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Wang S, Luo H. Estimating the Divergence Times of Alphaproteobacteria Based on Mitochondrial Endosymbiosis and Eukaryotic Fossils. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2569:95-116. [PMID: 36083445 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2691-7_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] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Alphaproteobacteria is one of the most abundant bacterial lineages that successfully colonize diverse marine and terrestrial environments on Earth. In addition, many alphaproteobacterial lineages have established close association with eukaryotes. This makes Alphaproteobacteria a promising system to test the link between the emergence of ecologically important bacteria and related geological events and the co-evolution between symbiotic bacteria and their hosts. Understanding the timescale of evolution of Alphaproteobacteria is key to testing these hypotheses, which is limited by the scarcity of bacterial fossils, however. Based on the mitochondrial endosymbiosis which posits that the mitochondrion originated from an alphaproteobacterial lineage, we propose a new strategy to estimate the divergence times of lineages within the Alphaproteobacteria by leveraging the fossil records of eukaryotes. In this chapter, we describe the workflow of the mitochondria-based method to date Alphaproteobacteria evolution by detailing the software, methods, and commands used for each step. Visualization of data and results is also described. We also provide related notes with background information and alternative options. All codes used to build this protocol are made available to the public, and we strive to make this protocol user-friendly in particular to microbiologists with limited practical skills in bioinformatics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sishuo Wang
- Simon F. S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Haiwei Luo
- School of Life Sciences, Earth and Environmental Sciences Programme, and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Wang Y, Wegener G, Williams TA, Xie R, Hou J, Tian C, Zhang Y, Wang F, Xiao X. A methylotrophic origin of methanogenesis and early divergence of anaerobic multicarbon alkane metabolism. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabj1453. [PMID: 34215592 PMCID: PMC11057702 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj1453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Methanogens are considered as one of the earliest life forms on Earth, and together with anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea, they have crucial effects on climate stability. However, the origin and evolution of anaerobic alkane metabolism in the domain Archaea remain controversial. Here, we present evidence that methylotrophic methanogenesis was the ancestral form of this metabolism. Carbon dioxide-reducing methanogenesis developed later through the evolution of tetrahydromethanopterin S-methyltransferase, which linked methanogenesis to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway for energy conservation. Anaerobic multicarbon alkane metabolisms in Archaea also originated early, with genes coding for the activation of short-chain or even long-chain alkanes likely evolving from an ethane-metabolizing ancestor. These genes were likely horizontally transferred to multiple archaeal clades including Candidatus (Ca) Bathyarchaeia, Ca. Lokiarchaeia, Ca. Hadarchaeia, and the methanogenic Ca. Methanoliparia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinzhao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
| | - Gunter Wegener
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359 Bremen, Germany
- MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
| | - Tom A Williams
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1TH Bristol, UK
| | - Ruize Xie
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Jialin Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Chen Tian
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Yu Zhang
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Fengping Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiang Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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Wang Y, Wegener G, Williams TA, Xie R, Hou J, Wang F, Xiao X. A methylotrophic origin of methanogenesis and early divergence of anaerobic multicarbon alkane metabolism. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabd7180. [PMID: 33568477 PMCID: PMC7875538 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd7180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Methanogens are considered as one of the earliest life forms on Earth, and together with anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea, they have crucial effects on climate stability. Yet, the origin and evolution of anaerobic alkane metabolism in the domain Archaea remain controversial. Here, we show that methanogenesis was already present in the common ancestor of Euryarchaeota, TACK archaea, and Asgard archaea likely in the late Hadean or early Archean eon and that the ancestral methanogen was dependent on methylated compounds and hydrogen. Carbon dioxide-reducing methanogenesis developed later through the evolution of tetrahydromethanopterin S-methyltransferase, which linked methanogenesis to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway for energy conservation. Multicarbon alkane metabolisms in Archaea also originated early, with genes coding for the activation of short- or even long-chain alkanes likely evolving from an ethane-metabolizing ancestor. These genes were likely horizontally transferred to multiple archaeal clades including Candidatus (Ca) Bathyarchaeota, Ca. Helarchaeota, Ca Hadesarchaeota, and the methanogenic Ca. Methanoliparia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinzhao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
| | - Gunter Wegener
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359 Bremen, Germany
- MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
| | - Tom A Williams
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1TH Bristol, UK
| | - Ruize Xie
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Jialin Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Fengping Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiang Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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4
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Zinke LA, Evans PN, Santos-Medellín C, Schroeder AL, Parks DH, Varner RK, Rich VI, Tyson GW, Emerson JB. Evidence for non-methanogenic metabolisms in globally distributed archaeal clades basal to the Methanomassiliicoccales. Environ Microbiol 2020; 23:340-357. [PMID: 33185945 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Recent discoveries of mcr and mcr-like genes in genomes from diverse archaeal lineages suggest that methane metabolism is an ancient pathway with a complicated evolutionary history. One conventional view is that methanogenesis is an ancestral metabolism of the class Thermoplasmata. Through comparative genomic analysis of 12 Thermoplasmata metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) basal to the Methanomassiliicoccales, we show that these microorganisms do not encode the genes required for methanogenesis. Further analysis of 770 Ca. Thermoplasmatota genomes/MAGs found no evidence of mcrA homologues outside of the Methanomassiliicoccales. Together, these results suggest that methanogenesis was laterally acquired by an ancestor of the Methanomassiliicoccales. The 12 analysed MAGs include representatives from four orders basal to the Methanomassiliicoccales, including a high-quality MAG that likely represents a new order, Ca. Lunaplasma lacustris ord. nov. sp. nov. These MAGs are predicted to use diverse energy conservation pathways, including heterotrophy, sulfur and hydrogen metabolism, denitrification, and fermentation. Two lineages are widespread among anoxic, sedimentary environments, whereas Ca. Lunaplasma lacustris has thus far only been detected in alpine caves and subarctic lake sediments. These findings advance our understanding of the metabolic potential, ecology, and global distribution of the Thermoplasmata and provide insight into the evolutionary history of methanogenesis within the Ca. Thermoplasmatota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura A Zinke
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Paul N Evans
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, 4072, Australia
| | | | - Alena L Schroeder
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Donovan H Parks
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, 4072, Australia
| | - Ruth K Varner
- Earth Systems Research Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.,Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Virginia I Rich
- Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Gene W Tyson
- Centre for Microbiome Research, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Qld, 4102, Australia
| | - Joanne B Emerson
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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Reply to ‘Molecular clocks provide little information to date methanogenic Archaea’. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:1678. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0685-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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