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Pereira O, Qin W, Galand PE, Debroas D, Lami R, Hochart C, Zhou Y, Zhou J, Zhang C. Metabolic activities of marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea orchestrated by quorum sensing. MLIFE 2024; 3:417-429. [PMID: 39359677 PMCID: PMC11442133 DOI: 10.1002/mlf2.12144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 10/04/2024]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) play crucial roles in marine carbon and nitrogen cycles by fixing inorganic carbon and performing the initial step of nitrification. Evaluation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism popularly relies on functional genes such as amoA and accA. Increasing studies suggest that quorum sensing (QS) mainly studied in biofilms for bacteria may serve as a universal communication and regulatory mechanism among prokaryotes; however, this has yet to be demonstrated in marine planktonic archaea. To bridge this knowledge gap, we employed a combination of metabolic activity markers (amoA, accA, and grs) to elucidate the regulation of AOA-mediated nitrogen, carbon processes, and their interactions with the surrounding heterotrophic population. Through co-transcription investigations linking metabolic markers to potential key QS genes, we discovered that QS molecules could regulate AOA's carbon, nitrogen, and lipid metabolisms under different conditions. Interestingly, specific AOA ecotypes showed a preference for employing distinct QS systems and a distinct QS circuit involving a typical population. Overall, our data demonstrate that QS orchestrates nitrogen and carbon metabolism, including the exchange of organic metabolites between AOA and surrounding heterotrophic bacteria, which has been previously overlooked in marine AOA research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Pereira
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Geo-Omics of Archaea, Department of Science and Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen China
- Institut WUT-AMU Wuhan University of Technology and Aix-Marseille Université Wuhan China
| | - Wei Qin
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA
| | - Pierre E Galand
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques (LECOB) Banyuls sur Mer France
| | - Didier Debroas
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, Laboratoire Microorganismes: Genome et Environnement Clermont-Ferrand France
| | - Raphael Lami
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologies Microbiennes (LBBM) Banyuls sur Mer France
| | - Corentin Hochart
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques (LECOB) Banyuls sur Mer France
| | - Yangkai Zhou
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Geo-Omics of Archaea, Department of Science and Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen China
| | - Jin Zhou
- Shenzhen Public Platform for Screening and Application of Marine Microbial Resources, Shenzhen International Graduate School Tsinghua University Shenzhen China
| | - Chuanlun Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Geo-Omics of Archaea, Department of Science and Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen China
- Shanghai Sheshan National Geophysical Observatory Shanghai Earthquake Agency Shanghai China
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2
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Garcia AA, Chadwick GL, Liu XL, Welander PV. Identification of two archaeal GDGT lipid-modifying proteins reveals diverse microbes capable of GMGT biosynthesis and modification. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2318761121. [PMID: 38885389 PMCID: PMC11214058 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318761121] [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: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Archaea produce unique membrane-spanning lipids (MSLs), termed glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), which aid in adaptive responses to various environmental challenges. GDGTs can be modified through cyclization, cross-linking, methylation, hydroxylation, and desaturation, resulting in structurally distinct GDGT lipids. Here, we report the identification of radical SAM proteins responsible for two of these modifications-a glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraether (GMGT) synthase (Gms), responsible for covalently cross-linking the two hydrocarbon tails of a GDGT to produce GMGTs, and a GMGT methylase (Gmm), capable of methylating the core hydrocarbon tail. Heterologous expression of Gms proteins from various archaea in Thermococcus kodakarensis results in the production of GMGTs in two isomeric forms. Further, coexpression of Gms and Gmm produces mono- and dimethylated GMGTs and minor amounts of trimethylated GMGTs with only trace GDGT methylation. Phylogenetic analyses reveal the presence of Gms homologs in diverse archaeal genomes spanning all four archaeal superphyla and in multiple bacterial phyla with the genetic potential to synthesize fatty acid-based MSLs, demonstrating that GMGT production may be more widespread than previously appreciated. We demonstrate GMGT production in three Gms-encoding archaea, identifying an increase in GMGTs in response to elevated temperature in two Archaeoglobus species and the production of GMGTs with up to six rings in Vulcanisaeta distributa. The occurrence of such highly cyclized GMGTs has been limited to environmental samples and their detection in culture demonstrates the utility of combining genetic, bioinformatic, and lipid analyses to identify producers of distinct archaeal membrane lipids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy A. Garcia
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Grayson L. Chadwick
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720
| | - Xiao-Lei Liu
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK73019
| | - Paula V. Welander
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305
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3
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Rhim JH, Zhou A, Amenabar MJ, Boyer GM, Elling FJ, Weber Y, Pearson A, Boyd ES, Leavitt WD. Mode of carbon and energy metabolism shifts lipid composition in the thermoacidophile Acidianus. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0136923. [PMID: 38236067 PMCID: PMC10880624 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01369-23] [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: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The degree of cyclization, or ring index (RI), in archaeal glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids was long thought to reflect homeoviscous adaptation to temperature. However, more recent experiments show that other factors (e.g., pH, growth phase, and energy flux) can also affect membrane composition. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of carbon and energy metabolism on membrane cyclization. To do so, we cultivated Acidianus sp. DS80, a metabolically flexible and thermoacidophilic archaeon, on different electron donor, acceptor, and carbon source combinations (S0/Fe3+/CO2, H2/Fe3+/CO2, H2/S0/CO2, or H2/S0/glucose). We show that differences in energy and carbon metabolism can result in over a full unit of change in RI in the thermoacidophile Acidianus sp. DS80. The patterns in RI correlated with the normalized electron transfer rate between the electron donor and acceptor and did not always align with thermodynamic predictions of energy yield. In light of this, we discuss other factors that may affect the kinetics of cellular energy metabolism: electron transfer chain (ETC) efficiency, location of ETC reaction components (cytoplasmic vs. extracellular), and the physical state of electron donors and acceptors (gas vs. solid). Furthermore, the assimilation of a more reduced form of carbon during heterotrophy appears to decrease the demand for reducing equivalents during lipid biosynthesis, resulting in lower RI. Together, these results point to the fundamental role of the cellular energy state in dictating GDGT cyclization, with those cells experiencing greater energy limitation synthesizing more cyclized GDGTs.IMPORTANCESome archaea make unique membrane-spanning lipids with different numbers of five- or six-membered rings in the core structure, which modulate membrane fluidity and permeability. Changes in membrane core lipid composition reflect the fundamental adaptation strategies of archaea in response to stress, but multiple environmental and physiological factors may affect the needs for membrane fluidity and permeability. In this study, we tested how Acidianus sp. DS80 changed its core lipid composition when grown with different electron donor/acceptor pairs. We show that changes in energy and carbon metabolisms significantly affected the relative abundance of rings in the core lipids of DS80. These observations highlight the need to better constrain metabolic parameters, in addition to environmental factors, which may influence changes in membrane physiology in Archaea. Such consideration would be particularly important for studying archaeal lipids from habitats that experience frequent environmental fluctuations and/or where metabolically diverse archaea thrive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeemin H. Rhim
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - Alice Zhou
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Maximiliano J. Amenabar
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - Grayson M. Boyer
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Felix J. Elling
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research, Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Yuki Weber
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ann Pearson
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Eric S. Boyd
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - William D. Leavitt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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4
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Flamholz AI, Goyal A, Fischer WW, Newman DK, Phillips R. The proteome is a terminal electron acceptor. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.31.578293. [PMID: 38352589 PMCID: PMC10862836 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.31.578293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Microbial metabolism is impressively flexible, enabling growth even when available nutrients differ greatly from biomass in redox state. E. coli, for example, rearranges its physiology to grow on reduced and oxidized carbon sources through several forms of fermentation and respiration. To understand the limits on and evolutionary consequences of metabolic flexibility, we developed a mathematical model coupling redox chemistry with principles of cellular resource allocation. Our integrated model clarifies key phenomena, including demonstrating that autotrophs grow slower than heterotrophs because of constraints imposed by intracellular production of reduced carbon. Our model further indicates that growth is improved by adapting the redox state of biomass to nutrients, revealing an unexpected mode of evolution where proteins accumulate mutations benefiting organismal redox balance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avi I. Flamholz
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125
| | - Akshit Goyal
- Physics of Living Systems, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA 02139
- International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Bengaluru 560089
| | - Woodward W. Fischer
- Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125
| | - Dianne K. Newman
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125
- Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125
| | - Rob Phillips
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125
- Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
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5
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Zheng P, Yang H, Zhang H, Shen C, Sun H. Influence of hydrological parameters on hydroxylated tetraether lipids in a deep Lake Fuxian, China: Implications for their use as environmental proxies. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 895:165022. [PMID: 37348708 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165022] [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: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Hydroxylated isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (OH-GDGTs) have shown their potential in environmental reconstructions. However, the unclear underlying mechanism challenges their application. To elucidate the effects of water parameters on OH-GDGT-derived indices and understand their environmental implications, we investigated the core OH-GDGTs of suspended particulate matter (SPM) from water columns in a year cycle and surface sediments at different water depths along a nearshore-offshore transect in Lake Fuxian, a deep and large lake in southwestern China. OH-GDGTs were primarily found in the hypolimnion and were produced in situ by Group I.1a Thaumarchaeota. The relative abundance of OH-GDGTs (%OH-GDGTs) and ring indices (RI-OH and RI-OH') in the hypolimnion were significantly influenced by dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH, particularly DO, which regulated the inverse physiological functions of the hydroxyl and cyclopentane moieties of archaea. %OH-GDGTs values in SPM were positively correlated with DO and negatively correlated with pH levels, while RI-OH values exhibited an inverse relationship with DO and positive correlation with pH levels. OH-GDGTs in surface sediments appeared to be homologous to that of water columns, indicating that their inferred proxies could be regulated by the configuration of water parameters. The sedimentary %OH-GDGTs values increased as the RI-OH values decreased with water depth along the transect from the lakeshore to the lake center, suggesting their potential as lake-level proxies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pingbo Zheng
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Geographical Processes and Environmental Changes, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Huan Yang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Critical Zone Evolution, School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430078, China
| | - Hucai Zhang
- Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650504, China
| | - Caiming Shen
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Geographical Processes and Environmental Changes, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
| | - Huiling Sun
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Geographical Processes and Environmental Changes, Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China.
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6
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Blum LN, Colman DR, Eloe-Fadrosh EA, Kellom M, Boyd ES, Zhaxybayeva O, Leavitt WD. Distribution and abundance of tetraether lipid cyclization genes in terrestrial hot springs reflect pH. Environ Microbiol 2023; 25:1644-1658. [PMID: 37032561 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023]
Abstract
Many Archaea produce membrane-spanning lipids that enable life in extreme environments. These isoprenoid glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) may contain up to eight cyclopentyl and one cyclohexyl ring, where higher degrees of cyclization are associated with more acidic, hotter or energy-limited conditions. Recently, the genes encoding GDGT ring synthases, grsAB, were identified in two Sulfolobaceae; however, the distribution and abundance of grs homologs across environments inhabited by these and related organisms remain a mystery. To address this, we examined the distribution of grs homologs in relation to environmental temperature and pH, from thermal springs across Earth, where sequences derive from metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, single-cell and cultivar genomes. The abundance of grs homologs shows a strong negative correlation to pH, but a weak positive correlation to temperature. Archaeal genomes and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that carry two or more grs copies are more abundant in low pH springs. We also find grs in 12 archaeal classes, with the most representatives in Thermoproteia, followed by MAGs of the uncultured Korarchaeia, Bathyarchaeia and Hadarchaeia, while several Nitrososphaeria encodes >3 copies. Our findings highlight the key role of grs-catalysed lipid cyclization in archaeal diversification across hot and acidic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura N Blum
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Daniel R Colman
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | | | - Matthew Kellom
- Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Eric S Boyd
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - Olga Zhaxybayeva
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - William D Leavitt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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7
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Chiu BK, Waldbauer J, Elling FJ, Mete ÖZ, Zhang L, Pearson A, Eggleston EM, Leavitt WD. Membrane lipid and expression responses of Saccharolobus islandicus REY15A to acid and cold stress. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1219779. [PMID: 37649629 PMCID: PMC10465181 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1219779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Archaea adjust the number of cyclopentane rings in their glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) membrane lipids as a homeostatic response to environmental stressors such as temperature, pH, and energy availability shifts. However, archaeal expression patterns that correspond with changes in GDGT composition are less understood. Here we characterize the acid and cold stress responses of the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Saccharolobus islandicus REY15A using growth rates, core GDGT lipid profiles, transcriptomics and proteomics. We show that both stressors result in impaired growth, lower average GDGT cyclization, and differences in gene and protein expression. Transcription data revealed differential expression of the GDGT ring synthase grsB in response to both acid stress and cold stress. Although the GDGT ring synthase encoded by grsB forms highly cyclized GDGTs with ≥5 ring moieties, S. islandicus grsB upregulation under acidic pH conditions did not correspond with increased abundances of highly cyclized GDGTs. Our observations highlight the inability to predict GDGT changes from transcription data alone. Broader analysis of transcriptomic data revealed that S. islandicus differentially expresses many of the same transcripts in response to both acid and cold stress. These included upregulation of several biosynthetic pathways and downregulation of oxidative phosphorylation and motility. Transcript responses specific to either of the two stressors tested here included upregulation of genes related to proton pumping and molecular turnover in acid stress conditions and upregulation of transposases in cold stress conditions. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive understanding of the GDGT modifications and differential expression characteristic of the acid stress and cold stress responses in S. islandicus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beverly K. Chiu
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States
| | - Jacob Waldbauer
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Felix J. Elling
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Öykü Z. Mete
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Lichun Zhang
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Ann Pearson
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Erin M. Eggleston
- Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, United States
| | - William D. Leavitt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States
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8
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Melcher M, Hodgskiss LH, Mardini MA, Schleper C, Rittmann SKMR. Analysis of biomass productivity and physiology of Nitrososphaera viennensis grown in continuous culture. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1076342. [PMID: 36876066 PMCID: PMC9978112 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1076342] [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: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial ammonia oxidation is the first and usually rate limiting step in nitrification and is therefore an important step in the global nitrogen cycle. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) play an important role in nitrification. Here, we report a comprehensive analysis of biomass productivity and the physiological response of Nitrososphaera viennensis to different ammonium and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations aiming to understand the interplay between ammonia oxidation and CO2 fixation of N. viennensis. The experiments were performed in closed batch in serum bottles as well as in batch, fed-batch, and continuous culture in bioreactors. A reduced specific growth rate (μ) of N. viennensis was observed in batch systems in bioreactors. By increasing CO2 gassing μ could be increased to rates comparable to that of closed batch systems. Furthermore, at a high dilution rate (D) in continuous culture (≥ 0.7 of μmax) the biomass to ammonium yield (Y(X/NH3)) increased up to 81.7% compared to batch cultures. In continuous culture, biofilm formation at higher D prevented the determination of D crit. Due to changes in Y(X/NH3) and due to biofilm, nitrite concentration becomes an unreliable proxy for the cell number in continuous cultures at D towards μmax. Furthermore, the obscure nature of the archaeal ammonia oxidation prevents an interpretation in the context of Monod kinetics and thus the determination of K S. Our findings indicate that the physiological response of N. viennensis might be regulated with different enzymatic make-ups, according to the ammonium catalysis rate. We reveal novel insights into the physiology of N. viennensis that are important for biomass production and the biomass yield of AOA. Moreover, our study has implications to the field of archaea biology and microbial ecology by showing that bioprocess technology and quantitative analysis can be applied to decipher environmental factors affecting the physiology and productivity of AOA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Melcher
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Logan H Hodgskiss
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mohammad Anas Mardini
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christa Schleper
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Simon K-M R Rittmann
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Arkeon GmbH, Tulln a.d. Donau, Austria.,Archaea Physiology & Biotechnology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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9
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Summons RE, Welander PV, Gold DA. Lipid biomarkers: molecular tools for illuminating the history of microbial life. Nat Rev Microbiol 2022; 20:174-185. [PMID: 34635851 DOI: 10.1038/s41579-021-00636-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Fossilized lipids preserved in sedimentary rocks offer singular insights into the Earth's palaeobiology. These 'biomarkers' encode information pertaining to the oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans, transitions in ocean plankton, the greening of continents, mass extinctions and climate change. Historically, biomarker interpretations relied on inventories of lipids present in extant microorganisms and counterparts in natural environments. However, progress has been impeded because only a small fraction of the Earth's microorganisms can be cultured, many environmentally significant microorganisms from the past no longer exist and there are gaping holes in knowledge concerning lipid biosynthesis. The revolution in genomics and bioinformatics has provided new tools to expand our understanding of lipid biomarkers, their biosynthetic pathways and distributions in nature. In this Review, we explore how preserved organic molecules provide a unique perspective on the history of the Earth's microbial life. We discuss how advances in molecular biology have helped elucidate biomarker origins and afforded more robust interpretations of fossil lipids and how the rock record provides vital calibration points for molecular clocks. Such studies are open to further exploitation with the expansion of sequenced microbial genomes in accessible databases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger E Summons
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Paula V Welander
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - David A Gold
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
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10
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Tourte M, Schaeffer P, Grossi V, Oger PM. Membrane adaptation in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus relies upon a novel strategy involving glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraether lipids. Environ Microbiol 2022; 24:2029-2046. [PMID: 35106897 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Microbes preserve membrane functionality under fluctuating environmental conditions by modulating their membrane lipid composition. Although several studies have documented membrane adaptations in Archaea, the influence of most biotic and abiotic factors on archaeal lipid compositions remains underexplored. Here, we studied the influence of temperature, pH, salinity, the presence/absence of elemental sulfur, the carbon source, and the genetic background on the lipid core composition of the hyperthermophilic neutrophilic marine archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus. Every growth parameter tested affected the lipid core composition to some extent, the carbon source and the genetic background having the greatest influence. Surprisingly, P. furiosus appeared to only marginally rely on the two major responses implemented by Archaea, i.e., the regulation of the ratio of diether to tetraether lipids and that of the number of cyclopentane rings in tetraethers. Instead, this species increased the ratio of glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (GMGT, aka. H-shaped tetraethers) to glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetrathers (GDGT) in response to decreasing temperature and pH and increasing salinity, thus providing for the first time evidence of adaptive functions for GMGT. Besides P. furiosus, numerous other species synthesize significant proportions of GMGT, which suggests that this unprecedented adaptive strategy might be common in Archaea. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Tourte
- Univ Lyon, Univ. Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5240, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France.,Univ Lyon, INSA Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5240, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
| | | | - Vincent Grossi
- Univ Lyon, Univ. Lyon 1, CNRS, ENSL, UJM, UMR 5276 LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Philippe M Oger
- Univ Lyon, INSA Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5240, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
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11
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Evidence for enzymatic backbone methylation of the main membrane lipids in the archaeon Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis. Appl Environ Microbiol 2021; 88:e0215421. [PMID: 34936840 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02154-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Butanetriol and pentanetriol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (BDGTs and PDGTs, respectively) are recently identified classes of archaeal membrane lipids that are prominent constituents in anoxic subseafloor sediments. These lipids are intriguing as they possess unusual backbones with four or five carbon atoms instead of the canonical three-carbon glycerol backbone. In this study, we examined the biosynthesis of BDGTs and PDGTs by the methanogen Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis, the only available isolate known to produce these compounds, via stable isotope labeling with [methyl-13C] methionine followed by mass spectrometry analysis. We show that their biosynthesis proceeds from transfer(s) of the terminal methyl group of methionine to the more common archaeal membrane lipids, i.e., glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). As this methylation targets a methylene group, a radical mechanism involving a radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzyme is probable. Over the course of the incubation, the abundance of PDGTs relative to BDGTs, expressed as backbone methylation index, increased, implying that backbone methylation may be related to the growth shift to stationary conditions, possibly due to limited energy and/or substrate availability. The increase of the backbone methylation index with increasing sediment age in a sample set from the Mediterranean Sea adds support for such a relationship. Importance Butanetriol and pentanetriol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers are membrane lipids recently discovered in anoxic environments. These lipids differ from typical membrane-spanning tetraether lipids because they possess a non-glycerol backbone. The biosynthetic pathway and physiological role of these unique lipids are currently unknown. Here, we show that in the strain Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis these lipids are the result of methyl transfer(s) from a S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) intermediate. We observed a relative increase of the doubly methylated compound, pentanetriol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether, in the stationary phase of M. luminyensis as well as in the subseafloor of the Mediterranean Sea and thus introduced a backbone methylation index, which could be used to further explore microbial activity in natural settings.
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12
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Law KP, He W, Tao J, Zhang C. A Novel Approach to Characterize the Lipidome of Marine Archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus by Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:735878. [PMID: 34925256 PMCID: PMC8674956 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.735878] [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: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Archaea are differentiated from the other two domains of life by their biomolecular characteristics. One such characteristic is the unique structure and composition of their lipids. Characterization of the whole set of lipids in a biological system (the lipidome) remains technologically challenging. This is because the lipidome is innately complex, and not all lipid species are extractable, separable, or ionizable by a single analytical method. Furthermore, lipids are structurally and chemically diverse. Many lipids are isobaric or isomeric and often indistinguishable by the measurement of mass or even their fragmentation spectra. Here we developed a novel analytical protocol based on liquid chromatography ion mobility mass spectrometry to enhance the coverage of the lipidome and characterize the conformations of archaeal lipids by their collision cross-sections (CCSs). The measurements of ion mobility revealed the gas-phase ion chemistry of representative archaeal lipids and provided further insights into their attributions to the adaptability of archaea to environmental stresses. A comprehensive characterization of the lipidome of mesophilic marine thaumarchaeon, Nitrosopumilus maritimus (strain SCM1) revealed potentially an unreported phosphate- and sulfate-containing lipid candidate by negative ionization analysis. It was the first time that experimentally derived CCS values of archaeal lipids were reported. Discrimination of crenarchaeol and its proposed stereoisomer was, however, not achieved with the resolving power of the SYNAPT G2 ion mobility system, and a high-resolution ion mobility system may be required for future work. Structural and spectral libraries of archaeal lipids were constructed in non-vendor-specific formats and are being made available to the community to promote research of Archaea by lipidomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai P Law
- Southern University of Science and Technology, SUSTech Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Shenzhen, China.,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wei He
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jianchang Tao
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Chuanlun Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China
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13
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Li F, Leu A, Poff K, Carlson LT, Ingalls AE, DeLong EF. Planktonic Archaeal Ether Lipid Origins in Surface Waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:610675. [PMID: 34589060 PMCID: PMC8473941 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.610675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Thaumarchaeota and Thermoplasmatota are the most abundant planktonic archaea in the sea. Thaumarchaeota contain tetraether lipids as their major membrane lipids, but the lipid composition of uncultured planktonic Thermoplasmatota representatives remains unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we quantified archaeal cells and ether lipids in open ocean depth profiles (0–200 m) of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Planktonic archaeal community structure and ether lipid composition in the water column partitioned into two separate clusters: one above the deep chlorophyll maximum, the other within and below it. In surface waters, Thermoplasmatota densities ranged from 2.11 × 106 to 6.02 × 106 cells/L, while Thaumarchaeota were undetectable. As previously reported for Thaumarchaeota, potential homologs of archaeal tetraether ring synthases were present in planktonic Thermoplasmatota metagenomes. Despite the absence of Thaumarchaeota in surface waters, measurable amounts of intact polar ether lipids were found there. Based on cell abundance estimates, these surface water archaeal ether lipids contributed only 1.21 × 10–9 ng lipid/Thermoplasmatota cell, about three orders of magnitude less than that reported for Thaumarchaeota cells. While these data indicate that even if some tetraether and diether lipids may be derived from Thermoplasmatota, they would only comprise a small fraction of Thermoplasmatota total biomass. Therefore, while both MGI Thaumarchaeota and MGII/III Thermoplasmatota are potential biological sources of archaeal GDGTs, the Thaumarchaeota appear to be the major contributors of archaeal tetraether lipids in planktonic marine habitats. These results extend and confirm previous reports of planktonic archaeal lipid sources, and further emphasize the need for Thermoplasmatota cultivation, to better characterize the membrane lipid constituents of marine planktonic Thermoplasmatota, and more precisely define the sources and patterns of archaeal tetraether lipid distributions in marine plankton.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuyan Li
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawai'i at Mânoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Andy Leu
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawai'i at Mânoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Kirsten Poff
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawai'i at Mânoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Laura T Carlson
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Anitra E Ingalls
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Edward F DeLong
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawai'i at Mânoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
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14
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Cobban A, Zhang Y, Zhou A, Weber Y, Elling FJ, Pearson A, Leavitt WD. Multiple environmental parameters impact lipid cyclization in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Environ Microbiol 2021; 22:4046-4056. [PMID: 32783317 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Adaptation of lipid membrane composition is an important component of archaeal homeostatic response. Historically, the number of cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl rings in the glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) Archaeal lipids has been linked to variation in environmental temperature. However, recent work with GDGT-making archaea highlight the roles of other factors, such as pH or energy availability, in influencing the degree of GDGT cyclization. To better understand the role of multiple variables in a consistent experimental framework and organism, we cultivated the model Crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius DSM639 at different combinations of temperature, pH, oxygen flux, or agitation speed. We quantified responses in growth rate, biomass yield, and core lipid compositions, specifically the degree of core GDGT cyclization. The degree of GDGT cyclization correlated with growth rate under most conditions. The results suggest the degree of cyclization in archaeal lipids records a universal response to energy availability at the cellular level, both in thermoacidophiles, and in other recent findings in the mesoneutrophilic Thaumarchaea. Although we isolated the effects of key individual parameters, there remains a need for multi-factor experiments (e.g., pH + temperature + redox) in order to more robustly establish a framework to better understand homeostatic membrane responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec Cobban
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
| | - Yujiao Zhang
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.,State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Alice Zhou
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.,Department of Earth Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Yuki Weber
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Greenlight Biosciences Inc., Medford, MA, USA
| | - Felix J Elling
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Ann Pearson
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - William D Leavitt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.,Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
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15
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Stahl DA. The path leading to the discovery of the ammoniaoxidizing archaea. Environ Microbiol 2020; 22:4507-4519. [PMID: 32955155 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David A Stahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
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16
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Qin W, Zheng Y, Zhao F, Wang Y, Urakawa H, Martens-Habbena W, Liu H, Huang X, Zhang X, Nakagawa T, Mende DR, Bollmann A, Wang B, Zhang Y, Amin SA, Nielsen JL, Mori K, Takahashi R, Virginia Armbrust E, Winkler MKH, DeLong EF, Li M, Lee PH, Zhou J, Zhang C, Zhang T, Stahl DA, Ingalls AE. Alternative strategies of nutrient acquisition and energy conservation map to the biogeography of marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea. ISME JOURNAL 2020; 14:2595-2609. [PMID: 32636492 PMCID: PMC7490402 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-0710-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are among the most abundant and ubiquitous microorganisms in the ocean, exerting primary control on nitrification and nitrogen oxides emission. Although united by a common physiology of chemoautotrophic growth on ammonia, a corresponding high genomic and habitat variability suggests tremendous adaptive capacity. Here, we compared 44 diverse AOA genomes, 37 from species cultivated from samples collected across diverse geographic locations and seven assembled from metagenomic sequences from the mesopelagic to hadopelagic zones of the deep ocean. Comparative analysis identified seven major marine AOA genotypic groups having gene content correlated with their distinctive biogeographies. Phosphorus and ammonia availabilities as well as hydrostatic pressure were identified as selective forces driving marine AOA genotypic and gene content variability in different oceanic regions. Notably, AOA methylphosphonate biosynthetic genes span diverse oceanic provinces, reinforcing their importance for methane production in the ocean. Together, our combined comparative physiological, genomic, and metagenomic analyses provide a comprehensive view of the biogeography of globally abundant AOA and their adaptive radiation into a vast range of marine and terrestrial habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Qin
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Yue Zheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Yulin Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hidetoshi Urakawa
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA
| | - Willm Martens-Habbena
- Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA
| | - Haodong Liu
- Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xiaowu Huang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xinxu Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Tatsunori Nakagawa
- College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Daniel R Mende
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | | | - Baozhan Wang
- Key Lab of Microbiology for Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Sciences and College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Shady A Amin
- Department of Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - Jeppe L Nielsen
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Koji Mori
- NITE Biological Resource Center (NBRC), National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE), Kisarazu, Chiba, Japan
| | - Reiji Takahashi
- College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
| | | | - Mari-K H Winkler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Edward F DeLong
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Meng Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Po-Heng Lee
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.,Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jizhong Zhou
- Institute for Environmental Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.,Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.,School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Chuanlun Zhang
- Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - David A Stahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Anitra E Ingalls
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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17
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Ma C, Coffinet S, Lipp JS, Hinrichs KU, Zhang C. Marine Group II Euryarchaeota Contribute to the Archaeal Lipid Pool in Northwestern Pacific Ocean Surface Waters. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:1034. [PMID: 32582055 PMCID: PMC7291766 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Planktonic archaea include predominantly Marine Group I Thaumarchaeota (MG I) and Marine Group II Euryarchaeota (MG II), which play important roles in the oceanic carbon cycle. MG I produce specific lipids called isoprenoid glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), which are being used in the sea surface temperature proxy named TEX86. Although MG II may be the most abundant planktonic archaeal group in surface water, their lipid composition remains poorly characterized because of the lack of cultured representatives. Circumstantial evidence from previous studies of marine suspended particulate matter suggests that MG II may produce both GDGTs and archaeol-based lipids. In this study, integration of the 16S rRNA gene quantification and sequencing and lipid analysis demonstrated that MG II contributed significantly to the pool of archaeal tetraether lipids in samples collected from MG II-dominated surface waters of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean (NWPO). The archaeal lipid composition in MG II-dominated NWPO waters differed significantly from that of known MG I cultures, containing relatively more 2G-OH-, 2G- and 1G- GDGTs, especially in their acyclic form. Lipid composition in NWPO waters was also markedly different from MG I-dominated surface water samples collected in the East China Sea. GDGTs from MG II-dominated samples seemed to respond to temperature similarly to GDGTs from the MG I-dominated samples, which calls for further study using pure cultures to determine the exact impact of MG II on GDGT-based proxies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cenling Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Sarah Coffinet
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Julius S Lipp
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Chuanlun Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Archaea Geo-Omics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China
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18
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Boyer GM, Schubotz F, Summons RE, Woods J, Shock EL. Carbon Oxidation State in Microbial Polar Lipids Suggests Adaptation to Hot Spring Temperature and Redox Gradients. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:229. [PMID: 32153529 PMCID: PMC7044123 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of oxidation-reduction (redox) potential on the expression of biomolecules is a topic of ongoing exploration in geobiology. In this study, we investigate the novel possibility that structures and compositions of lipids produced by microbial communities are sensitive to environmental redox conditions. We extracted lipids from microbial biomass collected along the thermal and redox gradients of four alkaline hot springs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and investigated patterns in the average oxidation state of carbon (ZC), a metric calculated from the chemical formulae of lipid structures. Carbon in intact polar lipids (IPLs) and their alkyl chains becomes more oxidized (higher ZC) with increasing distance from each of the four hot spring sources. This coincides with decreased water temperature and increased concentrations of oxidized inorganic solutes, such as dissolved oxygen, sulfate, and nitrate. Carbon in IPLs is most reduced (lowest ZC) in the hot, reduced conditions upstream, with abundance-weighted ZC values between −1.68 and −1.56. These values increase gradually downstream to around −1.36 to −1.33 in microbial communities living between 29.0 and 38.1°C. This near-linear increase in ZC can be attributed to a shift from ether-linked to ester-linked alkyl chains, a decrease in average aliphatic carbons per chain (nC), an increase in average degree of unsaturation per chain (nUnsat), and increased cyclization in tetraether lipids. The ZC of lipid headgroups and backbones did not change significantly downstream. Expression of lipids with relatively reduced carbon under reduced conditions and oxidized lipids under oxidized conditions may indicate microbial adaptation across environmental gradients in temperature and electron donor/acceptor supply.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grayson M Boyer
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Florence Schubotz
- MARUM and Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Roger E Summons
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Jade Woods
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States
| | - Everett L Shock
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States.,School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
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19
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Zhou A, Weber Y, Chiu BK, Elling FJ, Cobban AB, Pearson A, Leavitt WD. Energy flux controls tetraether lipid cyclization in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Environ Microbiol 2019; 22:343-353. [PMID: 31696620 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Microorganisms regulate the composition of their membranes in response to environmental cues. Many Archaea maintain the fluidity and permeability of their membranes by adjusting the number of cyclic moieties within the cores of their glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids. Cyclized GDGTs increase membrane packing and stability, which has been shown to help cells survive shifts in temperature and pH. However, the extent of this cyclization also varies with growth phase and electron acceptor or donor limitation. These observations indicate a relationship between energy metabolism and membrane composition. Here we show that the average degree of GDGT cyclization increases with doubling time in continuous cultures of the thermoacidophile Sulfolobus acidocaldarius (DSM 639). This is consistent with the behavior of a mesoneutrophile, Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1. Together, these results demonstrate that archaeal GDGT distributions can shift in response to electron donor flux and energy availability, independent of pH or temperature. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on GDGTs thus capture the energy available to microbes, which encompasses fluctuations in temperature and pH, as well as electron donor and acceptor availability. The ability of Archaea to adjust membrane composition and packing may be an important strategy that enables survival during episodes of energy stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Zhou
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA
| | - Yuki Weber
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02318, USA
| | - Beverly K Chiu
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA
| | - Felix J Elling
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02318, USA
| | - Alec B Cobban
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA
| | - Ann Pearson
- Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02318, USA
| | - William D Leavitt
- Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA.,Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755, USA
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20
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21
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GDGT cyclization proteins identify the dominant archaeal sources of tetraether lipids in the ocean. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:22505-22511. [PMID: 31591189 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1909306116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are distinctive archaeal membrane-spanning lipids with up to eight cyclopentane rings and/or one cyclohexane ring. The number of rings added to the GDGT core structure can vary as a function of environmental conditions, such as changes in growth temperature. This physiological response enables cyclic GDGTs preserved in sediments to be employed as proxies for reconstructing past global and regional temperatures and to provide fundamental insights into ancient climate variability. Yet, confidence in GDGT-based paleotemperature proxies is hindered by uncertainty concerning the archaeal communities contributing to GDGT pools in modern environments and ambiguity in the environmental and physiological factors that affect GDGT cyclization in extant archaea. To properly constrain these uncertainties, a comprehensive understanding of GDGT biosynthesis is required. Here, we identify 2 GDGT ring synthases, GrsA and GrsB, essential for GDGT ring formation in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Both proteins are radical S-adenosylmethionine proteins, indicating that GDGT cyclization occurs through a free radical mechanism. In addition, we demonstrate that GrsA introduces rings specifically at the C-7 position of the core GDGT lipid, while GrsB cyclizes at the C-3 position, suggesting that cyclization patterns are differentially controlled by 2 separate enzymes and potentially influenced by distinct environmental factors. Finally, phylogenetic analyses of the Grs proteins reveal that marine Thaumarchaeota, and not Euryarchaeota, are the dominant source of cyclized GDGTs in open ocean settings, addressing a major source of uncertainty in GDGT-based paleotemperature proxy applications.
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22
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Śliwińska KK, Thomsen E, Schouten S, Schoon PL, Heilmann-Clausen C. Climate- and gateway-driven cooling of Late Eocene to earliest Oligocene sea surface temperatures in the North Sea Basin. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4458. [PMID: 30872690 PMCID: PMC6418185 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41013-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
During the late Eocene, the Earth’s climate experienced several transient temperature fluctuations including the Vonhof cooling event (C16n.1n; ~35.8 Ma) hitherto known mainly from the southern oceans. Here we reconstruct sea-surface temperatures (SST) and provide δ18O and δ13C foraminiferal records for the late Eocene and earliest Oligocene in the North Sea Basin. Our data reveal two main perturbations: (1), an abrupt brief cooling of ~4.5 °C dated to ~35.8 Ma and synchronous with the Vonhof cooling, which thus may be a global event, and (2) a gradual nearly 10 °C temperature fall starting at 36.1 Ma and culminating near the Eocene-Oligocene transition at ~33.9 Ma. The late Priabonian temperature trend in the North Sea shows some resemblance IODP Site U1404 from the North Atlantic, offshore Newfoundland; and is in contrast to the more abrupt change observed in the deep-sea δ18O records from the southern oceans. The cooling in the North Sea is large compared to the pattern seen in the North Atlantic record. This difference may be influenced by a late Eocene closure of the warm gateways connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic and Tethys oceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasia K Śliwińska
- GEUS Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Department of Stratigraphy, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
| | - Erik Thomsen
- Aarhus University, Department of Geoscience, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 2, 8000, Århus C, Denmark
| | - Stefan Schouten
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Utrecht University, Texel, The Netherlands.,Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Petra L Schoon
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Utrecht University, Texel, The Netherlands
| | - Claus Heilmann-Clausen
- Aarhus University, Department of Geoscience, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 2, 8000, Århus C, Denmark
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23
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Abstract
Archaea are ubiquitous and abundant members of the marine plankton. Once thought of as rare organisms found in exotic extremes of temperature, pressure, or salinity, archaea are now known in nearly every marine environment. Though frequently referred to collectively, the planktonic archaea actually comprise four major phylogenetic groups, each with its own distinct physiology and ecology. Only one group-the marine Thaumarchaeota-has cultivated representatives, making marine archaea an attractive focus point for the latest developments in cultivation-independent molecular methods. Here, we review the ecology, physiology, and biogeochemical impact of the four archaeal groups using recent insights from cultures and large-scale environmental sequencing studies. We highlight key gaps in our knowledge about the ecological roles of marine archaea in carbon flow and food web interactions. We emphasize the incredible uncultivated diversity within each of the four groups, suggesting there is much more to be done.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyson E Santoro
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA;
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24
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Becker KW, Collins JR, Durham BP, Groussman RD, White AE, Fredricks HF, Ossolinski JE, Repeta DJ, Carini P, Armbrust EV, Van Mooy BAS. Daily changes in phytoplankton lipidomes reveal mechanisms of energy storage in the open ocean. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5179. [PMID: 30518752 PMCID: PMC6281602 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07346-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 10/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Sunlight is the dominant control on phytoplankton biosynthetic activity, and darkness deprives them of their primary external energy source. Changes in the biochemical composition of phytoplankton communities over diel light cycles and attendant consequences for carbon and energy flux in environments remain poorly elucidated. Here we use lipidomic data from the North Pacific subtropical gyre to show that biosynthesis of energy-rich triacylglycerols (TAGs) by eukaryotic nanophytoplankton during the day and their subsequent consumption at night drives a large and previously uncharacterized daily carbon cycle. Diel oscillations in TAG concentration comprise 23 ± 11% of primary production by eukaryotic nanophytoplankton representing a global flux of about 2.4 Pg C yr−1. Metatranscriptomic analyses of genes required for TAG biosynthesis indicate that haptophytes and dinoflagellates are active members in TAG production. Estimates suggest that these organisms could contain as much as 40% more calories at sunset than at sunrise due to TAG production. Day-night cycles in the biochemical composition of phytoplankton remain poorly understood. Here, Becker et al. use lipidomic and transcriptomic data from the North Pacific subtropical gyre to describe a daily cycle of production and consumption of energy-rich lipids by eukaryotic phytoplankton.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin W Becker
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA
| | - James R Collins
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA.,Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA.,School of Oceanography and eScience Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Bryndan P Durham
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Ryan D Groussman
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Angelicque E White
- College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
| | - Helen F Fredricks
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA
| | - Justin E Ossolinski
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA
| | - Daniel J Repeta
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA
| | - Paul Carini
- Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.,Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | | | - Benjamin A S Van Mooy
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA.
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25
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Jung MY, Islam MA, Gwak JH, Kim JG, Rhee SK. Nitrosarchaeum koreense gen. nov., sp. nov., an aerobic and mesophilic, ammonia-oxidizing archaeon member of the phylum Thaumarchaeota isolated from agricultural soil. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2018; 68:3084-3095. [PMID: 30124400 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.002926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A mesophilic, chemolithoautotrophic, neutrophilic and aerobic ammonia-oxidizing archaeon, designated strain MY1T, was isolated from agricultural soil. Microscopic observation revealed short, rod-shaped cells with a diameter of 0.3-0.5 µm and length of 0.6-1.0 µm. The isolate had no flagella and pili, and possessed no genes associated with archaeal flagella synthesis. The major membrane lipids consisted mainly of the glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids GDGT-0 to GDGT-4 and crenarchaeol. The major intact polar lipids (IPLs) were determined as hexose plus phosphohexose IPL and dihexose IPL. Strain MY1T obtains energy by aerobically oxidizing ammonia and carbon by fixing CO2. An optimal growth was observed at 25 °C, at pH 7 and with 0.2-0.4 % (w/v) salinity that corresponds with its terrestrial habitat. The addition of α-keto acids was necessary to stimulate growth. The strain tolerated ammonium and nitrite concentrations up to 10 and 5 mM, respectively. The MY1T genome has a DNA G+C content of 32.7 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene showed that strain MY1T belongs to the family Nitrosopumilaceaeof the phylum Thaumarchaeota, sharing the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (96.6-97.1 %) with marine isolates of the genus Nitrosopumilus. The average nucleotide identity was 78 % between strain MY1T and Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1T, indicating distant relatedness. Based on the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic analyses, it was concluded that strain MY1T belongs to the novel genus Nitrosarchaeum, under which the name Nitrosarchaeum koreense sp. nov. is proposed as the type species. The type strain is MY1T (=JCM 31640T=KCTC 4249T).
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Affiliation(s)
- Man-Young Jung
- 1Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea.,2Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Md Arafat Islam
- 1Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Joo-Han Gwak
- 1Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Jong-Geol Kim
- 1Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Sung-Keun Rhee
- 1Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
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26
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Isoprenoid Quinones Resolve the Stratification of Redox Processes in a Biogeochemical Continuum from the Photic Zone to Deep Anoxic Sediments of the Black Sea. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018. [PMID: 29523543 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02736-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The stratified water column of the Black Sea serves as a model ecosystem for studying the interactions of microorganisms with major biogeochemical cycles. Here, we provide detailed analysis of isoprenoid quinones to study microbial redox processes in the ocean. In a continuum from the photic zone through the chemocline into deep anoxic sediments of the southern Black Sea, diagnostic quinones and inorganic geochemical parameters indicate niche segregation between redox processes and corresponding shifts in microbial community composition. Quinones specific for oxygenic photosynthesis and aerobic respiration dominate oxic waters, while quinones associated with thaumarchaeal ammonia oxidation and bacterial methanotrophy, respectively, dominate a narrow interval in suboxic waters. Quinone distributions indicate highest metabolic diversity within the anoxic zone, with anoxygenic photosynthesis being a major process in its photic layer. In the dark anoxic layer, quinone profiles indicate the occurrence of bacterial sulfur and nitrogen cycling, archaeal methanogenesis, and archaeal methanotrophy. Multiple novel ubiquinone isomers, possibly originating from unidentified intra-aerobic anaerobes, occur in this zone. The respiration modes found in the anoxic zone continue into shallow subsurface sediments, but quinone abundances rapidly decrease within the upper 50 cm below the sea floor, reflecting the transition to lower energy availability. In the deep subseafloor sediments, quinone distributions and geochemical profiles indicate archaeal methanogenesis/methanotrophy and potentially bacterial fermentative metabolisms. We observed that sedimentary quinone distributions track lithology, which supports prior hypotheses that deep biosphere community composition and metabolisms are determined by environmental conditions during sediment deposition.IMPORTANCE Microorganisms play crucial roles in global biogeochemical cycles, yet we have only a fragmentary understanding of the diversity of microorganisms and their metabolisms, as the majority remains uncultured. Thus, culture-independent approaches are critical for determining microbial diversity and active metabolic processes. In order to resolve the stratification of microbial communities in the Black Sea, we comprehensively analyzed redox process-specific isoprenoid quinone biomarkers in a unique continuous record from the photic zone through the chemocline into anoxic subsurface sediments. We describe an unprecedented quinone diversity that allowed us to detect distinct biogeochemical processes, including oxygenic photosynthesis, archaeal ammonia oxidation, aerobic methanotrophy, and anoxygenic photosynthesis in defined geochemical zones.
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27
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Carr SA, Schubotz F, Dunbar RB, Mills CT, Dias R, Summons RE, Mandernack KW. Acetoclastic Methanosaeta are dominant methanogens in organic-rich Antarctic marine sediments. ISME JOURNAL 2017; 12:330-342. [PMID: 29039843 PMCID: PMC5776447 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2017.150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2017] [Revised: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 06/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Despite accounting for the majority of sedimentary methane, the physiology and relative abundance of subsurface methanogens remain poorly understood. We combined intact polar lipid and metagenome techniques to better constrain the presence and functions of methanogens within the highly reducing, organic-rich sediments of Antarctica's Adélie Basin. The assembly of metagenomic sequence data identified phylogenic and functional marker genes of methanogens and generated the first Methanosaeta sp. genome from a deep subsurface sedimentary environment. Based on structural and isotopic measurements, glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers with diglycosyl phosphatidylglycerol head groups were classified as biomarkers for active methanogens. The stable carbon isotope (δ13C) values of these biomarkers and the Methanosaeta partial genome suggest that these organisms are acetoclastic methanogens and represent a relatively small (0.2%) but active population. Metagenomic and lipid analyses suggest that Thaumarchaeota and heterotrophic bacteria co-exist with Methanosaeta and together contribute to increasing concentrations and δ13C values of dissolved inorganic carbon with depth. This study presents the first functional insights of deep subsurface Methanosaeta organisms and highlights their role in methane production and overall carbon cycling within sedimentary environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Florence Schubotz
- MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Robert B Dunbar
- Department of Environmental Earth Systems Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Robert Dias
- US Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Roger E Summons
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kevin W Mandernack
- Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA
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28
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Qin W, Heal KR, Ramdasi R, Kobelt JN, Martens-Habbena W, Bertagnolli AD, Amin SA, Walker CB, Urakawa H, Könneke M, Devol AH, Moffett JW, Armbrust EV, Jensen GJ, Ingalls AE, Stahl DA. Nitrosopumilus maritimus gen. nov., sp. nov., Nitrosopumilus cobalaminigenes sp. nov., Nitrosopumilus oxyclinae sp. nov., and Nitrosopumilus ureiphilus sp. nov., four marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea of the phylum Thaumarchaeota. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2017; 67:5067-5079. [PMID: 29034851 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.002416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Four mesophilic, neutrophilic, and aerobic marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea, designated strains SCM1T, HCA1T, HCE1T and PS0T, were isolated from a tropical marine fish tank, dimly lit deep coastal waters, the lower euphotic zone of coastal waters, and near-surface sediment in the Puget Sound estuary, respectively. Cells are straight or slightly curved small rods, 0.15-0.26 µm in diameter and 0.50-1.59 µm in length. Motility was not observed, although strain PS0T possesses genes associated with archaeal flagella and chemotaxis, suggesting it may be motile under some conditions. Cell membranes consist of glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids, with crenarchaeol as the major component. Strain SCM1T displays a single surface layer (S-layer) with p6 symmetry, distinct from the p3-S-layer reported for the soil ammonia-oxidizing archaeon Nitrososphaera viennensis EN76T. Respiratory quinones consist of fully saturated and monounsaturated menaquinones with 6 isoprenoid units in the side chain. Cells obtain energy from ammonia oxidation and use carbon dioxide as carbon source; addition of an α-keto acid (α-ketoglutaric acid) was necessary to sustain growth of strains HCA1T, HCE1T, and PS0T. Strain PS0T uses urea as a source of ammonia for energy production and growth. All strains synthesize vitamin B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B6 (pyridoxine), and B12 (cobalamin). Optimal growth occurs between 25 and 32 °C, between pH 6.8 and 7.3, and between 25 and 37 ‰ salinity. All strains have a low mol% G+C content of 33.0-34.2. Strains are related by 98 % or greater 16S rRNA gene sequence identity, sharing ~85 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with Nitrososphaera viennensis EN76T. All four isolates are well separated by phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and are here assigned to distinct species within the genus Nitrosopumilus gen. nov. Isolates SCM1T (=ATCC TSD-97T =NCIMB 15022T), HCA1T (=ATCC TSD-96T), HCE1T (=ATCC TSD-98T), and PS0T (=ATCC TSD-99T) are type strains of the species Nitrosopumilusmaritimus sp. nov., Nitrosopumilus cobalaminigenes sp. nov., Nitrosopumilus oxyclinae sp. nov., and Nitrosopumilus ureiphilus sp. nov., respectively. In addition, we propose the family Nitrosopumilaceae fam. nov. and the order Nitrosopumilales ord. nov. within the class Nitrososphaeria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Qin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Katherine R Heal
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Rasika Ramdasi
- Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Julia N Kobelt
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Willm Martens-Habbena
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science and Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Florida, FL, USA
| | - Anthony D Bertagnolli
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Shady A Amin
- Department of Chemistry, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
| | - Christopher B Walker
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hidetoshi Urakawa
- Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA
| | - Martin Könneke
- Marine Archaea Group, MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Allan H Devol
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - James W Moffett
- Departments of Biological Sciences and Earth Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Grant J Jensen
- Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Anitra E Ingalls
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - David A Stahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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29
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Elling FJ, Könneke M, Nicol GW, Stieglmeier M, Bayer B, Spieck E, de la Torre JR, Becker KW, Thomm M, Prosser JI, Herndl GJ, Schleper C, Hinrichs KU. Chemotaxonomic characterisation of the thaumarchaeal lipidome. Environ Microbiol 2017; 19:2681-2700. [PMID: 28419726 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Revised: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 04/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Thaumarchaeota are globally distributed and abundant microorganisms occurring in diverse habitats and thus represent a major source of archaeal lipids. The scope of lipids as taxonomic markers in microbial ecological studies is limited by the scarcity of comparative data on the membrane lipid composition of cultivated representatives, including the phylum Thaumarchaeota. Here, we comprehensively describe the core and intact polar lipid (IPL) inventory of ten ammonia-oxidising thaumarchaeal cultures representing all four characterized phylogenetic clades. IPLs of these thaumarchaeal strains are generally similar and consist of membrane-spanning, glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers with monoglycosyl, diglycosyl, phosphohexose and hexose-phosphohexose headgroups. However, the relative abundances of these IPLs and their core lipid compositions differ systematically between the phylogenetic subgroups, indicating high potential for chemotaxonomic distinction of thaumarchaeal clades. Comparative lipidomic analyses of 19 euryarchaeal and crenarchaeal strains suggested that the lipid methoxy archaeol is synthesized exclusively by Thaumarchaeota and may thus represent a diagnostic lipid biomarker for this phylum. The unprecedented diversity of the thaumarchaeal lipidome with 118 different lipids suggests that membrane lipid composition and adaptation mechanisms in Thaumarchaeota are more complex than previously thought and include unique lipids with as yet unresolved properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix J Elling
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany
| | - Martin Könneke
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany.,Marine Archaea Group, MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany
| | - Graeme W Nicol
- Environmental Microbial Genomics, Laboratoire Ampère, École Centrale de Lyon, Université de Lyon, 69134, Ecully, France
| | | | - Barbara Bayer
- Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria
| | - Eva Spieck
- Biocenter Klein Flottbek, Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, 22609, Germany
| | - José R de la Torre
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Kevin W Becker
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany
| | - Michael Thomm
- Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie und Archaeenzentrum, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, 93053, Germany
| | - James I Prosser
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK
| | - Gerhard J Herndl
- Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria.,Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
| | | | - Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences & Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany
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30
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Rush D, Sinninghe Damsté JS. Lipids as paleomarkers to constrain the marine nitrogen cycle. Environ Microbiol 2017; 19:2119-2132. [PMID: 28142226 PMCID: PMC5516240 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Revised: 01/24/2017] [Accepted: 01/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Global climate is, in part, regulated by the effect of microbial processes on biogeochemical cycling. The nitrogen cycle, in particular, is driven by microorganisms responsible for the fixation and loss of nitrogen, and the reduction‐oxidation transformations of bio‐available nitrogen. Within marine systems, nitrogen availability is often the limiting factor in the growth of autotrophic organisms, intrinsically linking the nitrogen and carbon cycles. In order to elucidate the state of these cycles in the past, and help envisage present and future variability, it is essential to understand the specific microbial processes responsible for transforming bio‐available nitrogen species. As most microorganisms are soft‐bodied and seldom leave behind physical fossils in the sedimentary record, recalcitrant lipid biomarkers are used to unravel microbial processes in the geological past. This review emphasises the recent advances in marine nitrogen cycle lipid biomarkers, underlines the missing links still needed to fully elucidate past shifts in this biogeochemically‐important cycle, and provides examples of biomarker applications in the geological past.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darci Rush
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, Den Burg, P.O. Box 59 1790 AB, The Netherlands.,School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Jaap S Sinninghe Damsté
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, Den Burg, P.O. Box 59 1790 AB, The Netherlands.,Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, TA Utrecht, P.O. Box 80.121, 3508, The Netherlands
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31
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GDGT distribution in a stratified lake and implications for the application of TEX 86 in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Sci Rep 2016; 6:34465. [PMID: 27694918 PMCID: PMC5046090 DOI: 10.1038/srep34465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Accepted: 09/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the relationship between distributions of GDGTs, GDGT-based proxies and environmental factors in a stratified lake in northwestern Norway. More than 90% of isoGDGTs were produced at the bottom of the oxycline, indicating a predominance of ammonia-oxidizing Group I.1a of Thaumarchaeota, supported by high crenarchaeol/caldarchaeol ratios. Dissolved oxygen content, rather than temperature, exercised a primary control on TEX86 values. In spite of low BIT value in surface sediment, the reconstructed lake surface temperature was "cold" biased. MBT values in streams and lake surface water were significantly smaller than those in the catchment soil, suggesting in situ production of brGDGTs in streams. A rapid transition of MBT vs. temperature/pH relationships occurring at the bottom of oxycline indicated the differential production of various brGDGTs with D.O. and depths. Only within the oxycline were CBT-based pH values close to in situ pH. Our results confirm earlier studies calling for caution in applying TEX86 as a surface temperature proxy, or MBT and/or CBT for reconstructing pH, in anoxic or euxinic lakes, estuaries and ocean basins. We propose that caldarchaeol/crenarchaeol ratio, an indicator of contributions from methanogenic archaea, together with the BIT and TEX86 proxies, can help reconstruct past levels of stratification.
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