1
|
Baker BA, Gutiérrez-Preciado A, Rodríguez Del Río Á, McCarthy CGP, López-García P, Huerta-Cepas J, Susko E, Roger AJ, Eme L, Moreira D. Expanded phylogeny of extremely halophilic archaea shows multiple independent adaptations to hypersaline environments. Nat Microbiol 2024; 9:964-975. [PMID: 38519541 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01647-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Extremely halophilic archaea (Haloarchaea, Nanohaloarchaeota, Methanonatronarchaeia and Halarchaeoplasmatales) thrive in saturating salt concentrations where they must maintain osmotic equilibrium with their environment. The evolutionary history of adaptations enabling salt tolerance remains poorly understood, in particular because the phylogeny of several lineages is conflicting. Here we present a resolved phylogeny of extremely halophilic archaea obtained using improved taxon sampling and state-of-the-art phylogenetic approaches designed to cope with the strong compositional biases of their proteomes. We describe two uncultured lineages, Afararchaeaceae and Asbonarchaeaceae, which break the long branches at the base of Haloarchaea and Nanohaloarchaeota, respectively. We obtained 13 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of these archaea from metagenomes of hypersaline aquatic systems of the Danakil Depression (Ethiopia). Our phylogenomic analyses including these taxa show that at least four independent adaptations to extreme halophily occurred during archaeal evolution. Gene-tree/species-tree reconciliation suggests that gene duplication and horizontal gene transfer played an important role in this process, for example, by spreading key genes (such as those encoding potassium transporters) across extremely halophilic lineages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Brittany A Baker
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Ana Gutiérrez-Preciado
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Álvaro Rodríguez Del Río
- Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Charley G P McCarthy
- Institute for Comparative Genomics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Purificación López-García
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jaime Huerta-Cepas
- Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Edward Susko
- Institute for Comparative Genomics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Andrew J Roger
- Institute for Comparative Genomics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Laura Eme
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - David Moreira
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Rhodes ME, Pace AD, Benjamin MM, Ghent H, Dawson KS. Establishment of a Halophilic Bloom in a Sterile and Isolated Hypersaline Mesocosm. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2886. [PMID: 38138031 PMCID: PMC10745797 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11122886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 11/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Extreme environments, including hypersaline pools, often serve as biogeographical islands. Putative colonizers would need to survive transport across potentially vast distances of inhospitable terrain. Hyperhalophiles, in particular, are often highly sensitive to osmotic pressure. Here, we assessed whether hyperhalophiles are capable of rapidly colonizing an isolated and sterile hypersaline pool and the order of succession of the ensuing colonizers. A sterile and isolated 1 m3 hypersaline mesocosm pool was constructed on a rooftop in Charleston, SC. Within months, numerous halophilic lineages successfully navigated the 20 m elevation and the greater than 1 km distance from the ocean shore, and a vibrant halophilic community was established. All told, in a nine-month period, greater than a dozen halophilic genera colonized the pool. The first to arrive were members of the Haloarchaeal genus Haloarcula. Like a weed, the Haloarcula rapidly colonized and dominated the mesocosm community but were later supplanted by other hyperhalophilic genera. As a possible source of long-distance inoculum, both aerosol and water column samples were obtained from the Great Salt Lake and its immediate vicinity. Members of the same genus, Haloarcula, were preferentially enriched in the aerosol sample relative to the water column samples. Therefore, it appears that a diverse array of hyperhalophiles are capable of surviving aeolian long-distance transport and that some lineages, in particular, have possibly adapted to that strategy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew E. Rhodes
- Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA; (A.D.P.); (H.G.)
| | - Allyson D. Pace
- Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA; (A.D.P.); (H.G.)
| | - Menny M. Benjamin
- Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA;
| | - Heather Ghent
- Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA; (A.D.P.); (H.G.)
| | - Katherine S. Dawson
- Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Butturini A, Herzsprung P, Lechtenfeld OJ, Alcorlo P, Benaiges-Fernandez R, Berlanga M, Boadella J, Freixinos Campillo Z, Gomez RM, Sanchez-Montoya MM, Urmeneta J, Romaní AM. Origin, accumulation and fate of dissolved organic matter in an extreme hypersaline shallow lake. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 221:118727. [PMID: 35797818 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118727] [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: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Hypersaline endorheic aquatic systems (H-SEAS) are lakes/shallow playas in arid and semiarid regions that undergo extreme oscillations in salinity and severe drought episodes. Although their geochemical uniqueness and microbiome have been deeply studied, very little is known about the availability and quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the water column.. A H-SEAS from the Monegros Desert (Zaragoza, NE Spain) was studied during a hydrological wetting-drying-rewetting cycle. DOM analysis included: (i) a dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mass balance; (ii) spectroscopy (absorbance and fluorescence) and (iii) a molecular characterization with Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). The studied system stored a large amount of DOC and under the highest salinity conditions, salt-saturated waters (i.e., brines with salinity > 30%) accumulated a disproportionate quantity of DOC, indicating a significant in-situ net DOM production. Simultaneously, during the hydrological transition from wet to dry, the DOM pool showed strong alterations of it molecular composition. Spectroscopic methods indicated that aromatic and degraded DOM was rapidly replaced by fresher, relatively small, microbial-derived moieties with a large C/N ratio. FT-ICR-MS highlighted the accumulation of small, saturated and oxidized molecules (molecular O/C > 0.5), with a remarkable increase in the relative contribution of highly oxygenated (molecular O/C>0.9) compounds and a decrease of aliphatic and carboxyl-rich alicyclic moleculesThese results indicated that H-SEAS are extremely active in accumulating and processing DOM, with the notable release of organic solutes probably originated from decaying microplankton under large osmotic stress at extremely high salinities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Butturini
- Department de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia y Ciencies Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain.
| | - P Herzsprung
- Department of Lake Research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UZF), Magdeburg, Germany
| | - O J Lechtenfeld
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Research Group BioGeoOmics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UZF), Leipzig, Germany
| | - P Alcorlo
- Departamento de Ecología, Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - R Benaiges-Fernandez
- Mineralogia Aplicada, Geoquímica i Geomicrobiologia (MAiMA), Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Institut de Recerca de l'Aigua (IdRA), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Department de Genética, Microbiología i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain
| | - M Berlanga
- Departament de Biologia, Sanitat i Medi Ambient, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain
| | - J Boadella
- Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Spain
| | - Z Freixinos Campillo
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia 30100, Spain
| | - R M Gomez
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia 30100, Spain
| | - M M Sanchez-Montoya
- Department of Ecology and Hydrology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia 30100, Spain; Department of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Calle Jose Antonio Novais, 12, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - J Urmeneta
- Department de Genética, Microbiología i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, Barcelona, Catalonia 08028, Spain; Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona, Spain
| | - A M Romaní
- Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Noell SE, Baptista MS, Smith E, McDonald IR, Lee CK, Stott MB, Amend JP, Cary SC. Unique Geothermal Chemistry Shapes Microbial Communities on Mt. Erebus, Antarctica. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:836943. [PMID: 35591982 PMCID: PMC9111169 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.836943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mt. Erebus, Antarctica, is the world's southernmost active volcano and is unique in its isolation from other major active volcanic systems and its distinctive geothermal systems. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and physicochemical analyses, we compared samples collected at two contrasting high-temperature (50°C-65°C) sites on Mt. Erebus: Tramway Ridge, a weather-protected high biomass site, and Western Crater, an extremely exposed low biomass site. Samples were collected along three thermal gradients, one from Western Crater and two within Tramway Ridge, which allowed an examination of the heterogeneity present at Tramway Ridge. We found distinct soil compositions between the two sites, and to a lesser extent within Tramway Ridge, correlated with disparate microbial communities. Notably, pH, not temperature, showed the strongest correlation with these differences. The abundance profiles of several microbial groups were different between the two sites; class Nitrososphaeria amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) dominated the community profiles at Tramway Ridge, whereas Acidobacteriotal ASVs were only found at Western Crater. A co-occurrence network, paired with physicochemical analyses, allowed for finer scale analysis of parameters correlated with differential abundance profiles, with various parameters (total carbon, total nitrogen, soil moisture, soil conductivity, sulfur, phosphorous, and iron) showing significant correlations. ASVs assigned to Chloroflexi classes Ktedonobacteria and Chloroflexia were detected at both sites. Based on the known metabolic capabilities of previously studied members of these groups, we predict that chemolithotrophy is a common strategy in this system. These analyses highlight the importance of conducting broader-scale metagenomics and cultivation efforts at Mt. Erebus to better understand this unique environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephen E Noell
- Te Aka Mātuatua-School of Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato-University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Mafalda S Baptista
- International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR/CIMAR), University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal.,Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Emily Smith
- Te Aka Mātuatua-School of Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato-University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Ian R McDonald
- Te Aka Mātuatua-School of Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato-University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Charles K Lee
- Te Aka Mātuatua-School of Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato-University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Matthew B Stott
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Jan P Amend
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - S Craig Cary
- Te Aka Mātuatua-School of Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato-University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Active Microbial Airborne Dispersal and Biomorphs as Confounding Factors for Life Detection in the Cell-Degrading Brines of the Polyextreme Dallol Geothermal Field. mBio 2022; 13:e0030722. [PMID: 35384698 PMCID: PMC9040726 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00307-22] [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] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the precise limits of life in polyextreme environments is challenging. Studies along gradients of polyextreme conditions in the Dallol proto-volcano area (Danakil salt desert, Ethiopia) showed the occurrence of archaea-dominated communities (up to 99%) in several hypersaline systems but strongly suggested that life did not thrive in the hyperacidic (pH ∼0), hypersaline (∼35% [wt/vol],) and sometimes hot (up to 108°C) ponds of the Dallol dome. However, it was recently claimed that archaea flourish in these brines based on the detection of one Nanohaloarchaeotas 16S rRNA gene and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments with archaea-specific probes. Here, we characterized the diversity of microorganisms in aerosols over Dallol, and we show that, in addition to typical bacteria from soil/dust, they transport halophilic archaea likely originating from neighboring hypersaline ecosystems. We also show that cells and DNA from cultures and natural local halophilic communities are rapidly destroyed upon contact with Dallol brine. Furthermore, we confirm the widespread occurrence of mineral particles, including silica-based biomorphs, in Dallol brines. FISH experiments using appropriate controls show that DNA fluorescent probes and dyes unspecifically bind to mineral precipitates in Dallol brines; cellular morphologies were unambiguously observed only in nearby hypersaline ecosystems. Our results show that airborne cell dispersal and unspecific binding of fluorescent probes are confounding factors likely affecting previous inferences of archaea thriving in Dallol. They highlight the need for controls and the consideration of alternative abiotic explanations before safely drawing conclusions about the presence of life in polyextreme terrestrial or extraterrestrial systems.
Collapse
|