Complete genome sequence of a thermophilic methanogen, Methanocella conradii HZ254, isolated from Chinese rice field soil

Abundant carbon substrates drive extremely high sulfate reduction rates and methane fluxes in Prairie Pothole Wetlands

Inland waters are increasingly recognized as critical sites of methane emissions to the atmosphere, but the biogeochemical reactions driving such fluxes are less well understood. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is one of the largest wetland complexes in the world, containing millions of small, shallow wetlands. The sediment pore waters of PPR wetlands contain some of the highest concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and sulfur species ever recorded in terrestrial aquatic environments. Using a suite of geochemical and microbiological analyses, we measured the impact of sedimentary carbon and sulfur transformations in these wetlands on methane fluxes to the atmosphere. This research represents the first study of coupled geochemistry and microbiology within the PPR and demonstrates how the conversion of abundant labile DOC pools into methane results in some of the highest fluxes of this greenhouse gas to the atmosphere ever reported. Abundant DOC and sulfate additionally supported some of the highest sulfate reduction rates ever measured in terrestrial aquatic environments, which we infer to account for a large fraction of carbon mineralization in this system. Methane accumulations in zones of active sulfate reduction may be due to either the transport of free methane gas from deeper locations or the co-occurrence of methanogenesis and sulfate reduction. If both respiratory processes are concurrent, any competitive inhibition of methanogenesis by sulfate-reducing bacteria may be lessened by the presence of large labile DOC pools that yield noncompetitive substrates such as methanol. Our results reveal some of the underlying mechanisms that make PPR wetlands biogeochemical hotspots, which ultimately leads to their critical, but poorly recognized role in regional greenhouse gas emissions.

Short-Term Exposure of Paddy Soil Microbial Communities to Salt Stress Triggers Different Transcriptional Responses of Key Taxonomic Groups

Soil salinization due to seawater intrusion along coastal areas is an increasing threat to rice cultivation worldwide. While the detrimental impact on rice growth and yield has been thoroughly studied, little is known about how severe salinity affects structure and function of paddy soil microbial communities. Here, we examined their short-term responses to half- and full-strength seawater salinity in controlled laboratory experiments. Slurry microcosms were incubated under anoxic conditions, with rice straw added as carbon source. Stress exposure time was for 2 days after a pre-incubation period of 7 days. Relative to the control, moderate (300 mM NaCl) and high (600 mM NaCl) salt stress suppressed both net consumption of acetate and methane production by 50% and 70%, respectively. Correspondingly, community-wide mRNA expression decreased by 50–65%, with significant changes in relative transcript abundance of family-level groups. mRNA turnover was clearly more responsive to salt stress than rRNA dynamics. Among bacteria, Clostridiaceae were most abundant and the only group whose transcriptional activity was strongly stimulated at 600 mM NaCl. In particular, clostridial mRNA involved in transcription/translation, fermentation, uptake and biosynthesis of compatible solutes, and flagellar motility was significantly enriched in response salt stress. None of the other bacterial groups were able to compete at 600 mM NaCl. Their responses to 300 mM NaCl were more diverse. Lachnospiraceae increased, Ruminococcaceae maintained, and Peptococcaceae, Veillonellaceae, and Syntrophomonadaceae decreased in relative mRNA abundance. Among methanogens, Methanosarcinaceae were most dominant. Relative to other family-level groups, salt stress induced a significant enrichment of transcripts related to the CO dehydrogenase/acetyl-coenzyme A synthase complex, methanogenesis, heat shock, ammonium uptake, and thermosomes, but the absolute abundance of methanosarcinal mRNA decreased. Most strikingly, the transcriptional activity of the Methanocellaceae was completely suppressed already at 300 mM NaCl. Apparently, the key taxonomic groups involved in the methanogenic breakdown of plant polymers significantly differ in their ability to cope with severe salt stress. Presumably, this different ability is directly linked to differences in their genetic potential and metabolic flexibility to reassign available energy resources for cellular adaptation to salt stress.

MiSeq HV4 16S rRNA gene analysis of bacterial community composition among the cave sediments of Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot

Caves in Mizoram, Northeast India, are potential hotspot diversity regions due to the historical significance of the formation of the Indo-Burman plateau and also because of their unexplored and unknown diversity. High-throughput paired end Illumina sequencing of the V4 region of 16S rRNA was performed to study the bacterial community of three caves situated in Champhai district of Mizoram, Northeast India. A total of 10,643 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (based on 97 % cutoff) comprising of 21 major and 21 candidate phyla with a sequencing depth of 1,140,013 were found in this study. The overall taxonomic profile obtained by the RDP classifier and Greengenes OTU database revealed high diversity within the bacterial communities. Communities were dominated by Planctomycetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, while members of Archaea were less varied and mostly comprising of Eukaryoarchea. Analysis revealed that Farpuk (CFP) cave sediment has low microbial diversity and is mainly dominated by Actinobacteria (80 % reads), whereas different bacterial communities were found in the caves of Murapuk (CMP) and Lamsialpuk (CLP). Analysis also revealed that a major portion of the identified OTUs was classified under rare biosphere. Importantly, all these caves recorded a high number of unclassified OTUs, which might represent new species. Further analysis with whole genome sequencing is needed to validate the unknown species as well as to determine their functional role.

Supporting community annotation and user collaboration in the integrated microbial genomes (IMG) system

BACKGROUND

The exponential growth of genomic data from next generation technologies renders traditional manual expert curation effort unsustainable. Many genomic systems have included community annotation tools to address the problem. Most of these systems adopted a "Wiki-based" approach to take advantage of existing wiki technologies, but encountered obstacles in issues such as usability, authorship recognition, information reliability and incentive for community participation.

RESULTS

Here, we present a different approach, relying on tightly integrated method rather than "Wiki-based" method, to support community annotation and user collaboration in the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system. The IMG approach allows users to use existing IMG data warehouse and analysis tools to add gene, pathway and biosynthetic cluster annotations, to analyze/reorganize contigs, genes and functions using workspace datasets, and to share private user annotations and workspace datasets with collaborators. We show that the annotation effort using IMG can be part of the research process to overcome the user incentive and authorship recognition problems thus fostering collaboration among domain experts. The usability and reliability issues are addressed by the integration of curated information and analysis tools in IMG, together with DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) expert review.

CONCLUSION

By incorporating annotation operations into IMG, we provide an integrated environment for users to perform deeper and extended data analysis and annotation in a single system that can lead to publications and community knowledge sharing as shown in the case studies.

Comparisons of diazotrophic communities in native and agricultural desert ecosystems reveal plants as important drivers in diversity

Diazotrophs provide the only biological source of fixed atmospheric nitrogen in the biosphere. Although they are the key player for plant-available nitrogen, less is known about their diversity and potential importance in arid ecosystems. We investigated the nitrogenase gene diversity in native and agricultural desert soil as well as within root-associated microbiota of medicinal plants grown in Egypt through the combination of nifH-specific qPCR, fingerprints, amplicon pyrosequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization–confocal laser scanning microscopy. Although the diazotrophic microbiota were characterized by generally high abundances and diversity, statistically significant differences were found between both soils, the different microhabitats, and between the investigated plants (Matricaria chamomilla L., Calendula officinalis L. and Solanum distichum Schumach. and Thonn.). We observed a considerable community shift from desert to agriculturally used soil that demonstrated a higher abundance and diversity in the agro-ecosystem. The endorhiza was characterized by lower abundances and only a subset of species when compared to the rhizosphere. While the microbiomes of the Asteraceae were similar and dominated by potential root-nodulating rhizobia acquired primarily from soil, the perennial S. distichum generally formed associations with free-living nitrogen fixers. These results underline the importance of diazotrophs in desert ecosystems and additionally identify plants as important drivers in functional gene pool diversity.

The diazotrophic microbiome of desert ecosystems is characterized by a high diversity and abundance and specific for each plant rhizosphere.

Response of a rice paddy soil methanogen to syntrophic growth as revealed by transcriptional analyses

Members of Methanocellales are widespread in paddy field soils and play the key role in methane production. These methanogens feature largely in these organisms’ adaptation to low H2 and syntrophic growth with anaerobic fatty acid oxidizers. The adaptive mechanisms, however, remain unknown. In the present study, we determined the transcripts of 21 genes involved in the key steps of methanogenesis and acetate assimilation of Methanocella conradii HZ254, a strain recently isolated from paddy field soil. M. conradii was grown in monoculture and syntrophically with Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum (a propionate syntroph) or Syntrophothermus lipocalidus (a butyrate syntroph). Comparison of the relative transcript abundances showed that three hydrogenase-encoding genes and all methanogenesis-related genes tested were upregulated in cocultures relative to monoculture. The genes encoding formylmethanofuran dehydrogenase (Fwd), heterodisulfide reductase (Hdr), and the membrane-bound energy-converting hydrogenase (Ech) were the most upregulated among the evaluated genes. The expression of the formate dehydrogenase (Fdh)-encoding gene also was significantly upregulated. In contrast, an acetate assimilation gene was downregulated in cocultures. The genes coding for Fwd, Hdr, and the D subunit of F420-nonreducing hydrogenase (Mvh) form a large predicted transcription unit; therefore, the Mvh/Hdr/Fwd complex, capable of mediating the electron bifurcation and connecting the first and last steps of methanogenesis, was predicted to be formed in M. conradii. We propose that Methanocella methanogens cope with low H2 and syntrophic growth by (i) stabilizing the Mvh/Hdr/Fwd complex and (ii) activating formatedependent methanogenesis.

Comparative genomics of three Methanocellales strains reveal novel taxonomic and metabolic features

Methanocellales represents a new order of methanogens, which is widespread in environments and plays specifically the important role in methane emissions from paddy fields. To gain more insights into Methanocellales, comparative genomic studies were performed among three Methanocellales strains through the same annotation pipeline. Genetic relationships among strains revealed by genome alignment, pan-genome reconstruction and comparison of amino average identity suggest that they should be classified in different genera. In addition, multiple copies of cell cycle regulator proteins were identified for the first time in Archaea. Core metabolisms were reconstructed, predicting certain unique and novel features for Methanocellales, including a set of methanogenesis genes potentially organized toward specialization in utilizing low concentrations of H2, a new route of disulfide reduction catalysed by a disulfide-reducing hydrogenase (Drh) complex phylogenetically related to sulfate-reducing prokaryotes, an oxidative tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, a sophisticated nitrogen uptake and regulation system as well as a versatile sulfur utilization system. These core metabolisms are largely conserved among the three strains, but differences in gene copy number and metabolic diversity are evident. The present study thus adds new dimensions to the unique ecophysiology of Methanocellales and offers a road map for further experimental characterization of this methanogen lineage.

Characterization of the frhAGB-encoding hydrogenase from a non-methanogenic hyperthermophilic archaeon

The F420-reducing hydrogenase has been known as a key enzyme in methanogenesis. Its homologs have been identified in non-methanogenic hyperthermophilic archaea, including Thermococcus onnurineus NA1, but neither physiological function nor biochemical properties have been reported to date. The enzyme of T. onnurineus NA1 was distinguished from those of other methanogens and the members of the family Desulfurobacteriaceae with respect to the phylogenetic distribution of the α and β subunits, organization of frhAGB genes and conservation of F420-coordinating residues. RT-qPCR and Western blot analyses revealed frhA gene is not silent but is expressed in T. onnurineus NA1 grown in the presence of sulfur, carbon monoxide, or formate. The trimeric enzyme complex was purified to homogeneity via affinity chromatography from T. onnurineus NA1 and exhibited catalytic activity toward the electron acceptors such as viologens and flavins but not the deazaflavin coenzyme F420. This is the first biochemical study on the function of the frhAGB-encoding enzyme from a non-methanogenic archaea.

Identification of methanogenic archaea in the hyporheic sediment of Sitka stream

Methanogenic archaea produce methane as a metabolic product under anoxic conditions and they play a crucial role in the global methane cycle. In this study molecular diversity of methanogenic archaea in the hyporheic sediment of the lowland stream Sitka (Olomouc, Czech Republic) was analyzed by PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing analysis of the methyl coenzyme M reductase alpha subunit (mcrA) gene. Sequencing analysis of 60 clones revealed 24 different mcrA phylotypes from hyporheic sedimentary layers to a depth of 50 cm. Phylotypes were affiliated with Methanomicrobiales, Methanosarcinales and Methanobacteriales orders. Only one phylotype remains unclassified. The majority of the phylotypes showed higher affiliation with uncultured methanogens than with known methanogenic species. The presence of relatively rich assemblage of methanogenic archaea confirmed that methanogens may be an important component of hyporheic microbial communities and may affect CH₄ cycling in rivers.

Diel cycle of methanogen mcrA transcripts in rice rhizosphere

Methanogens are known to inhabit not only the anaerobic bulk soil but also the rhizosphere of rice plants. The release of root exudates, a major carbon source for CH4 production in the rhizosphere, is closely coupled to plant photosynthesis. In the present study we hypothesized that the diel cycle of plant photosynthetic activity may shape the structure and function of methanogens in the rhizosphere of rice. We performed a field experiment to determine the diel dynamics of methanogen mcrA and their transcripts in the rhizosphere and bulk soil. The chemistry of NH4 (+) , NO3 (-) , SO4 (2-) and Fe(II) in the rice rhizosphere remained constant over a diel sampling. The mcrA copy number and their transcripts were greater in the rice rhizosphere compared with the bulk soil, indicating the enhanced activity of methanogens in the rhizosphere. The hydrogenotrophic Methanomicrobiales in particular increased in the rhizosphere whereas Methanosarcinaceae were more abundant in the bulk soil. Both the phylogenetic affiliation and copy numbers of methanogen mcrA in the rice rhizosphere did not display diel dynamics. The mcrA transcripts, however, significantly increased in the night compared with the daytime. The diel pattern of physical factors like temperature appeared not to affect the methanogen dynamics. The response of mcrA transcripts is probably due to the plant attributes, which release less O2 from roots in the night and hence stimulate the methanogen gene transcription and activity compared with the daytime.

Genome sequences published outside of Standards in Genomic Sciences, March-April 2012

The purpose of this table is to provide the community with a citable record of publications of ongoing genome sequencing projects that have led to a publication in the scientific literature. While our goal is to make the list complete, there is no guarantee that we may have omitted one or more publications appearing in this time frame. Readers and authors who wish to have publications added to subsequent versions of this list are invited to provide the bibliographic data for such references to the SIGS editorial office.

Methanocella conradii sp. nov., a thermophilic, obligate hydrogenotrophic methanogen, isolated from Chinese rice field soil

Background

Methanocellales contributes significantly to anthropogenic methane emissions that cause global warming, but few pure cultures for Methanocellales are available to permit subsequent laboratory studies (physiology, biochemistry, etc.).

Methodology/Principal Findings

By combining anaerobic culture and molecular techniques, a novel thermophilic methanogen, strain HZ254^T was isolated from a Chinese rice field soil located in Hangzhou, China. The phylogenetic analyses of both the 16S rRNA gene and mcrA gene (encoding the α subunit of methyl-coenzyme M reductase) confirmed its affiliation with Methanocellales, and Methanocella paludicola SANAE^T was the most closely related species. Cells were non-motile rods, albeit with a flagellum, 1.4–2.8 µm long and by 0.2–0.3 µm in width. They grew at 37–60°C (optimally at 55°C) and salinity of 0–5 g NaCl l⁻¹ (optimally at 0–1 g NaCl l⁻¹). The pH range for growth was 6.4–7.2 (optimum 6.8). Under the optimum growth condition, the doubling time was 6.5–7.8 h, which is the shortest ever observed in Methanocellales. Strain HZ254^T utilized H₂/CO₂ but not formate for growth and methane production. The DNA G+C content of this organism was 52.7 mol%. The sequence identities of 16S rRNA gene and mcrA gene between strain HZ254^T and SANAE^T were 95.0 and 87.5% respectively, and the genome based Average Nucleotide Identity value between them was 74.8%. These two strains differed in phenotypic features with regard to substrate utilization, possession of a flagellum, doubling time (under optimal conditions), NaCl and temperature ranges. Taking account of the phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, we propose strain HZ254^T as a representative of a novel species, Methanocella conradii sp. nov. The type strain is HZ254^T ( = CGMCC 1.5162^T = JCM 17849^T = DSM 24694^T).

Conclusions/Significance

Strain HZ254^T could potentially serve as an excellent laboratory model for studying Methanocellales due to its fast growth and consistent cultivability.