Activation energy of extracellular enzymes in soils from different biomes

Evaluating the industrial potential of naturally occurring proteases: A focus on kinetic and thermodynamic parameters

Thermodynamic and kinetic parameters, such as enthalpy, entropy, and free energy, are crucial in evaluating enzyme stability and activity. These parameters, including the free energy of activation (ΔG#) and the Gibbs free energy of inactivation (ΔG*), are important for predicting energy requirements and reaction rates. However, relying solely on these parameters is insufficient in selecting an enzyme for industrial processes. Numerous studies have explored the measurement of thermodynamic parameters for proteases. Unfortunately, some of the definitions and calculations of key parameters such as ΔG#, ΔG*, and substrate-binding free energy have contained significant errors. In this study, these mistakes have been addressed and corrected. Additionally, a new parameter called δ, defined as the difference between ΔG* and ΔG#, has been introduced for the first time. It is argued that δ provides a more reliable measure for predicting the potential industrial application of enzymes. The highest calculated value for δ was found to be 39.6 kJ·mol-1 at 55 °C. Furthermore, this study also presents a comprehensive collection and determination of all thermodynamic and kinetic parameters for proteases, providing researchers and professionals in the field with a valuable resource to compare and understand the relationships between these parameters and the industrial potential of enzymes.

Glutaraldehyde-pea protein grafted polysaccharide matrices for functioning as covalent immobilizers

Three polysaccharide matrices (κ-Carrageenan (Carr), gellan gum, and agar) were grafted via glutaraldehyde (GA) and pea protein (PP). The grafted matrices covalently immobilized β-D-galactosidase (β-GL). Nonetheless, grafted Carr acquired the topmost amount of immobilized β-GL (iβ-GL). Thus, its grafting process was honed via Box-Behnken design and was further characterized via FTIR, EDX, and SEM. The optimal GA-PP-Carr grafting comprised processing Carr beads with 10% PP dispersion of pH 1 and 25% GA solution. The optimal GA-PP-Carr beads acquired 11.44 Ug^-1 iβ-GL with 45.49% immobilization efficiency. Both free and GA-PP-Carr iβ-GLs manifested their topmost activity at the selfsame temperature and pH. Nonetheless, the β-GL K_m and V_max values were reduced following immobilization. The GA-PP-Carr iβ-GL manifested good operational stability. Moreover, its storage stability was incremented where 91.74% activity was offered after 35 storage days. The GA-PP-Carr iβ-GL was utilized to degrade lactose in whey permeate with 81.90% lactose degradation efficiency.

Production and characterization of a new detergent-stable keratinase expressed by Pedobacter sp. 3.14.7, a novel Antarctic psychrotolerant keratin-degrading bacterium

BACKGROUND

Antarctica is one of the harshest environments in the world. Despite this fact, it has been colonized by microorganisms, which had to develop different adaptations in order to survive. By studying their enzymes, we can harness these adaptations in order to use them in various industrial processes. Keratinases (E.C. 3.4.99.11) are characterized by their robustness in withstanding extreme conditions and, along with other enzymes, are commonly added to laundry detergents, which makes their study of industrial interest.

RESULTS

In this work, a novel keratinase producer, Pedobacter sp. 3.14.7 (MF 347939.1), isolated from Antarctic birds' nests, was identified. This psychrotolerant isolate displays a typical psychrotolerant growth pattern, with an optimal temperature of 20 °C (μmax=0.23 h^-1). After 238 h, maximum proteolytic (22.00 ± 1.17 U ml^-1) and keratinolytic (33.04 ± 1.09 U ml^-1) activities were achieved with a feather sample conversion of approximately 85%. The keratinase present in crude extract was characterized as a metalloprotease with a molecular weight of 25 kDa, stable in a wide range of pH, with an optimum pH of 7.5. Optimum temperature was 55 °C. Wash performance at 20 °C using this crude extract could remove completely blood stain from cotton cloth.

CONCLUSION

We report a new keratinolytic bacteria from maritime Antarctica. Among its biochemical characteristics, its stability in the presence of different detergents and bleaching agents and its wash performance showed promising results regarding its potential use as a laundry detergent additive.

Malaysian Virgin Soil Extracts as Natural Growth Enhancer for Targeted Green Microalgae Species

The microalgae-based industries are trending upwards, particularly as the feed ingredient for aquaculture. Therefore, a sustainable and reasonably priced source of nutrients to support the mass cultivation of microalgae is in great demand. The present study explored the feasibility of using extracts from virgin soil as natural growth-promoting nutrients for the cultivation of Nannochloropsis oculata, Nannochloropsis oceanica, and Chlorella sorokiniana. The extracts were obtained from Bera Lake Forest using five different treatment methods. The greatest retrieval of dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, and total dissolved phosphorus were observed with the autoclave treatment method at 121 °C twice, yielding a respective concentration of 336.56 mg/L, 13.40 mg/L, and 0.14 mg/L, respectively. The highest growth was recorded with Nannochloropsis oculata resulting in an optical density of 0.488 ± 0.009 (×103 cell mL−1), exhibiting 43% and 44% enhanced growth in comparison to Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorella sorokiniana, respectively. The specific growth rate (0.114 a ± 0.007 d−1) was the highest for Nannochloropsis oculata when the 24 h-extraction method was used, whereas the utilization of the autoclave 121 °C twice treatment method contributed to the highest specific growth of Nannochloropsis ocenica (0.069 a ± 0.003 d−1) and Chlorella sorokiniana (0.080 a ± 0.001 d−1). Collectively, these findings suggested that the addition of soil extracts which is sustainable and inexpensive promoted the growth of microalgae compared to the control system. A further study investigating the optimum culture conditions for enhanced microalgae growth will be carried out for the mass production of microalgae biomass.

Temperature and pH mediate stoichiometric constraints of organically derived soil nutrients

It remains unclear how warming will affect resource flows during soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition, in part due to uncertainty in how exoenzymes produced by microbes and roots will function. Rising temperatures can enhance the activity of most exoenzymes, but soil pH can impose limitations on their catalytic efficiency. The effects of temperature and pH on enzyme activity are often examined in environmental samples, but purified enzyme kinetics reveal fundamental attributes of enzymes' intrinsic temperature responses and how relative release of decay-liberated resources (their flow ratios) can change with environmental conditions. In this paper, we illuminate the principle that fundamental, biochemical limitations on SOM release of C, N, and P during decay, and differential exoenzymes' responses to the environment, can exert biosphere-scale significance on the stoichiometry of bioavailable soil resources. To that end, we combined previously published intrinsic temperature sensitivities of two hydrolytic enzymes that release C and N during decay with a novel data set characterizing the kinetics of a P-releasing enzyme (acid phosphatase) across an ecologically relevant pH gradient. We use these data to estimate potential change in the flow ratios derived from these three enzymes' activities (C:N, C:P, and N:P) at the global scale by the end of the century, based on temperature projections and soil pH distribution. Our results highlight how the temperature sensitivity of these hydrolytic enzymes and the influence of pH on that sensitivity can govern the relative availability of bioavailable resources derived from these enzymes. The work illuminates the utility of weaving well-defined kinetic constraints of microbes' exoenzymes into models that incorporate changing SOM inputs and composition, nutrient availability, and microbial functioning into their efforts to project terrestrial ecosystem functioning in a changing climate.

Kinetic Properties of Microbial Exoenzymes Vary With Soil Depth but Have Similar Temperature Sensitivities Through the Soil Profile

Current knowledge of the mechanisms driving soil organic matter (SOM) turnover and responses to warming is mainly limited to surface soils, although over 50% of global soil carbon is contained in subsoils. Deep soils have different physicochemical properties, nutrient inputs, and microbiomes, which may harbor distinct functional traits and lead to different SOM dynamics and temperature responses. We hypothesized that kinetic and thermal properties of soil exoenzymes, which mediate SOM depolymerization, vary with soil depth, reflecting microbial adaptation to distinct substrate and temperature regimes. We determined the Michaelis-Menten (MM) kinetics of three ubiquitous enzymes involved in carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) acquisition at six soil depths down to 90 cm at a temperate forest, and their temperature sensitivity based on Arrhenius/Q₁₀ and Macromolecular Rate Theory (MMRT) models over six temperatures between 4–50°C. Maximal enzyme velocity (V_max) decreased strongly with depth for all enzymes, both on a dry soil mass and a microbial biomass C basis, whereas their affinities increased, indicating adaptation to lower substrate availability. Surprisingly, microbial biomass-specific catalytic efficiencies also decreased with depth, except for the P-acquiring enzyme, indicating distinct nutrient demands at depth relative to microbial abundance. These results suggested that deep soil microbiomes encode enzymes with intrinsically lower turnover and/or produce less enzymes per cell, reflecting distinct life strategies. The relative kinetics between different enzymes also varied with depth, suggesting an increase in relative P demand with depth, or that phosphatases may be involved in C acquisition. V_max and catalytic efficiency increased consistently with temperature for all enzymes, leading to overall higher SOM-decomposition potential, but enzyme temperature sensitivity was similar at all depths and between enzymes, based on both Arrhenius/Q₁₀ and MMRT models. In a few cases, however, temperature affected differently the kinetic properties of distinct enzymes at discrete depths, suggesting that it may alter the relative depolymerization of different compounds. We show that soil exoenzyme kinetics may reflect intrinsic traits of microbiomes adapted to distinct soil depths, although their temperature sensitivity is remarkably uniform. These results improve our understanding of critical mechanisms underlying SOM dynamics and responses to changing temperatures through the soil profile.

Soil enzyme responses to land use change in the tropical rainforest of the Colombian Amazon region

Soil enzymes mediate key processes and functions of the soils, such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Here, we studied the activity of five extracellular soil enzymes involved in the C, N, and P-mineralizing process in both litter and surface soil layer of rainforest in the northwest region of the Colombian Amazon and the response of those soil enzymes to land use change. The experimental study design included six study sites for comparing long-term pasture systems to native forest and regeneration practices after pasture, within the main landscapes of the region, mountain and hill landscapes separately. Results showed considerable enzymatic activity in the litter layer of the forest, highlighting the vital role of this compartment in the nutrient cycling of low fertility soils from tropical regions. With the land use transition to pastures, changes in soil enzymatic activities were driven by the management of pastures, with SOC and N losses and reduced absolute activity of soil enzymes in long-term pastures under continuous grazing (25 years). However, the enzyme activities expressed per unit of SOC did not show changes in C and N-acquiring enzymes, suggesting a higher mineralization potential in pastures. Enzymatic stoichiometry analysis indicated a microbial P limitation that could lead to a high catabolic activity with a potential increase in the use of SOC by microbial communities in the search for P, thus affecting soil C sequestration, soil quality and the provision of soil-related ecosystem services.

The effect of soil depth on temperature sensitivity of extracellular enzyme activity decreased with elevation: Evidence from mountain grassland belts

Temperature sensitivity of soil extracellular enzyme activity (EEA), indicated by the temperature coefficient Q₁₀, is used to predict the effect of temperature on soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling. At present, we lack understanding of elevation and soil depth variations in Q₁₀ of EEA. Here, we measured the Q₁₀ of three enzymes participating in C- (β-1,4-glucosidase, BG), N- (leucine aminopeptidase, LAP), and P- (acid phosphatase, AP) cycling along a vertical grassland belt of China. Soils from five depths (0-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-60, and 60-100 cm) were sampled from three elevations (low, <1000 m; middle, 1000-2000 m; high, 2000-3000 m) and incubated at four temperatures (5, 15, 25, 35 °C). The average Q₁₀ of soil EEA ranged from 0.97 to 1.11 and the Q₁₀ of LAP was higher than that of BG and AP. Generally, the Q₁₀ of BG and LAP both increased from low to middle elevation and then decreased, while the Q₁₀ of AP was stable. Moreover, the effect of soil depth on Q₁₀ of EEA was weakened from low elevation to high elevation, and the factors driving Q₁₀ of soil EEA changed with elevation. This study improved the understanding of the vertical pattern of Q₁₀ of soil EEA in water-limited ecosystems, and highlighted that elevation could regulate the effect of soil depth on Q₁₀ of EEA.

Assessment of Aqueous Extraction Methods on Extractable Organic Matter and Hydrophobic/Hydrophilic Fractions of Virgin Forest Soils

The assessment of water-extractable organic matter using an autoclave can provide useful information on physical, chemical, and biological changes within the soil. The present study used virgin forest soils from Chini Forest Reserve, Langkawi Island, and Kenyir Forest Reserve (Malaysia), extracted using different extraction methods. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), and ammonium-nitrate content were higher in the autoclave treatments, up to 3.0, 1.3, 1.2, and 1.4 times more than by natural extraction (extracted for 24 h at room temperature). Overall, the highest extractable DOC, TDN, TDP, ammonium and nitrate could be seen under autoclaved conditions 121 °C 2×, up to 146.74 mg C/L, 8.97 mg N/L, 0.23 mg P/L, 5.43 mg N mg/L and 3.47 N mg/L, respectively. The soil extracts became slightly acidic with a higher temperature and longer duration. Similar trends were observed in the humic and nonhumic substances, where different types of soil extract treatments influenced the concentrations of the fractions. Different soil extraction methods can provide further details, thus widening the application of soil extracts, especially in microbes.

Kinetics Growth and Recovery of Valuable Nutrients from Selangor Peat Swamp and Pristine Forest Soils Using Different Extraction Methods as Potential Microalgae Growth Enhancers

Soil extracts are useful nutrients to enhance the growth of microalgae. Therefore, the present study attempts for the use of virgin soils from Peninsular Malaysia as growth enhancer. Soils collected from Raja Musa Forest Reserve (RMFR) and Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve (AHFR) were treated using different extraction methods. The total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in the autoclave methods were relatively higher than natural extraction with up to 132.0 mg N/L, 10.7 mg P/L, and 2629 mg C/L, respectively for RMFR. The results of TDN, TDP, and DOC suggested that the best extraction methods are autoclaved at 121 °C twice with increasing 87%, 84%, and 95%, respectively. Chlorella vulgaris TRG 4C dominated the growth at 121 °C twice extraction method in the RMRF and AHRF samples, with increasing 54.3% and 14%, respectively. The specific growth rate (µ) of both microalgae were relatively higher, 0.23 d^-1 in the Ayer Hitam Soil. This extract served well as a microalgal growth promoter, reducing the cost and the needs for synthetic medium. Mass production of microalgae as aquatic feed will be attempted eventually. The high recovery rate of nutrients has a huge potential to serve as a growth promoter for microalgae.

Manothermosonication (MTS) treatment by a continuous-flow system: Effects on the degradation kinetics and microstructural characteristics of citrus pectin

Modified pectin (MP) was reported to have increased bioactivities compared with the original one. However, traditional modification methods such as using an acidic solvent with heating are not only costly but causing severe pollution as well. In this study, manothermosonication (MTS) with a continuous-flow system was utilized to modify citrus pectin. The citrus pectin (5 g/L) treated by MTS (3.23 W/mL, 400 kPa, 45 °C) exhibited lower molecular weight (Mw, 248.17 kDa) and PDI (2.76). The pectin treated by MTS (400 KPa, 45 °C, 5 min) exhibited a narrower Mw distribution and lowered more Mw (48.8%) than the ultrasound(US)-treated (23.8%). Pectin degradation data fitted well to kinetic model of 1/Mw_t -1/Mw₀ = kt (45-65 °C). A lower activation energy of 13.33 kJ/mol was observed in the MTS treatment compared with the US-treated (16.38 kJ/mol). The MTS-treated pectin lowered the degree of methoxylation (DM), mol% of rhamnose and galacturonic acid (GalA) while increased mol% of galactose (Gal), xylose (Xyl), and arabinose (Ara). The ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance showed that MTS could not alter the primary structures of citrus pectin. However, an elevated (Gal + Ara)/Rha and reduced GalA/(Rha + Ara + Gal + Xyl) molar ratios after MTS suggested that MTS resulted in more significant degradation on the main chains and less on the side chains of pectin, in agreement with the result of atomic force microscope. Moreover, the MTS-treated pectin exhibited a higher 1,1-diphenyl-2picryl hydrazyl radical scavenging capacity compared with original pectin.

The Legacy Effects of Winter Climate on Microbial Functioning After Snowmelt in a Subarctic Tundra

Warming-induced increases in microbial CO₂ release in northern tundra may positively feedback to climate change. However, shifts in microbial extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) may alter the impacts of warming over the longer term. We investigated the in situ effects of 3 years of winter warming in combination with the in vitro effects of a rapid warming (6 days) on microbial CO₂ release and EEAs in a subarctic tundra heath after snowmelt in spring. Winter warming did not change microbial CO₂ release at ambient (10 °C) or at rapidly increased temperatures, i.e., a warm spell (18 °C) but induced changes (P < 0.1) in the Q₁₀ of microbial respiration and an oxidative EEA. Thus, although warmer winters may induce legacy effects in microbial temperature acclimation, we found no evidence for changes in potential carbon mineralization after spring thaw.

A meta-analysis of temperature sensitivity as a microbial trait

Traits-based approaches in microbial ecology provide a valuable way to abstract organismal interaction with the environment and to generate hypotheses about community function. Using macromolecular rate theory (MMRT), we recently identified that temperature sensitivity can be characterized as a distinct microbial trait. As temperature is fundamental in controlling biological reactions, variation in temperature sensitivity across communities, organisms, and processes has the potential to vastly improve understanding of microbial response to climate change. These microbial temperature sensitivity traits include the heat capacity ( ΔCP‡ ), temperature optimum (T_opt ), and point of maximum temperature sensitivity (TS_max ), each of which provide unique insights about organismal response to changes in temperature. In this meta-analysis, we analyzed the distribution of these temperature sensitivity traits from bacteria, fungi, and mixed communities across a variety of biological systems (e.g., soils, oceans, foods, wastewater treatment plants) in order to identify commonalities in temperature responses across these diverse organisms and reaction rates. Our analysis of temperature sensitivity traits from over 350 temperature response curves reveals a wide distribution of temperature sensitivity traits, with T_opt and TS_max well within biological relevant temperatures. We find that traits vary significantly depending on organism type, microbial diversity, source environment, and biological process, with higher temperature sensitivity found in fungi than bacteria and in less diverse systems. Carbon dioxide production was found to be less temperature sensitive than denitrification, suggesting that changes in temperature will have a potentially larger impact on nitrogen-related processes. As climate changes, these results have important implications for basic understanding of the temperature sensitivity of biological reactions and for ecological understanding of species' trait distributions, as well as for improved treatment of temperature sensitivity in models.

Biocatalytic action of proteases in ionic liquids: Improvements on their enzymatic activity, thermal stability and kinetic parameters

This study evaluated the effect of the addition of the following ionic liquids (IL): choline chloride (CC), tetramethylammonium bromide (TB) and 1‑ethyl‑3‑methylimidazolium bromide (EM), on some biochemical properties including enzymatic activity and different kinetic parameters of commercial proteases. The enzyme-IL combinations that showed the highest increases in enzyme activities were as follows: CC (0.5mM) and Neutrase® 0.8L; CC (5mM) and Flavourzyme® 500L; TB (2000mM) and Alcalase® 2.4L, with relative increases of 20, 15 and 150% in protease activities, respectively, compared to the control assays. The combination TB and Alcalase® 2.4L showed a reduction of 50% of the activation energy (E_a), an increase of the relation V_max/K_m of 35% and a 16-fold rise in the values of t_1/2, and D. Neutrase® 0.8L combined with CC showed an increase of 20% in the relation V_max/K_m. The combination Flavourzyme® 500L and CC presented a 20% higher value of the relation V_max/K_m and a 2-fold increase in the values of t_1/2 and D compared to the control assay. In summary, the most positive effects observed in this study included proteases with improved activity and stability properties and a greater affinity for the substrate.

Imbalanced nutrient recycling in a warmer ocean driven by differential response of extracellular enzymatic activities

Ocean oligotrophication concurrent with warming weakens the capacity of marine primary producers to support marine food webs and act as a CO₂ sink, and is believed to result from reduced nutrient inputs associated to the stabilization of the thermocline. However, nutrient supply in the oligotrophic ocean is largely dependent on the recycling of organic matter. This involves hydrolytic processes catalyzed by extracellular enzymes released by bacteria, which temperature dependence has not yet been evaluated. Here, we report a global assessment of the temperature-sensitivity, as represented by the activation energies (E_a ), of extracellular β-glucosidase (βG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) enzymatic activities, which enable the uptake by bacteria of substrates rich in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, respectively. These E_a were calculated from two different approaches, temperature experimental manipulations and a space-for-time substitution approach, which generated congruent results. The three activities showed contrasting E_a in the subtropical and tropical ocean, with βG increasing the fastest with warming, followed by LAP, while AP showed the smallest increase. The estimated activation energies predict that the hydrolysis products under projected warming scenarios will have higher C:N, C:P and N:P molar ratios than those currently generated, and suggest that the warming of oceanic surface waters leads to a decline in the nutrient supply to the microbial heterotrophic community relative to that of carbon, particularly so for phosphorus, slowing down nutrient recycling and contributing to further ocean oligotrophication.

Temperature Sensitivity as a Microbial Trait Using Parameters from Macromolecular Rate Theory

The activity of soil microbial extracellular enzymes is strongly controlled by temperature, yet the degree to which temperature sensitivity varies by microbe and enzyme type is unclear. Such information would allow soil microbial enzymes to be incorporated in a traits-based framework to improve prediction of ecosystem response to global change. If temperature sensitivity varies for specific soil enzymes, then determining the underlying causes of variation in temperature sensitivity of these enzymes will provide fundamental insights for predicting nutrient dynamics belowground. In this study, we characterized how both microbial taxonomic variation as well as substrate type affects temperature sensitivity. We measured β-glucosidase, leucine aminopeptidase, and phosphatase activities at six temperatures: 4, 11, 25, 35, 45, and 60°C, for seven different soil microbial isolates. To calculate temperature sensitivity, we employed two models, Arrhenius, which predicts an exponential increase in reaction rate with temperature, and Macromolecular Rate Theory (MMRT), which predicts rate to peak and then decline as temperature increases. We found MMRT provided a more accurate fit and allowed for more nuanced interpretation of temperature sensitivity in all of the enzyme × isolate combinations tested. Our results revealed that both the enzyme type and soil isolate type explain variation in parameters associated with temperature sensitivity. Because we found temperature sensitivity to be an inherent and variable property of an enzyme, we argue that it can be incorporated as a microbial functional trait, but only when using the MMRT definition of temperature sensitivity. We show that the Arrhenius metrics of temperature sensitivity are overly sensitive to test conditions, with activation energy changing depending on the temperature range it was calculated within. Thus, we propose the use of the MMRT definition of temperature sensitivity for accurate interpretation of temperature sensitivity of soil microbial enzymes.

Properties and structures of commercial polygalacturonase with ultrasound treatment: role of ultrasound in enzyme activation

This work investigated the effect of ultrasound on the enzymatic properties and structures of polygalacturonase for the first time.

Minireactor-based high-throughput temperature profiling for the optimization of microbial and enzymatic processes

Background

Bioprocesses depend on a number of different operating parameters and temperature is one of the most important ones. Unfortunately, systems for rapid determination of temperature dependent reaction kinetics are rare. Obviously, there is a need for a high-throughput screening procedure of temperature dependent process behavior. Even though, well equipped micro-bioreactors are a promising approach sufficient temperature control is quite challenging and rather complex.

Results

In this work a unique system is presented combining an optical on-line monitoring device with a customized temperature control unit for 96 well microtiter plates. By exposing microtiter plates to specific temperature profiles, high-throughput temperature optimization for microbial and enzymatic systems in a micro-scale of 200 μL is realized. For single well resolved temperature measurement fluorescence thermometry was used, combining the fluorescent dyes Rhodamin B and Rhodamin 110. The real time monitoring of the microbial and enzymatic reactions provides extensive data output. To evaluate this novel system the temperature optima for Escherichia coli and Kluyveromyces lactis regarding growth and recombinant protein production were determined. Furthermore, the commercial cellulase mixture Celluclast as a representative for enzymes was investigated applying a fluorescent activity assay.

Conclusion

Microtiter plate-based high-throughput temperature profiling is a convenient tool for characterizing temperature dependent reaction processes. It allows the evaluation of numerous conditions, e.g. microorganisms, enzymes, media, and others, in a short time. The simple temperature control combined with a commercial on-line monitoring device makes it a user friendly system.

Effects of warming on stream biofilm organic matter use capabilities

The understanding of ecosystem responses to changing environmental conditions is becoming increasingly relevant in the context of global warming. Microbial biofilm communities in streams play a key role in organic matter cycling which might be modulated by shifts in flowing water temperature. In this study, we performed an experiment at the Candal stream (Portugal) longitudinally divided into two reaches: a control half and an experimental half where water temperature was 3 °C above that of the basal stream water. Biofilm colonization was monitored during 42 days in the two stream halves. Changes in biofilm function (extracellular enzyme activities and carbon substrate utilization profiles) as well as chlorophyll a and prokaryote densities were analyzed. The biofilm in the experimental half showed a higher capacity to decompose cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and peptidic compounds. Total leucine-aminopeptidase, cellobiohydrolase and β-xylosidase showed a respective 93, 66, and 61% increase in activity over the control; much higher than would be predicted by only the direct temperature physical effect. In contrast, phosphatase and lipase activity showed the lowest sensitivity to temperature. The biofilms from the experimental half also showed a distinct functional fingerprint and higher carbon usage diversity and richness, especially due to a wider use of polymers and carbohydrates. The changes in the biofilm functional capabilities might be indirectly affected by the higher prokaryote and chlorophyll density measured in the biofilm of the experimental half. The present study provides evidence that a realistic stream temperature increase by 3 °C changes the biofilm metabolism to a greater decomposition of polymeric complex compounds and peptides but lower decomposition of lipids. This might affect stream organic matter cycling and the transfer of carbon to higher trophic levels.

Microbial community stratification linked to utilization of carbohydrates and phosphorus limitation in a boreal peatland at Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota, USA

This study investigated the abundance, distribution, and composition of microbial communities at the watershed scale in a boreal peatland within the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF), Minnesota, USA. Through a close coupling of next-generation sequencing, biogeochemistry, and advanced analytical chemistry, a biogeochemical hot spot was revealed in the mesotelm (30- to 50-cm depth) as a pronounced shift in microbial community composition in parallel with elevated peat decomposition. The relative abundance of Acidobacteria and the Syntrophobacteraceae, including known hydrocarbon-utilizing genera, was positively correlated with carbohydrate and organic acid content, showing a maximum in the mesotelm. The abundance of Archaea (primarily crenarchaeal groups 1.1c and 1.3) increased with depth, reaching up to 60% of total small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences in the deep peat below the 75-cm depth. Stable isotope geochemistry and potential rates of methane production paralleled vertical changes in methanogen community composition to indicate a predominance of acetoclastic methanogenesis mediated by the Methanosarcinales in the mesotelm, while hydrogen-utilizing methanogens predominated in the deeper catotelm. RNA-derived pyrosequence libraries corroborated DNA sequence data to indicate that the above-mentioned microbial groups are metabolically active in the mid-depth zone. Fungi showed a maximum in rRNA gene abundance above the 30-cm depth, which comprised only an average of 0.1% of total bacterial and archaeal rRNA gene abundance, indicating prokaryotic dominance. Ratios of C to P enzyme activities approached 0.5 at the acrotelm and catotelm, indicating phosphorus limitation. In contrast, P limitation pressure appeared to be relieved in the mesotelm, likely due to P solubilization by microbial production of organic acids and C-P lyases. Based on path analysis and the modeling of community spatial turnover, we hypothesize that P limitation outweighs N limitation at MEF, and microbial communities are structured by the dominant shrub, Chamaedaphne calyculata, which may act as a carbon source for major consumers in the peatland.