography influence these unique communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davis Fray
- Annis Water Resources InstituteGrand Valley State UniversityMuskegonMichiganUSA
| | | | - Dale A. Casamatta
- Department of BiologyUniversity of North FloridaJacksonvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Bopaiah A. Biddanda
- Annis Water Resources InstituteGrand Valley State UniversityMuskegonMichiganUSA
| | - Sarah E. Hamsher
- Annis Water Resources InstituteGrand Valley State UniversityMuskegonMichiganUSA
- Department of BiologyGrand Valley State UniversityAllendaleMichiganUSA
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33
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Schiller H, Hong Y, Kouassi J, Rados T, Kwak J, DiLucido A, Safer D, Marchfelder A, Pfeiffer F, Bisson A, Schulze S, Pohlschroder M. Identification of structural and regulatory cell-shape determinants in Haloferax volcanii. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1414. [PMID: 38360755 PMCID: PMC10869688 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45196-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Archaea play indispensable roles in global biogeochemical cycles, yet many crucial cellular processes, including cell-shape determination, are poorly understood. Haloferax volcanii, a model haloarchaeon, forms rods and disks, depending on growth conditions. Here, we used a combination of iterative proteomics, genetics, and live-cell imaging to identify mutants that only form rods or disks. We compared the proteomes of the mutants with wild-type cells across growth phases, thereby distinguishing between protein abundance changes specific to cell shape and those related to growth phases. The results identified a diverse set of proteins, including predicted transporters, transducers, signaling components, and transcriptional regulators, as important for cell-shape determination. Through phenotypic characterization of deletion strains, we established that rod-determining factor A (RdfA) and disk-determining factor A (DdfA) are required for the formation of rods and disks, respectively. We also identified structural proteins, including an actin homolog that plays a role in disk-shape morphogenesis, which we named volactin. Using live-cell imaging, we determined volactin's cellular localization and showed its dynamic polymerization and depolymerization. Our results provide insights into archaeal cell-shape determination, with possible implications for understanding the evolution of cell morphology regulation across domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Schiller
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Yirui Hong
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Joshua Kouassi
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Theopi Rados
- Brandeis University, Department of Biology, Waltham, MA, 02453, USA
| | - Jasmin Kwak
- Brandeis University, Department of Biology, Waltham, MA, 02453, USA
| | - Anthony DiLucido
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Daniel Safer
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Physiology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | | | - Friedhelm Pfeiffer
- Biology II, Ulm University, 89069, Ulm, Germany
- Computational Biology Group, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Alexandre Bisson
- Brandeis University, Department of Biology, Waltham, MA, 02453, USA.
| | - Stefan Schulze
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Rochester Institute of Technology, Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, Rochester, NY, 14623, USA.
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34
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Liu J, Li DW, He X, Liu R, Cheng H, Su C, Chen M, Wang Y, Zhao Z, Xu H, Cheng Z, Wang Z, Pedentchouk N, Lea-Smith DJ, Todd JD, Liu X, Zhao M, Zhang XH. A unique subseafloor microbiosphere in the Mariana Trench driven by episodic sedimentation. MARINE LIFE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 6:168-181. [PMID: 38433963 PMCID: PMC10902237 DOI: 10.1007/s42995-023-00212-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Hadal trenches are characterized by enhanced and infrequent high-rate episodic sedimentation events that likely introduce not only labile organic carbon and key nutrients but also new microbes that significantly alter the subseafloor microbiosphere. Currently, the role of high-rate episodic sedimentation in controlling the composition of the hadal subseafloor microbiosphere is unknown. Here, analyses of carbon isotope composition in a ~ 750 cm long sediment core from the Challenger Deep revealed noncontinuous deposition, with anomalous 14C ages likely caused by seismically driven mass transport and the funneling effect of trench geomorphology. Microbial community composition and diverse enzyme activities in the upper ~ 27 cm differed from those at lower depths, probably due to sudden sediment deposition and differences in redox condition and organic matter availability. At lower depths, microbial population numbers, and composition remained relatively constant, except at some discrete depths with altered enzyme activity and microbial phyla abundance, possibly due to additional sudden sedimentation events of different magnitude. Evidence is provided of a unique role for high-rate episodic sedimentation events in controlling the subsurface microbiosphere in Earth's deepest ocean floor and highlight the need to perform thorough analysis over a large depth range to characterize hadal benthic populations. Such depositional processes are likely crucial in shaping deep-water geochemical environments and thereby the deep subseafloor biosphere. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-023-00212-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiwen Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, 266237 China
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
| | - Da-Wei Li
- Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, 266237 China
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Xinxin He
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
| | - Ronghua Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
| | - Haojin Cheng
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
| | - Chenglong Su
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Mengna Chen
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Yonghong Wang
- Key Lab of Submarine Geosciences and Prospecting Techniques, Ministry of Education/College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Zhongsheng Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ministry of Education/Research Vessel Centre, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Hanyue Xu
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Zhangyu Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Zicheng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Nikolai Pedentchouk
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ UK
| | - David J. Lea-Smith
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Jonathan D. Todd
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Xiaoshou Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
| | - Meixun Zhao
- Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, 266237 China
- Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100 China
| | - Xiao-Hua Zhang
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, 266237 China
- Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
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35
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Qin W, Wei SP, Zheng Y, Choi E, Li X, Johnston J, Wan X, Abrahamson B, Flinkstrom Z, Wang B, Li H, Hou L, Tao Q, Chlouber WW, Sun X, Wells M, Ngo L, Hunt KA, Urakawa H, Tao X, Wang D, Yan X, Wang D, Pan C, Weber PK, Jiang J, Zhou J, Zhang Y, Stahl DA, Ward BB, Mayali X, Martens-Habbena W, Winkler MKH. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea exhibit differential nitrogen source preferences. Nat Microbiol 2024; 9:524-536. [PMID: 38297167 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01593-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM) contribute to one of the largest nitrogen fluxes in the global nitrogen budget. Four distinct lineages of AOM: ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), beta- and gamma-proteobacterial ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (β-AOB and γ-AOB) and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), are thought to compete for ammonia as their primary nitrogen substrate. In addition, many AOM species can utilize urea as an alternative energy and nitrogen source through hydrolysis to ammonia. How the coordination of ammonia and urea metabolism in AOM influences their ecology remains poorly understood. Here we use stable isotope tracing, kinetics and transcriptomics experiments to show that representatives of the AOM lineages employ distinct regulatory strategies for ammonia or urea utilization, thereby minimizing direct substrate competition. The tested AOA and comammox species preferentially used ammonia over urea, while β-AOB favoured urea utilization, repressed ammonia transport in the presence of urea and showed higher affinity for urea than for ammonia. Characterized γ-AOB co-utilized both substrates. These results reveal contrasting niche adaptation and coexistence patterns among the major AOM lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Qin
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Stephany P Wei
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Yue Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Eunkyung Choi
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA
| | - Xiangpeng Li
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | | | - Xianhui Wan
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Britt Abrahamson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Zachary Flinkstrom
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Baozhan Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Hanyan Li
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Lei Hou
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Qing Tao
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Wyatt W Chlouber
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Xin Sun
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael Wells
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Long Ngo
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Kristopher A Hunt
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hidetoshi Urakawa
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA
| | - Xuanyu Tao
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Dongyu Wang
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Xiaoyuan Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Dazhi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Chongle Pan
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Peter K Weber
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
| | - Jiandong Jiang
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jizhong Zhou
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Yao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - David A Stahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Bess B Ward
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Xavier Mayali
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
| | - Willm Martens-Habbena
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA.
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Mao Y, Wu J, Yang R, Ma Y, Ye J, Zhong J, Deng N, He X, Hong Y. Novel database for accA gene revealed a vertical variability pattern of autotrophic carbon fixation potential of ammonia oxidizing archaea in a permeable subterranean estuary. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 194:106342. [PMID: 38185001 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
The autotrophic carbon fixation pathway of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) was the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate (3-HP/4-HB) cycle, of which the acetyl-CoA carboxylase α-submit (accA) gene is widely recognized as the indicator. To date, there is no reference database or suitable cut-off value for operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering to analyze the diversity of AOA based on the accA gene. In this study, a reference database with 489 sequences was constructed, all the accA gene sequences was obtained from the AOA enrichment culture, pure culture and environmental samples. Additionally, the 79% was determined as the cut-off value for OTU clustering by comparing the similarity between the accA gene and the 16S rRNA gene. The developed method was verified by analyzing samples from the subterranean estuary and a vertical variation pattern of autotrophic carbon fixation potential of AOA was revealed. This study provided an effective method to analyze the diversity and autotrophic carbon fixation potential of AOA based on accA gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixiang Mao
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Jiapeng Wu
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Ruotong Yang
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Yuexi Ma
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Jiaqi Ye
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Jiarui Zhong
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Nanling Deng
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Xiang He
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Yiguo Hong
- Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay Area, Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
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37
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Crump BC, Bowen JL. The Microbial Ecology of Estuarine Ecosystems. ANNUAL REVIEW OF MARINE SCIENCE 2024; 16:335-360. [PMID: 37418833 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-022123-101845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Human civilization relies on estuaries, and many estuarine ecosystem services are provided by microbial communities. These services include high rates of primary production that nourish harvests of commercially valuable species through fisheries and aquaculture, the transformation of terrestrial and anthropogenic materials to help ensure the water quality necessary to support recreation and tourism, and mutualisms that maintain blue carbon accumulation and storage. Research on the ecology that underlies microbial ecosystem services in estuaries has expanded greatly across a range of estuarine environments, including water, sediment, biofilms, biological reefs, and stands of seagrasses, marshes, and mangroves. Moreover, the application of new molecular tools has improved our understanding of the diversity and genomic functions of estuarine microbes. This review synthesizes recent research on microbial habitats in estuaries and the contributions of microbes to estuarine food webs, elemental cycling, and interactions with plants and animals, and highlights novel insights provided by recent advances in genomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Byron C Crump
- College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA;
| | - Jennifer L Bowen
- Marine Science Center, Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts, USA;
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38
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Martocello DE, Wankel SD. Physiological Influence of Fe and Cu Availability on Nitrogen Isotope Fractionation during Ammonia Oxidation. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:421-431. [PMID: 38147309 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c05964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Microbially mediated cycling processes play central roles in regulating the speciation and availability of nitrogen, a vital nutrient with wide implications for agriculture, water quality, wastewater treatment, ecosystem health, and climate change. Ammonia oxidation, the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, is carried out by bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) that require the trace metal micronutrients copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) for growth and metabolic catalysis. While stable isotope analyses for constraining nitrogen cycling are commonly used, it is unclear whether metal availability may modulate expression of stable isotope fractionation during ammonia oxidation, by varying growth or through regulation of metabolic metalloenzymes. We present the first study examining the influence of Fe and Cu availability on the kinetic nitrogen isotope effect in ammonia oxidation (15εAO). We report a general independence of 15εAO from the growth rate in AOB, except at a low temperature (10 °C). With AOA Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1, however, 15εAO decreases nonlinearly at lower oxidation rates. We examine assumptions involved in the interpretation of 15εAO values and suggest these dynamics may arise from physiological constraints that push the system toward isotopic equilibrium. These results suggest important links between isotope fractionation and environmental constraints on physiology in these key N cycling microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald E Martocello
- Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States
- Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Scott D Wankel
- Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States
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Bei Q, Reitz T, Schädler M, Hodgskiss LH, Peng J, Schnabel B, Buscot F, Eisenhauer N, Schleper C, Heintz-Buschart A. Metabolic potential of Nitrososphaera-associated clades. THE ISME JOURNAL 2024; 18:wrae086. [PMID: 38742714 PMCID: PMC11131427 DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrae086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) play a crucial role in converting ammonia to nitrite, thereby mobilizing reactive nitrogen species into their soluble form, with a significant impact on nitrogen losses from terrestrial soils. Yet, our knowledge regarding their diversity and functions remains limited. In this study, we reconstructed 97 high-quality AOA metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from 180 soil samples collected in Central Germany during 2014-2019 summers. These MAGs were affiliated with the order Nitrososphaerales and clustered into four family-level clades (NS-α/γ/δ/ε). Among these MAGs, 75 belonged to the most abundant but least understood δ-clade. Within the δ-clade, the amoA genes in three MAGs from neutral soils showed a 99.5% similarity to the fosmid clone 54d9, which has served as representative of the δ-clade for the past two decades since even today no cultivated representatives are available. Seventy-two MAGs constituted a distinct δ sub-clade, and their abundance and expression activity were more than twice that of other MAGs in slightly acidic soils. Unlike the less abundant clades (α, γ, and ε), the δ-MAGs possessed multiple highly expressed intracellular and extracellular carbohydrate-active enzymes responsible for carbohydrate binding (CBM32) and degradation (GH5), along with highly expressed genes involved in ammonia oxidation. Together, these results suggest metabolic versatility of uncultured soil AOA and a potential mixotrophic or chemolithoheterotrophic lifestyle among 54d9-like AOA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qicheng Bei
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States
| | - Thomas Reitz
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Schädler
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Logan H Hodgskiss
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jingjing Peng
- College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Beatrix Schnabel
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - François Buscot
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christa Schleper
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna Heintz-Buschart
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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40
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Beeckman F, Drozdzecki A, De Knijf A, Audenaert D, Beeckman T, Motte H. High-throughput assays to identify archaea-targeting nitrification inhibitors. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 14:1283047. [PMID: 38259951 PMCID: PMC10800436 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1283047] [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: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Nitrification is a microbial process that converts ammonia (NH3) to nitrite (NO2 -) and then to nitrate (NO3 -). The first and rate-limiting step in nitrification is ammonia oxidation, which is conducted by both bacteria and archaea. In agriculture, it is important to control this process as high nitrification rates result in NO3 - leaching, reduced nitrogen (N) availability for the plants and environmental problems such as eutrophication and greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrification inhibitors can be used to block nitrification, and as such reduce N pollution and improve fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) in agriculture. Currently applied inhibitors target the bacteria, and do not block nitrification by ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). While it was long believed that nitrification in agroecosystems was primarily driven by bacteria, recent research has unveiled potential significant contributions from ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), especially when bacterial activity is inhibited. Hence, there is also a need for AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors. However, to date, almost no AOA-targeting inhibitors are described. Furthermore, AOA are difficult to handle, hindering their use to test or identify possible AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors. To address the need for AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors, we developed two miniaturized nitrification inhibition assays using an AOA-enriched nitrifying community or the AOA Nitrosospaera viennensis. These assays enable high-throughput testing of candidate AOA inhibitors. We here present detailed guidelines on the protocols and illustrate their use with some examples. We believe that these assays can contribute to the discovery of future AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors, which could complement the currently applied inhibitors to increase nitrification inhibition efficiency in the field and as such contribute to a more sustainable agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Andrzej Drozdzecki
- Screening Core, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
- Centre for Bioassay Development and Screening (C-BIOS), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Alexa De Knijf
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dominique Audenaert
- Screening Core, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
- Centre for Bioassay Development and Screening (C-BIOS), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tom Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Hans Motte
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
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41
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Luo ZH, Li Q, Xie YG, Lv AP, Qi YL, Li MM, Qu YN, Liu ZT, Li YX, Rao YZ, Jiao JY, Liu L, Narsing Rao MP, Hedlund BP, Evans PN, Fang Y, Shu WS, Huang LN, Li WJ, Hua ZS. Temperature, pH, and oxygen availability contributed to the functional differentiation of ancient Nitrososphaeria. THE ISME JOURNAL 2024; 18:wrad031. [PMID: 38365241 PMCID: PMC10833072 DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrad031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing Nitrososphaeria are among the most abundant archaea on Earth and have profound impacts on the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen. In contrast to these well-studied ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), deep-branching non-AOA within this class remain poorly characterized because of a low number of genome representatives. Here, we reconstructed 128 Nitrososphaeria metagenome-assembled genomes from acid mine drainage and hot spring sediment metagenomes. Comparative genomics revealed that extant non-AOA are functionally diverse, with capacity for carbon fixation, carbon monoxide oxidation, methanogenesis, and respiratory pathways including oxygen, nitrate, sulfur, or sulfate, as potential terminal electron acceptors. Despite their diverse anaerobic pathways, evolutionary history inference suggested that the common ancestor of Nitrososphaeria was likely an aerobic thermophile. We further surmise that the functional differentiation of Nitrososphaeria was primarily shaped by oxygen, pH, and temperature, with the acquisition of pathways for carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur metabolism. Our study provides a more holistic and less biased understanding of the diversity, ecology, and deep evolution of the globally abundant Nitrososphaeria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen-Hao Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Qi Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Yuan-Guo Xie
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
| | - Ai-Ping Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Yan-Ling Qi
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
| | - Meng-Meng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Yan-Ni Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Ze-Tao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Yu-Xian Li
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
| | - Yang-Zhi Rao
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
| | - Jian-Yu Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Lan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Manik Prabhu Narsing Rao
- Instituto de Ciencias Aplicadas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Sede Talca, 3460000 Talca, Chile
| | - Brian P Hedlund
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, United States
- Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, United States
| | - Paul N Evans
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Yuan Fang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
| | - Wen-Sheng Shu
- Institute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China
| | - Li-Nan Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Wen-Jun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, PR China
| | - Zheng-Shuang Hua
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
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42
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Novikova PV, Bhanu Busi S, Probst AJ, May P, Wilmes P. Functional prediction of proteins from the human gut archaeome. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 4:ycad014. [PMID: 38486809 PMCID: PMC10939349 DOI: 10.1093/ismeco/ycad014] [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: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
The human gastrointestinal tract contains diverse microbial communities, including archaea. Among them, Methanobrevibacter smithii represents a highly active and clinically relevant methanogenic archaeon, being involved in gastrointestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease and obesity. Herein, we present an integrated approach using sequence and structure information to improve the annotation of M. smithii proteins using advanced protein structure prediction and annotation tools, such as AlphaFold2, trRosetta, ProFunc, and DeepFri. Of an initial set of 873 481 archaeal proteins, we found 707 754 proteins exclusively present in the human gut. Having analysed archaeal proteins together with 87 282 994 bacterial proteins, we identified unique archaeal proteins and archaeal-bacterial homologs. We then predicted and characterized functional domains and structures of 73 unique and homologous archaeal protein clusters linked the human gut and M. smithii. We refined annotations based on the predicted structures, extending existing sequence similarity-based annotations. We identified gut-specific archaeal proteins that may be involved in defense mechanisms, virulence, adhesion, and the degradation of toxic substances. Interestingly, we identified potential glycosyltransferases that could be associated with N-linked and O-glycosylation. Additionally, we found preliminary evidence for interdomain horizontal gene transfer between Clostridia species and M. smithii, which includes sporulation Stage V proteins AE and AD. Our study broadens the understanding of archaeal biology, particularly M. smithii, and highlights the importance of considering both sequence and structure for the prediction of protein function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Polina V Novikova
- Systems Ecology, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4362, Luxembourg
| | - Susheel Bhanu Busi
- Systems Ecology, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4362, Luxembourg
- UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8 BB, United Kingdom
| | - Alexander J Probst
- Environmental Metagenomics, Department of Chemistry, Research Center One Health Ruhr of the University Alliance Ruhr, for Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, University Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg 47057, Germany
| | - Patrick May
- Bioinformatics Core, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4362, Luxembourg
| | - Paul Wilmes
- Systems Ecology, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4362, Luxembourg
- Department of Life Sciences and Medicine, Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette L-4362, Luxembourg
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43
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Sakoula D, Schatteman A, Blom P, Jetten MSM, van Kessel MAHJ, Lehtovirta-Morley L, Lücker S. Activity-based labelling of ammonia- and alkane-oxidizing microorganisms including ammonia-oxidizing archaea. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 4:ycae092. [PMID: 39071849 PMCID: PMC11283641 DOI: 10.1093/ismeco/ycae092] [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: 06/19/2024] [Revised: 07/06/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Recently, an activity-based labelling protocol for the in vivo detection of ammonia- and alkane-oxidizing bacteria became available. This functional tagging technique enabled targeted studies of these environmentally widespread functional groups, but it failed to capture ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). Since their first discovery, AOA have emerged as key players within the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, but our knowledge regarding their distribution and abundance in natural and engineered ecosystems is mainly derived from PCR-based and metagenomic studies. Furthermore, the archaeal ammonia monooxygenase is distinctly different from its bacterial counterparts and remains poorly understood. Here, we report on the development of an activity-based labelling protocol for the fluorescent detection of all ammonia- and alkane-oxidizing prokaryotes, including AOA. In this protocol, 1,5-hexadiyne is used as inhibitor of ammonia and alkane oxidation and as bifunctional enzyme probe for the fluorescent labelling of cells via the Cu(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction. Besides efficient activity-based labelling of ammonia- and alkane-oxidizing microorganisms, this method can also be employed in combination with deconvolution microscopy for determining the subcellular localization of their ammonia- and alkane-oxidizing enzyme systems. Labelling of these enzymes in diverse ammonia- and alkane-oxidizing microorganisms allowed their visualization on the cytoplasmic membranes, the intracytoplasmic membrane stacks of ammonia- and methane-oxidizing bacteria, and, fascinatingly, on vesicle-like structures in one AOA species. The development of this novel activity-based labelling method for ammonia- and alkane-oxidizers will be a valuable addition to the expanding molecular toolbox available for research of nitrifying and alkane-oxidizing microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitra Sakoula
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Arne Schatteman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom
| | - Pieter Blom
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Mike S M Jetten
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Maartje A H J van Kessel
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Laura Lehtovirta-Morley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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Poghosyan L, Lehtovirta-Morley LE. Investigating microbial and environmental drivers of nitrification in alkaline forest soil. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 4:ycae093. [PMID: 39132578 PMCID: PMC11310595 DOI: 10.1093/ismeco/ycae093] [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: 01/22/2024] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
Ammonia oxidation is a key step in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen, and soils are important ecosystems for nitrogen flux globally. Approximately 25% of the world's soils are alkaline. While nitrification has been studied more extensively in agricultural alkaline soils, less is known about natural, unfertilized alkaline soils. In this study, microorganisms responsible for ammonia oxidation and several environmental factors (season, temperature, ammonia concentration, and moisture content) known to affect nitrification were studied in an alkaline forest soil with a pH ranging from 8.36 to 8.77. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea, and comammox were present, and AOB belonging to genera Nitrosospira and Nitrosomonas, originally comprising <0.01% of the total bacterial community, responded rapidly to ammonia addition to the soil. No significant difference was observed in nitrification rates between seasons, but there was a significant difference between in situ field nitrification rates and rates in laboratory microcosms. Surprisingly, nitrification took place under many of the tested conditions, but there was no detectable increase in the abundance of any recognizable group of ammonia oxidizers. This study raises questions about the role of low-abundance microorganisms in microbial processes and of situations where zero or very low microbial growth coincides with metabolic activity. In addition, this study provides insights into nitrification in unfertilized alkaline soil and supports previous studies, which found that AOB play an important role in alkaline soils supplemented with ammonia, including agricultural ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lianna Poghosyan
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom
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Wang K, Li J, Gu X, Wang H, Li X, Peng Y, Wang Y. How to Provide Nitrite Robustly for Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation in Mainstream Nitrogen Removal. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:21503-21526. [PMID: 38096379 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c05600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Innovation in decarbonizing wastewater treatment is urgent in response to global climate change. The practical implementation of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) treating domestic wastewater is the key to reconciling carbon-neutral management of wastewater treatment with sustainable development. Nitrite availability is the prerequisite of the anammox reaction, but how to achieve robust nitrite supply and accumulation for mainstream systems remains elusive. This work presents a state-of-the-art review on the recent advances in nitrite supply for mainstream anammox, paying special attention to available pathways (forward-going (from ammonium to nitrite) and backward-going (from nitrate to nitrite)), key controlling strategies, and physiological and ecological characteristics of functional microorganisms involved in nitrite supply. First, we comprehensively assessed the mainstream nitrite-oxidizing bacteria control methods, outlining that these technologies are transitioning to technologies possessing multiple selective pressures (such as intermittent aeration and membrane-aerated biological reactor), integrating side stream treatment (such as free ammonia/free nitrous acid suppression in recirculated sludge treatment), and maintaining high activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and anammox bacteria for competing oxygen and nitrite with nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. We then highlight emerging strategies of nitrite supply, including the nitrite production driven by novel ammonia-oxidizing microbes (ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia oxidation bacteria) and nitrate reduction pathways (partial denitrification and nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation). The resources requirement of different mainstream nitrite supply pathways is analyzed, and a hybrid nitrite supply pathway by combining partial nitrification and nitrate reduction is encouraged. Moreover, data-driven modeling of a mainstream nitrite supply process as well as proactive microbiome management is proposed in the hope of achieving mainstream nitrite supply in practical application. Finally, the existing challenges and further perspectives are highlighted, i.e., investigation of nitrite-supplying bacteria, the scaling-up of hybrid nitrite supply technologies from laboratory to practical implementation under real conditions, and the data-driven management for the stable performance of mainstream nitrite supply. The fundamental insights in this review aim to inspire and advance our understanding about how to provide nitrite robustly for mainstream anammox and shed light on important obstacles warranting further settlement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaichong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Jia Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Xin Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Han Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Xiang Li
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, P. R. China
| | - Yongzhen Peng
- National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, P. R. China
| | - Yayi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
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Trouche B, Schauberger C, Bouderka F, Auguet JC, Belser C, Poulain J, Thamdrup B, Wincker P, Arnaud-Haond S, Glud RN, Maignien L. Distribution and genomic variation of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in abyssal and hadal surface sediments. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 3:133. [PMID: 38135695 PMCID: PMC10746724 DOI: 10.1038/s43705-023-00341-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea of the phylum Thaumarchaeota play a central role in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen in benthic sediments, at the interface between pelagic and subsurface ecosystems. However, our understanding of their niche separation and of the processes controlling their population structure in hadal and abyssal surface sediments is still limited. Here, we reconstructed 47 AOA metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from surface sediments of the Atacama and Kermadec trench systems. They formed deep-sea-specific groups within the family Nitrosopumilaceae and were assigned to six amoA gene-based clades. MAGs from different clades had distinct distribution patterns along oxygen-ammonium counter gradients in surface sediments. At the species level, MAGs thus seemed to form different ecotypes and follow deterministic niche-based distributions. In contrast, intraspecific population structure, defined by patterns of Single Nucleotide Variants (SNV), seemed to reflect more complex contributions of both deterministic and stochastic processes. Firstly, the bathymetric range had a strong effect on population structure, with distinct populations in abyssal plains and hadal trenches. Then, hadal populations were clearly separated by trench system, suggesting a strong isolation-by-topography effect, whereas abyssal populations were rather controlled by sediment depth or geographic distances, depending on the clade considered. Interestingly, genetic variability between samples was lowest in sediment layers where the mean MAG coverage was highest, highlighting the importance of selective pressure linked with each AOA clade's ecological niche. Overall, our results show that deep-sea AOA genome distributions seem to follow both deterministic and stochastic processes, depending on the genomic variability scale considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blandine Trouche
- Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6197 Biologie et Ecologie des Ecosystèmes marins Profonds, F-29280, Plouzané, France.
- Hadal & Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
| | - Clemens Schauberger
- Hadal & Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Feriel Bouderka
- Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6197 Biologie et Ecologie des Ecosystèmes marins Profonds, F-29280, Plouzané, France
| | | | - Caroline Belser
- Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, University of Évry, Université Paris-Saclay, 91057, Evry, France
| | - Julie Poulain
- Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, University of Évry, Université Paris-Saclay, 91057, Evry, France
| | - Bo Thamdrup
- Hadal & Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Patrick Wincker
- Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, University of Évry, Université Paris-Saclay, 91057, Evry, France
| | | | - Ronnie N Glud
- Hadal & Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Ocean and Environmental Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan
- Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS), University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230, Odense, Denmark
| | - Loïs Maignien
- Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6197 Biologie et Ecologie des Ecosystèmes marins Profonds, F-29280, Plouzané, France.
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution, Woods Hole, MA, USA.
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Parsons RJ, Liu S, Longnecker K, Yongblah K, Johnson C, Bolaños LM, Comstock J, Opalk K, Kido Soule MC, Garley R, Carlson CA, Temperton B, Bates NR. Suboxic DOM is bioavailable to surface prokaryotes in a simulated overturn of an oxygen minimum zone, Devil's Hole, Bermuda. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1287477. [PMID: 38179459 PMCID: PMC10765504 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1287477] [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: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are expanding due to increased sea surface temperatures, subsequent increased oxygen demand through respiration, reduced oxygen solubility, and thermal stratification driven in part by anthropogenic climate change. Devil's Hole, Bermuda is a model ecosystem to study OMZ microbial biogeochemistry because the formation and subsequent overturn of the suboxic zone occur annually. During thermally driven stratification, suboxic conditions develop, with organic matter and nutrients accumulating at depth. In this study, the bioavailability of the accumulated dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the microbial community response to reoxygenation of suboxic waters was assessed using a simulated overturn experiment. The surface inoculated prokaryotic community responded to the deep (formerly suboxic) 0.2 μm filtrate with cell densities increasing 2.5-fold over 6 days while removing 5 μmol L-1 of DOC. After 12 days, the surface community began to shift, and DOC quality became less diagenetically altered along with an increase in SAR202, a Chloroflexi that can degrade recalcitrant dissolved organic matter (DOM). Labile DOC production after 12 days coincided with an increase of Nitrosopumilales, a chemoautotrophic ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) that converts ammonia to nitrite based on the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene copy number and nutrient data. In comparison, the inoculation of the deep anaerobic prokaryotic community into surface 0.2 μm filtrate demonstrated a die-off of 25.5% of the initial inoculum community followed by a 1.5-fold increase in cell densities over 6 days. Within 2 days, the prokaryotic community shifted from a Chlorobiales dominated assemblage to a surface-like heterotrophic community devoid of Chlorobiales. The DOM quality changed to less diagenetically altered material and coincided with an increase in the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase form I (cbbL) gene number followed by an influx of labile DOM. Upon reoxygenation, the deep DOM that accumulated under suboxic conditions is bioavailable to surface prokaryotes that utilize the accumulated DOC initially before switching to a community that can both produce labile DOM via chemoautotrophy and degrade the more recalcitrant DOM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel J. Parsons
- Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda
- Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, School of Ocean Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Shuting Liu
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, CA, United States
- Department of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, Kean University, Union, NJ, United States
| | - Krista Longnecker
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
| | - Kevin Yongblah
- Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda
- Department of Biology, University of Syracuse, Syracuse, NY, United States
| | - Carys Johnson
- Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda
| | - Luis M. Bolaños
- School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Jacqueline Comstock
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, CA, United States
| | - Keri Opalk
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, CA, United States
| | - Melissa C. Kido Soule
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
| | - Rebecca Garley
- Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda
- Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, School of Ocean Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Craig A. Carlson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, CA, United States
| | - Ben Temperton
- School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas R. Bates
- Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s, Bermuda
- Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, School of Ocean Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
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Yu B, Zeng Q, Li J, Li J, Tan X, Gao X, Mao Z, Huang P, Wu S. Sediment depth-related variations of comammox Nitrospira: Evidence in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 905:167055. [PMID: 37709074 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2023] [Revised: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of comammox Nitrospira as complete ammonia-oxidizing microorganism has fundamentally revolutionized our understanding of nitrogen cycling in sediment environments. However, knowledge regarding their abundance, biodiversity, community structure, and interactions is predominantly limited to the upper layers (0-20 cm). To address this gap, we collected sediment samples along profiles ranging from 0 to 300 cm in depth at three locations within the middle segment of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), China. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analyses suggested that comammox bacteria were not only ubiquitous in deep sediments but also more abundant than ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Ammonia monooxygenases subunit A (amoA) gene amplicon sequencing illuminated that comammox bacteria were more sensitive to sedimental depth compared to AOB and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), as evidenced by a more significant decline in community diversity and similarity over distance along sediment vertical profiles. Notably, we discovered that the amoA gene abundance, alpha- and beta-diversity of comammox bacteria exerted an essential contribution to potential nitrification rates according to random forest model. Phylogenetic analysis indicted that most comammox bacteria within sediment samples belonged to clade A.2. Intriguingly, the average relative abundance of comammox clade A.2 displayed a noteworthy rise with sediment depth, whereas clade A.1 demonstrated a converse pattern, unveiling distinct ecological niche adaptations of these two clades along the sediment profile. Ecological network analysis further revealed closer interactions between comammox bacteria and canonical ammonia oxidizers in the superficial layer (0-40 cm), with the network structure gradually simplifying from superficial to deep sediment (200-300 cm). Overall, these findings broaden the current recognition of the geographic distribution and niche segregation of comammox bacteria at the fine scale of the sediments ecosystems and provide insights into sediment depth-related variations of their coexistence network patterns in large freshwater reservoirs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baohong Yu
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China; Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Quanchao Zeng
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China.
| | - Jinlin Li
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Jun Li
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Xun Tan
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Xin Gao
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Ziqiang Mao
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Ping Huang
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China
| | - Shengjun Wu
- Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, PR China.
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Modolon F, Schultz J, Duarte G, Vilela CLS, Thomas T, Peixoto RS. In situ devices can culture the microbial dark matter of corals. iScience 2023; 26:108374. [PMID: 38162026 PMCID: PMC10755713 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Most microorganisms found in environmental samples have never been cultured and can often only be explored through molecular or microscopic approaches. Here, we adapt the use of in situ diffusion-based devices to culture "yet-to-be-cultured" microorganisms associated with coral mucus and compare this with a traditional culturing method. The culturability of microorganisms associated with mucus of the coral Pocillopora damicornis increased by 420% and 570% with diffusion growth chambers and microwell chip devices, respectively, compared with the traditional method tested. The obtained cultures represent up to 64.4% of the total diversity of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) found in the mucus of the coral P. damicornis. In addition, some previously uncultured microorganisms, such as members of the family Nitrosopumilaceae and halophilic/halotolerant bacteria were cultured. Our results validate alternative microbial culturing strategies to culture coral-associated microorganisms, while significantly increasing the culturability of previous microbial dark matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flúvio Modolon
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbial Ecology, Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Júnia Schultz
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Marine Science and Bioscience Programs, Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) and Computational Biology Center (CBRC), Environmental and Engineering Sciences Division (BESE Thuwal, Makkah 23955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Gustavo Duarte
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Marine Science and Bioscience Programs, Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) and Computational Biology Center (CBRC), Environmental and Engineering Sciences Division (BESE Thuwal, Makkah 23955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Caren Leite Spindola Vilela
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbial Ecology, Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Torsten Thomas
- Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Raquel Silva Peixoto
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbial Ecology, Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-902, Brazil
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Marine Science and Bioscience Programs, Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) and Computational Biology Center (CBRC), Environmental and Engineering Sciences Division (BESE Thuwal, Makkah 23955, Saudi Arabia
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50
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Liu Q, Chen Y, Xu XW. Genomic insight into strategy, interaction and evolution of nitrifiers in metabolizing key labile-dissolved organic nitrogen in different environmental niches. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1273211. [PMID: 38156017 PMCID: PMC10753782 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1273211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) are responsible for nitrification in nature; however, some groups have been reported to utilize labile-dissolved organic nitrogen (LDON) for satisfying nitrogen demands. To understand the universality of their capacity of LDON metabolism, we collected 70 complete genomes of AOA, AOB, NOB, and comammox from typical environments for exploring their potentials in the metabolism of representative LDON (urea, polyamines, cyanate, taurine, glycine betaine, and methylamine). Genomic analyses showed that urea was the most popular LDON used by nitrifiers. Each group harbored unique urea transporter genes (AOA: dur3 and utp, AOB: utp, and NOB and comammox: urtABCDE and utp) accompanied by urease genes ureABC. The differentiation in the substrate affinity of these transporters implied the divergence of urea utilization efficiency in nitrifiers, potentially driving them into different niches. The cyanate transporter (cynABD and focA/nirC) and degradation (cynS) genes were detected mostly in NOB, indicating their preference for a wide range of nitrogen substrates to satisfy high nitrogen demands. The lack of genes involved in the metabolism of polyamines, taurine, glycine betaine, and methylamines in most of nitrifiers suggested that they were not able to serve as a source of ammonium, only if they were degraded or oxidized extracellularly as previously reported. The phylogenetic analyses assisted with comparisons of GC% and the Codon Adaptation Index between target genes and whole genomes of nitrifiers implied that urea metabolic genes dur3 and ureC in AOA evolved independently from bacteria during the transition from Thaumarchaeota to AOA, while utp in terrestrial AOA was acquired from bacteria via lateral gene transfer (LGT). Cyanate transporter genes cynS and focA/nirC detected only in a terrestrial AOA Candidadus Nitrsosphaera gargensis Ga9.2 could be gained synchronously with Nitrospira of NOB by an ancient LGT. Our results indicated that LDON utilization was a common feature in nitrifiers, but metabolic potentials were different among nitrifiers, possibly being intensely interacted with their niches, survival strategies, and evolutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Liu
- Donghai Laboratory, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China
- Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yuhao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xue-Wei Xu
- Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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