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Peng L, Jia M, Li S, Wang X, Liang C, Xu Y. Developing antibiotics-based strategies to efficiently enrich ammonia-oxidizing archaea from wastewater treatment plants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 923:171479. [PMID: 38458444 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171479] [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: 01/03/2024] [Revised: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
The effects of five antibiotics (i.e., ampicillin, streptomycin, carbenicillin, kanamycin and tetracycline) on ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) enrichment from anoxic activated sludge were investigated. The combined use of five antibiotics during 90-day cultivation could selectively inhibit nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) with AOA unaffected, as evidenced by the nitrite accumulation ratio of 100 % and the proportion of AOA in ammonia-oxidizing microbes over 91 %. The alternative use of five antibiotics was the optimal approach to screening for AOA during 348-day cultivation, which inhibited AOB growth at a level equivalent to the combined use of five antibiotics (the AOB-amoA gene decreased by over 99.90 %), further promoted AOA abundance (the much higher AOA-amoA to AOB-amoA gene copy number ratio (1453.30) than that in the groups with the combined use of five antibiotics (192.94)), eliminated bacterial adaptation to antibiotics and reduced antibiotic-resistant bacteria to form Nitrocosmicus-dominant community (42.35 % in abundance).
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Affiliation(s)
- Lai Peng
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Mengwen Jia
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shengjun Li
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China.
| | - Xi Wang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Chuanzhou Liang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yifeng Xu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
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2
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Fujita H, Yoshida S, Suzuki K, Toju H. Soil prokaryotic and fungal biome structures associated with crop disease status across the Japan Archipelago. mSphere 2024; 9:e0080323. [PMID: 38567970 PMCID: PMC11036807 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00803-23] [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: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Archaea, bacteria, and fungi in the soil are increasingly recognized as determinants of agricultural productivity and sustainability. A crucial step for exploring soil microbiomes with important ecosystem functions is to perform statistical analyses on the potential relationship between microbiome structure and functions based on comparisons of hundreds or thousands of environmental samples collected across broad geographic ranges. In this study, we integrated agricultural field metadata with microbial community analyses by targeting 2,903 bulk soil samples collected along a latitudinal gradient from cool-temperate to subtropical regions in Japan (26.1-42.8 °N). The data involving 632 archaeal, 26,868 bacterial, and 4,889 fungal operational taxonomic units detected across the fields of 19 crop plant species allowed us to conduct statistical analyses (permutational analyses of variance, generalized linear mixed models, randomization analyses, and network analyses) on the relationship among edaphic factors, microbiome compositions, and crop disease prevalence. We then examined whether the diverse microbes form species sets varying in potential ecological impacts on crop plants. A network analysis suggested that the observed prokaryotes and fungi were classified into several species sets (network modules), which differed substantially in association with crop disease prevalence. Within the network of microbe-to-microbe coexistence, ecologically diverse microbes, such as an ammonium-oxidizing archaeon, an antibiotics-producing bacterium, and a potentially mycoparasitic fungus, were inferred to play key roles in shifts between crop-disease-promotive and crop-disease-suppressive states of soil microbiomes. The bird's-eye view of soil microbiome structure will provide a basis for designing and managing agroecosystems with high disease-suppressive functions.IMPORTANCEUnderstanding how microbiome structure and functions are organized in soil ecosystems is one of the major challenges in both basic ecology and applied microbiology. Given the ongoing worldwide degradation of agroecosystems, building frameworks for exploring structural diversity and functional profiles of soil microbiomes is an essential task. Our study provides an overview of cropland microbiome states in light of potential crop-disease-suppressive functions. The large data set allowed us to explore highly functional species sets that may be stably managed in agroecosystems. Furthermore, an analysis of network architecture highlighted species that are potentially used to cause shifts from disease-prevalent states of agroecosystems to disease-suppressive states. By extending the approach of comparative analyses toward broader geographic ranges and diverse agricultural practices, agroecosystem with maximized biological functions will be further explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroaki Fujita
- Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, Japan
| | - Shigenobu Yoshida
- Institute for Plant Protection, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Kenta Suzuki
- Integrated Bioresource Information Division, BioResource Research Center, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Hirokazu Toju
- Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, Japan
- Center for Living Systems Information Science (CeLiSIS), Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Laboratory of Ecosystems and Coevolution, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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3
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Wang XW, Tan X, Dang CC, Lu Y, Xie GJ, Liu BF. Thermophilic microorganisms involved in the nitrogen cycle in thermal environments: Advances and prospects. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 896:165259. [PMID: 37400035 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165259] [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: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Thermophilic microorganisms mediated significant element cycles and material conversion in the early Earth as well as mediating current thermal environments. Over the past few years, versatile microbial communities that drive the nitrogen cycle have been identified in thermal environments. Understanding the microbial-mediated nitrogen cycling processes in these thermal environments has important implications for the cultivation and application of thermal environment microorganisms as well as for exploring the global nitrogen cycle. This work provides a comprehensive review of different thermophilic nitrogen-cycling microorganisms and processes, which are described in detail according to several categories, including nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, anaerobic ammonium oxidation, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium. In particular, we assess the environmental significance and potential applications of thermophilic nitrogen-cycling microorganisms, and highlight knowledge gaps and future research opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Xin Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Cheng-Cheng Dang
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
| | - Yang Lu
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Guo-Jun Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
| | - Bing-Feng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
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Hodgskiss LH, Melcher M, Kerou M, Chen W, Ponce-Toledo RI, Savvides SN, Wienkoop S, Hartl M, Schleper C. Unexpected complexity of the ammonia monooxygenase in archaea. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023; 17:588-599. [PMID: 36721060 PMCID: PMC10030591 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01367-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Ammonia oxidation, as the first step of nitrification, constitutes a critical process in the global nitrogen cycle. However, fundamental knowledge of its key enzyme, the copper-dependent ammonia monooxygenase, is lacking, in particular for the environmentally abundant ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). Here the structure of the enzyme is investigated by blue-native gel electrophoresis and proteomics from native membrane complexes of two AOA. Besides the known AmoABC subunits and the earlier predicted AmoX, two new protein subunits, AmoY and AmoZ, were identified. They are unique to AOA, highly conserved and co-regulated, and their genes are linked to other AMO subunit genes in streamlined AOA genomes. Modeling and in-gel cross-link approaches support an overall protomer structure similar to the distantly related bacterial particulate methane monooxygenase but also reveals clear differences in extracellular domains of the enzyme. These data open avenues for further structure-function studies of this ecologically important nitrification complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan H Hodgskiss
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Melcher
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Melina Kerou
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Weiqiang Chen
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Max Perutz Labs, Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
| | - Rafael I Ponce-Toledo
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Savvas N Savvides
- Unit for Structural Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Stefanie Wienkoop
- Molecular Systems Biology Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Hartl
- Mass Spectrometry Facility, Max Perutz Labs, Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christa Schleper
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Li D, Ren Z, Zhou Y, Jiang L, Zheng M, Liu G. Comammox Nitrospira and Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Are Dominant Ammonia Oxidizers in Sediments of an Acid Mine Lake Containing High Ammonium Concentrations. Appl Environ Microbiol 2023; 89:e0004723. [PMID: 36912626 PMCID: PMC10056971 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00047-23] [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: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Exploring nitrifiers in extreme environments is vital to expanding our understanding of nitrogen cycle and microbial diversity. This study presents that complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) Nitrospira, together with acidophilic ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), dominate in the nitrifying guild in sediments of an acid mine lake (AML). The lake water was characterized by acidic pH below 5 with a high ammonium concentration of 175 mg-N/liter, which is rare on the earth. Nitrification was active in sediments with a maximum nitrate production potential of 70.5 μg-N/(g-dry weight [dw] day) for mixed sediments. Quantitative PCR assays determined that in AML sediments, comammox Nitrospira and AOA amoA genes had relative abundances of 52% and 41%, respectively, among the total amoA genes. Further assays with 16S rRNA and amoA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomics confirmed their dominance and revealed that the comammox Nitrospira found in sediments belonged to comammox Nitrospira clade A.2. Metagenomic binning retrieved a metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) of the comammox Nitrospira from sediments (completeness = 96.76%), and phylogenomic analysis suggested that it was a novel comammox Nitrospira. Comparative genomic investigation revealed that this comammox Nitrospira contained diverse metal resistance genes and an acidophile-affiliated F-type ATPase. Moreover, it had a more diverse genomic characteristic on nitrogen metabolism than the AOA in sediments and canonical AOB did. The results suggest that comammox Nitrospira is a versatile nitrifier that can adapt to acidic environments even with high ammonium concentrations. IMPORTANCE Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) was previously considered the sole dominant ammonia oxidizer in acidic environments. This study, however, found that complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) Nitrospira was also a dominant ammonia oxidizer in the sediments of an acidic mine lake, which had an acidic pH < 5 and a high ammonium concentration of 175 mg-N/liter. In combination with average nucleotide identity analysis, phylogenomic analysis suggested it is a novel strain of comammox Nitrospira. Moreover, the adaption of comammox Nitrospira to the acidic lake had been comprehensively investigated based on genome-centric metagenomic approaches. The outcomes of this study significantly expand our understanding of the diversity and adaptability of ammonia oxidizers in the acidic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deyong Li
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Zhichang Ren
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Yangqi Zhou
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Lugao Jiang
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Guoqiang Liu
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
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6
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Han P, Rios-Miguel AB, Tang X, Yu Y, Zhou LJ, Hou L, Liu M, Sun D, Jetten MSM, Welte CU, Men Y, Lücker S. Benzimidazole fungicide biotransformation by comammox Nitrospira bacteria: Transformation pathways and associated proteomic responses. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023; 445:130558. [PMID: 36495641 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Benzimidazole fungicides are frequently detected in aquatic environments and pose a serious health risk. Here, we investigated the metabolic capacity of the recently discovered complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira inopinata and kreftii to transform a representative set of benzimidazole fungicides (i.e., benzimidazole, albendazole, carbendazim, fuberidazole, and thiabendazole). Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea, as well as the canonical nitrite-oxidizing Nitrospira exhibited no or minor biotransformation activity towards all the five benzimidazole fungicides. In contrast, the investigated comammox bacteria actively transformed all the five benzimidazole fungicides, except for thiabendazole. The identified transformation products indicated hydroxylation, S-oxidation, and glycosylation as the major biotransformation pathways of benzimidazole fungicides. We speculated that these reactions were catalyzed by comammox-specific ammonia monooxygenase, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and glycosylases, respectively. Interestingly, the exposure to albendazole enhanced the expression of the antibiotic resistance gene acrB of Nitrospira inopinata, suggesting that some benzimidazole fungicides could act as environmental stressors that trigger cellular defense mechanisms. Altogether, this study demonstrated the distinct substrate specificity of comammox bacteria towards benzimidazole fungicides and implies their significant roles in the biotransformation of these fungicides in nitrifying environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
| | - Ana B Rios-Miguel
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Xiufeng Tang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Yaochun Yu
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
| | - Li-Jun Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
| | - Lijun Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Dongyao Sun
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; School of Geography Science and Geomatics Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China
| | - Mike S M Jetten
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Cornelia U Welte
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Yujie Men
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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7
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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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8
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Ren M, Wang J. Phylogenetic divergence and adaptation of Nitrososphaeria across lake depths and freshwater ecosystems. THE ISME JOURNAL 2022; 16:1491-1501. [PMID: 35091647 PMCID: PMC9123079 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01199-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Thaumarchaeota (now the class Nitrososphaeria in the phylum Thermoproteota in GTDB taxonomy) are abundant across marine and soil habitats; however, their genomic diversity and evolutionary history in freshwater environments remain elusive. Here, we reconstructed 17 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes of Nitrososphaeria from a deep lake and two great rivers, and compared all available genomes between freshwater and marine habitats regarding their phylogenetic positions, relative abundance, and genomic content. We found that freshwater Nitrososphaeria were dominated by the family Nitrosopumilaceae and could be grouped into three distinct clades closely related to the genera Nitrosopumilus, Nitrosoarchaeum, and Nitrosotenuis. The Nitrosopumilus-like clade was exclusively from deep lakes, while the Nitrosoarchaeum-like clade was dominated by species from deep lakes and rivers, and the Nitrosotenuis-like clade was mainly from rivers, deep lakes, and estuaries. Interestingly, there was vertical niche separation between two clades in deep lakes, showing that the Nitrosopumilus-like species dominated shallow layers, whereas the relative abundance of the Nitrosoarchaeum-like clade increased toward deep waters. Phylogenetic clustering patterns in the Nitrosopumilaceae supported at least one freshwater-to-marine and two marine-to-freshwater transitions, the former of which refined the potential terrestrial-to-marine evolutionary path as previously proposed. The occurrence of the two marine-to-freshwater transitions were accompanied by horizontal transfer of the genes involved in nutrition regulation, osmoregulation, and cell motility during their colonization to freshwater habitats. Specifically, the Nitrosopumilus-like clade showed losses of genes encoding flagella assembly and ion transport, whereas the Nitrosoarchaeum-like clade had losses of intact genes involved in urea uptake and utilization and gains of genes encoding osmolarity-mediated mechanosensitive channels. Collectively, our results reveal for the first time the high genomic diversity of the class Nitrososphaeria across freshwater ecosystems and provide novel insights into their adaptive mechanisms and evolutionary histories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minglei Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
| | - Jianjun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
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9
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Reji L, Cardarelli EL, Boye K, Bargar JR, Francis CA. Diverse ecophysiological adaptations of subsurface Thaumarchaeota in floodplain sediments revealed through genome-resolved metagenomics. THE ISME JOURNAL 2022; 16:1140-1152. [PMID: 34873295 PMCID: PMC8940955 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-01167-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The terrestrial subsurface microbiome contains vastly underexplored phylogenetic diversity and metabolic novelty, with critical implications for global biogeochemical cycling. Among the key microbial inhabitants of subsurface soils and sediments are Thaumarchaeota, an archaeal phylum that encompasses ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) as well as non-ammonia-oxidizing basal lineages. Thaumarchaeal ecology in terrestrial systems has been extensively characterized, particularly in the case of AOA. However, there is little knowledge on the diversity and ecophysiology of Thaumarchaeota in deeper soils, as most lineages, particularly basal groups, remain uncultivated and underexplored. Here we use genome-resolved metagenomics to examine the phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of Thaumarchaeota along a 234 cm depth profile of hydrologically variable riparian floodplain sediments in the Wind River Basin near Riverton, Wyoming. Phylogenomic analysis of the metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) indicates a shift in AOA population structure from the dominance of the terrestrial Nitrososphaerales lineage in the well-drained top ~100 cm of the profile to the typically marine Nitrosopumilales in deeper, moister, more energy-limited sediment layers. We also describe two deeply rooting non-AOA MAGs with numerous unexpected metabolic features, including the reductive acetyl-CoA (Wood-Ljungdahl) pathway, tetrathionate respiration, a form III RuBisCO, and the potential for extracellular electron transfer. These MAGs also harbor tungsten-containing aldehyde:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, group 4f [NiFe]-hydrogenases and a canonical heme catalase, typically not found in Thaumarchaeota. Our results suggest that hydrological variables, particularly proximity to the water table, impart a strong control on the ecophysiology of Thaumarchaeota in alluvial sediments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linta Reji
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA ,grid.16750.350000 0001 2097 5006Present Address: Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ USA
| | - Emily L. Cardarelli
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA ,grid.20861.3d0000000107068890Present Address: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA USA
| | - Kristin Boye
- grid.445003.60000 0001 0725 7771Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA USA
| | - John R. Bargar
- grid.445003.60000 0001 0725 7771Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA USA
| | - Christopher A. Francis
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
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10
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Kochetkova TV, Podosokorskaya OA, Elcheninov AG, Kublanov IV. Diversity of Thermophilic Prokaryotes Inhabiting Russian Natural Hot Springs. Microbiology (Reading) 2022. [DOI: 10.1134/s0026261722010064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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11
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Nakagawa T, Koji M, Hosoyama A, Yamazoe A, Tsuchiya Y, Ueda S, Takahashi R, Stahl DA. Nitrosopumilus zosterae sp. nov., an autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing archaeon of phylum Thaumarchaeota isolated from coastal eelgrass sediments of Japan. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2021; 71. [PMID: 34406920 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.004961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel mesophilic and aerobic ammonia-oxidizing archaeon of the phylum Thaumarchaeota, strain NM25T, was isolated from coastal eelgrass zone sediment sampled in Shimoda (Japan). The cells were rod-shaped with an S-layer cell wall. The temperature range for growth was 20-37 °C, with an optimum at 30 °C. The pH range for growth was pH 6.1-7.7, with an optimum at pH 7.1. The salinity range for growth was 5-40 %, with an optimum range of 15-32 %. Cells obtained energy from ammonia oxidation and used bicarbonate as a carbon source. Utilization of urea was not observed for energy generation and growth. Strain NM25T required a hydrogen peroxide scavenger, such as α-ketoglutarate, pyruvate or catalase, for sustained growth on ammonia. Growth of strain NM25T was inhibited by addition of low concentrations of some organic compounds and organic mixtures, including complete inhibition by glycerol, peptone and yeast extract. Phylogenetic analysis of four concatenated housekeeping genes (16S rRNA, rpoB, rpsI and atpD) and concatenated AmoA, AmoB, AmoC amino acid sequences indicated that the isolate is similar to members of the genus Nitrosopumilus. The closest relative is Nitrosopumilus ureiphilus PS0T with sequence similarities of 99.5 % for the 16S rRNA gene and 97.2 % for the amoA gene. Genome relatedness between strain NM25T and N. ureiphilus PS0T was assessed by average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization, giving results of 85.4 and 40.2 %, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, strain NM25T represents a novel species of the genus Nitrosopumilus, for which the name sp. nov, is proposed. The type strain is NM25T (=NBRC 111181T=ATCC TSD-147T).
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsunori Nakagawa
- College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa 252-0880, Japan.,Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, WA 98195, USA
| | - Mori Koji
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, WA 98195, USA
| | - Akira Hosoyama
- NITE Biological Resource Center (NBRC), National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE), 2-5-8 Kazusakamatari, Kisarazu 292-0818, Japan
| | - Atsushi Yamazoe
- NITE Biological Resource Center (NBRC), National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE), 2-5-8 Kazusakamatari, Kisarazu 292-0818, Japan
| | - Yuki Tsuchiya
- NITE Biological Resource Center (NBRC), National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE), 2-5-8 Kazusakamatari, Kisarazu 292-0818, Japan
| | - Shingo Ueda
- College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa 252-0880, Japan
| | - Reiji Takahashi
- College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa 252-0880, Japan
| | - David A Stahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, WA 98195, USA
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12
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Competition of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria from Freshwater Environments. Appl Environ Microbiol 2021; 87:e0103821. [PMID: 34347515 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01038-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In the environment, nutrients are rarely available in constant supply. Therefore, microorganisms require strategies to compete for limiting nutrients. In freshwater systems, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) compete with heterotrophic bacteria, photosynthetic microorganisms, and each other for ammonium, which AOA and AOB utilize as their sole source of energy and nitrogen. We investigated the competition between highly enriched cultures of an AOA (AOA-AC1) and an AOB (AOB-G5-7) for ammonium. Based on the amoA gene, the newly enriched archaeal ammonia oxidizer in AOA-AC1 was closely related to Nitrosotenuis spp. and the bacterial ammonia oxidizer in AOB-G5-7, Nitrosomonas sp. Is79, belonged to the Nitrosomonas oligotropha group (Nitrosomonas cluster 6a). Growth experiments in batch cultures showed that AOB-G5-7 had higher growth rates than AOA-AC1 at higher ammonium concentrations. During chemostat competition experiments under ammonium-limiting conditions, AOA-AC1 dominated the cultures, while AOB-G5-7 decreased in abundance. In batch cultures, the outcome of the competition between AOA and AOB was determined by the initial ammonium concentrations. AOA-AC1 was the dominant ammonia oxidizer at an initial ammonium concentration of 50 μM and AOB-G5-7 at 500 μM. These findings indicate that, during direct competition, AOA-AC1 was able to use ammonium that was unavailable to AOB-G5-7, while AOB-G5-7 dominated at higher ammonium concentrations. The results are in strong accordance with environmental survey data suggesting that AOA are mainly responsible for ammonia oxidation under more oligotrophic conditions, whereas AOB dominate under eutrophic conditions. Importance Nitrification is an important process in the global nitrogen cycle. The first step - ammonia oxidation to nitrite - can be carried out by Ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA) and Ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria (AOB). In many natural environments, these ammonia oxidizers coexist. Therefore, it is important to understand the population dynamics in response to increasing ammonium concentrations. Here, we study the competition between AOA and AOB enriched from freshwater systems. The results demonstrate that AOA are more abundant in systems with low ammonium availabilities and AOB when the ammonium availability increases. These results will help to predict potential shifts in community composition of ammonia oxidizers in the environment due to changes in ammonium availability.
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13
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Ammonia-oxidizing archaea possess a wide range of cellular ammonia affinities. ISME JOURNAL 2021; 16:272-283. [PMID: 34316016 PMCID: PMC8692354 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-01064-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate, is an essential process in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. The first step of nitrification, ammonia oxidation, is performed by three, often co-occurring guilds of chemolithoautotrophs: ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), archaea (AOA), and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox). Substrate kinetics are considered to be a major niche-differentiating factor between these guilds, but few AOA strains have been kinetically characterized. Here, the ammonia oxidation kinetic properties of 12 AOA representing all major cultivated phylogenetic lineages were determined using microrespirometry. Members of the genus Nitrosocosmicus have the lowest affinity for both ammonia and total ammonium of any characterized AOA, and these values are similar to previously determined ammonia and total ammonium affinities of AOB. This contrasts previous assumptions that all AOA possess much higher substrate affinities than their comammox or AOB counterparts. The substrate affinity of ammonia oxidizers correlated with their cell surface area to volume ratios. In addition, kinetic measurements across a range of pH values supports the hypothesis that—like for AOB—ammonia and not ammonium is the substrate for the ammonia monooxygenase enzyme of AOA and comammox. Together, these data will facilitate predictions and interpretation of ammonia oxidizer community structures and provide a robust basis for establishing testable hypotheses on competition between AOB, AOA, and comammox.
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14
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Wang Y, Zhao R, Liu L, Li B, Zhang T. Selective enrichment of comammox from activated sludge using antibiotics. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 197:117087. [PMID: 33819658 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
While the ubiquitous presence of comammox in engineered systems provides the foundation of developing a novel biological nitrogen removal process, factors contributing to the comammox dynamics in engineered systems have not been well resolved. Here, we investigate the long-term effects of ten different antibiotics on microbial community dynamics in activated sludge and the results show that both types and concentrations of antibiotics affect the taxonomic composition of nitrifiers, including comammox, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, and canonical nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Specifically, phylogenetically different comammox Nitrospira were selectively enriched by four types of antibiotics (i.e., ampicillin, kanamycin, lincomycin, and trimethoprim). Comparative genomic analysis of the four newly identified comammox clade A Nitrospira revealed that the comammox enriched by antibiotics shared the conserved key metabolic potentials, such as carbon fixation, complete ammonia oxidation, and utilization of hydrogen as alternative electron donors, among the known comammox organisms. Comammox strains enriched in this study also encoded genes involved in formate and cyanate metabolism that were recently reported in comammox clade A organisms from wastewater treatment systems. Our findings highlight that the comammox in activated sludge ecosystems possess high metabolic versatility than previously recognized and could be selectively enriched by some antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Renxin Zhao
- Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Lei Liu
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Bing Li
- Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.
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15
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Yang Y, Herbold CW, Jung MY, Qin W, Cai M, Du H, Lin JG, Li X, Li M, Gu JD. Survival strategies of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in a full-scale WWTP treating mixed landfill leachate containing copper ions and operating at low-intensity of aeration. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 191:116798. [PMID: 33444853 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies indicate that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) may play an important role in nitrogen removal by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, our knowledge of the mechanisms employed by AOA for growth and survival in full-scale WWTPs is still limited. Here, metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses combined with a laboratory cultivation experiment revealed that three active AOAs (WS9, WS192, and WS208) belonging to family Nitrososphaeraceae were active in the deep oxidation ditch (DOD) of a full-scale WWTP treating landfill leachate, which is configured with three continuous aerobic-anoxic (OA) modules with low-intensity aeration (≤ 1.5 mg/L). AOA coexisted with AOB and complete ammonia oxidizers (Comammox), while the ammonia-oxidizing microbial (AOM) community was unexpectedly dominated by the novel AOA strain WS9. The low aeration, long retention time, and relatively high inputs of ammonium and copper might be responsible for the survival of AOA over AOB and Comammox, while the dominance of WS9, specifically may be enhanced by substrate preference and uniquely encoded retention strategies. The urease-negative WS9 is specifically adapted for ammonia acquisition as evidenced by the high expression of an ammonium transporter, whereas two metabolically versatile urease-positive AOA strains (WS192 and WS208) can likely supplement ammonia needs with urea. This study provides important information for the survival and application of the eutrophic Nitrososphaeraceae AOA and advances our understanding of archaea-dominated ammonia oxidation in a full-scale wastewater treatment system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Craig W Herbold
- University of Vienna, Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Man-Young Jung
- Division of Biology Education, Department of Science Education, Jeju National University, 102 Jejudaehak-ro, Jeju 63243, South Korea; Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme in Advance Convergence Technology and Science, Faculty of Science Education, Jeju National University, Jeju 6324, South Korea
| | - Wei Qin
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States; Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Mingwei Cai
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Huan Du
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Jih-Gaw Lin
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
| | - Xiaoyan Li
- Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
| | - Meng Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China; Southern Laboratory of Ocean Science and Engineering, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.
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16
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Production and Excretion of Polyamines To Tolerate High Ammonia, a Case Study on Soil Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon " Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus agrestis". mSystems 2021; 6:6/1/e01003-20. [PMID: 33594004 PMCID: PMC8573960 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01003-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Ammonia tolerance is a universal characteristic among the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB); in contrast, the known species of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) have been regarded as ammonia sensitive, until the identification of the genus “Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus.” However, the mechanism of its ammonia tolerance has not been reported. In this study, the AOA species “Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus agrestis,” obtained from agricultural soil, was determined to be able to tolerate high concentrations of NH3 (>1,500 μM). In the genome of this strain, which was recovered from metagenomic data, a full set of genes for the pathways of polysaccharide metabolism, urea hydrolysis, arginine synthesis, and polyamine synthesis was identified. Among them, the genes encoding cytoplasmic carbonic anhydrase (CA) and a potential polyamine transporter (drug/metabolite exporter [DME]) were found to be unique to the genus “Ca. Nitrosocosmicus.” When “Ca. Nitrosocosmicus agrestis” was grown with high levels of ammonia, the genes that participate in CO2/HCO3− conversion, glutamate/glutamine syntheses, arginine synthesis, polyamine synthesis, and polyamine excretion were significantly upregulated, and the polyamines, including putrescine and spermidine, had significant levels of production. Based on genome analysis, gene expression quantification, and polyamine determination, we propose that the production and excretion of polyamines is probably one of the reasons for the ammonia tolerance of “Ca. Nitrosocosmicus agrestis,” and even of the genus “Ca. Nitrosocosmicus.” IMPORTANCE Ammonia tolerance of AOA is usually much lower than that of the AOB, which makes the AOB rather than AOA a predominant ammonia oxidizer in agricultural soils, contributing to global N2O emission. Recently, some AOA species from the genus “Ca. Nitrosocosmicus” were also found to have high ammonia tolerance. However, the reported mechanism for the ammonia tolerance is very rare and indeterminate for AOB and for AOA species. In this study, an ammonia-tolerant AOA strain of the species “Ca. Nitrosocosmicus agrestis” was identified and its potential mechanisms for ammonia tolerance were explored. This study will be of benefit for determining more of the ecological role of AOA in agricultural soils or other environments.
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17
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Han P, Wu D, Sun D, Zhao M, Wang M, Wen T, Zhang J, Hou L, Liu M, Klümper U, Zheng Y, Dong HP, Liang X, Yin G. N 2O and NO y production by the comammox bacterium Nitrospira inopinata in comparison with canonical ammonia oxidizers. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 190:116728. [PMID: 33326897 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N2O) and NOy (nitrous acid (HONO) + nitric oxide (NO) + nitrogen dioxide (NO2)) are released as byproducts or obligate intermediates during aerobic ammonia oxidation, and further influence global warming and atmospheric chemistry. The ammonia oxidation process is catalyzed by groups of globally distributed ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms, which are playing a major role in atmospheric N2O and NOy emissions. Yet, little is known about HONO and NO2 production by the recently discovered, widely distributed complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), able to individually perform the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via nitrite. Here, we examined the N2O and NOy production patterns by comammox bacterium Nitrospira inopinata during aerobic ammonia oxidation, in comparison to its canonical ammonia-converting counterparts, representatives of the ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Our findings, i) show low yield NOy production by the comammox bacterium compared to AOB; ii) highlight the role of the NO reductase in the biological formation of N2O based on results from NH2OH inhibition assays and its stimulation during archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidations; iii) postulate that the lack of hydroxylamine (NH2OH) and NO transformation enzymatic activities may lead to a buildup of NH2OH/NO which can abiotically react to N2O ; iv) collectively confirm restrained N2O and NOy emission by comammox bacteria, an unneglectable consortium of microbes in global atmospheric emission of reactive nitrogen gases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China.
| | - Dianming Wu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Dongyao Sun
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Mengyue Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Mengdi Wang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Teng Wen
- School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Jinbo Zhang
- School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Lijun Hou
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Uli Klümper
- Institute for Hydrobiology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, 01062, Germany
| | - Yanling Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Hong-Po Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Xia Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Guoyu Yin
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, China
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18
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Santos JP, Sousa AGG, Ribeiro H, Magalhães C. The Response of Estuarine Ammonia-Oxidizing Communities to Constant and Fluctuating Salinity Regimes. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:574815. [PMID: 33324363 PMCID: PMC7727400 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.574815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Aerobic nitrification is a fundamental nitrogen biogeochemical process that links the oxidation of ammonia to the removal of fixed nitrogen in eutrophicated water bodies. However, in estuarine environments there is an enormous variability of water physicochemical parameters that can affect the ammonia oxidation biological process. For instance, it is known that salinity can affect nitrification performance, yet there is still a lack of information on the ammonia-oxidizing communities behavior facing daily salinity fluctuations. In this work, laboratory experiments using upstream and downstream estuarine sediments were performed to address this missing gap by comparing the effect of daily salinity fluctuations with constant salinity on the activity and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM). Activity and composition of AOM were assessed, respectively by using nitrogen stable isotope technique and 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding analysis. Nitrification activity was negatively affected by daily salinity fluctuations in upstream sediments while no effect was observed in downstream sediments. Constant salinity regime showed clearly higher rates of nitrification in upstream sediments while a similar nitrification performance between the two salinity regimes was registered in the downstream sediments. Results also indicated that daily salinity fluctuation regime had a negative effect on both ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) community’s diversity. Phylogenetically, the estuarine downstream AOM were dominated by AOA (0.92–2.09%) followed by NOB (0.99–2%), and then AOB (0.2–0.32%); whereas NOB dominated estuarine upstream sediment samples (1.4–9.5%), followed by AOA (0.27–0.51%) and AOB (0.01–0.23%). Analysis of variance identified the spatial difference between samples (downstream and upstream) as the main drivers of AOA and AOB diversity. Our study indicates that benthic AOM inhabiting different estuarine sites presented distinct plasticity toward the salinity regimes tested. These findings help to improve our understanding in the dynamics of the nitrogen cycle of estuarine systems by showing the resilience and consequently the impact of different salinity regimes on the diversity and activity of ammonia oxidizer communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Pereira Santos
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Matosinhos, Portugal.,Department F.A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - António G G Sousa
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Matosinhos, Portugal
| | - Hugo Ribeiro
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Matosinhos, Portugal.,Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Catarina Magalhães
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Matosinhos, Portugal.,Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,School of Science & Engineering, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.,Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University, Halitax, NS, Canada
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19
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Oren A, Garrity GM, Parker CT, Chuvochina M, Trujillo ME. Lists of names of prokaryotic Candidatus taxa. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2020; 70:3956-4042. [DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.003789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 782] [Impact Index Per Article: 195.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
We here present annotated lists of names of Candidatus taxa of prokaryotes with ranks between subspecies and class, proposed between the mid-1990s, when the provisional status of Candidatus taxa was first established, and the end of 2018. Where necessary, corrected names are proposed that comply with the current provisions of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes and its Orthography appendix. These lists, as well as updated lists of newly published names of Candidatus taxa with additions and corrections to the current lists to be published periodically in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, may serve as the basis for the valid publication of the Candidatus names if and when the current proposals to expand the type material for naming of prokaryotes to also include gene sequences of yet-uncultivated taxa is accepted by the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aharon Oren
- The Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Edmond J. Safra Campus, 9190401 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - George M. Garrity
- NamesforLife, LLC, PO Box 769, Okemos MI 48805-0769, USA
- Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Biomedical Physical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-4320, USA
| | | | - Maria Chuvochina
- Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Martha E. Trujillo
- Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007, Salamanca, Spain
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20
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Pinto OHB, Silva TF, Vizzotto CS, Santana RH, Lopes FAC, Silva BS, Thompson FL, Kruger RH. Genome-resolved metagenomics analysis provides insights into the ecological role of Thaumarchaeota in the Amazon River and its plume. BMC Microbiol 2020; 20:13. [PMID: 31941452 PMCID: PMC6964070 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-020-1698-x] [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: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Thaumarchaeota are abundant in the Amazon River, where they are the only ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Despite the importance of Thaumarchaeota, little is known about their physiology, mainly because few isolates are available for study. Therefore, information about Thaumarchaeota was obtained primarily from genomic studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the ecological roles of Thaumarchaeota in the Amazon River and the Amazon River plume. Results The archaeal community of the shallow in Amazon River and its plume is dominated by Thaumarchaeota lineages from group 1.1a, which are mainly affiliated to Candidatus Nitrosotenuis uzonensis, members of order Nitrosopumilales, Candidatus Nitrosoarchaeum, and Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus sp. While Thaumarchaeota sequences have decreased their relative abundance in the plume, Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus has increased. One genome was recovered from metagenomic data of the Amazon River (ThauR71 [1.05 Mpb]), and two from metagenomic data of the Amazon River plume (ThauP25 [0.94 Mpb] and ThauP41 [1.26 Mpb]). Phylogenetic analysis placed all three Amazon genome bins in Thaumarchaeota Group 1.1a. The annotation revealed that most genes are assigned to the COG subcategory coenzyme transport and metabolism. All three genomes contain genes involved in the hydroxypropionate/hydroxybutyrate cycle, glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation. However, ammonia-monooxygenase genes were detected only in ThauP41 and ThauR71. Glycoside hydrolases and auxiliary activities genes were detected only in ThauP25. Conclusions Our data indicate that Amazon River is a source of Thaumarchaeota, where these organisms are important for primary production, vitamin production, and nitrification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Otávio H B Pinto
- Department of Enzymology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília, Brasilia, 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Thais F Silva
- Department of Enzymology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília, Brasilia, 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Carla S Vizzotto
- Department of Enzymology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília, Brasilia, 70910-900, Brazil.,Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Brasília, Brasilia, 70910-900, Brazil
| | | | - Fabyano A C Lopes
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Federal University of Tocantins, Palmas, 77500-000, Brazil
| | - Bruno S Silva
- Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-901, Brazil
| | - Fabiano L Thompson
- Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-901, Brazil
| | - Ricardo H Kruger
- Department of Enzymology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília, Brasilia, 70910-900, Brazil.
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21
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Yang Y, Pan J, Zhou Z, Wu J, Liu Y, Lin JG, Hong Y, Li X, Li M, Gu JD. Complex microbial nitrogen-cycling networks in three distinct anammox-inoculated wastewater treatment systems. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 168:115142. [PMID: 31605831 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/29/2019] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Microbial nitrogen removal mediated by anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) are cost-effective, yet it is time-consuming to accumulate the slow-growing anammox bacteria in conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Inoculation of anammox enriched pellets is an effective way to establish anammox and achieve shortcut nitrogen removal in full-scale WWTPs. However, little is known about the complex microbial nitrogen-cycling networks in these anammox-inoculated WWTPs. Here, we applied metagenomic and metatranscriptomic tools to study the microbial nitrogen removal in three conventional WWTPs, which have been inoculated exogenous anammox pellets, representing partial-nitrification anammox (PNA) and nitrification-denitrification nitrogen removal processes. In the PNA system of Bali (BL), ammonia was partially oxidized by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) Nitrosomonas and the oxidized nitrite and the remaining ammonium were directly converted to N2 by anammox bacteria Ca. Brocadia and Ca. Kuenenia. In the nitrification-denitrification system of Wenshan (WS), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) Thaumarchaeota unexpectedly dominated the nitrifying community in the presence of AOB Nitrosomonas. Meanwhile, the biomass yield of Ca. Brocadia was likely inhibited by the high biodegradable organic compound input and limited by substrate competitions from AOA, AOB, complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) Nitrospira, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) Nitrospira, and heterotrophic denitrifiers. Unexpectedly, comammox Nitrospira was the predominant nitrifier in the presence of AOB Nitrosomonas in the organic carbon-rich nitrification-denitrification system of Linkou (LK). These results clearly showed that distinct active groups were working in concert for an effective nitrogen removal in different WWTPs. This study confirmed the feasibility of anammox application in ammonium-rich systems by direct inoculation of the exogenous anammox pellets and improved our understanding of microbial nitrogen cycling in anammox-driven conventional WWTPs from both physiochemical and omics perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchun Yang
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jie Pan
- Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhichao Zhou
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jiapeng Wu
- Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Jih-Gaw Lin
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu City, 30010, Taiwan
| | - Yiguo Hong
- Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoyan Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
| | - Meng Li
- Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China.
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22
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Membrane Lipid Composition of the Moderately Thermophilic Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon " Candidatus Nitrosotenuis uzonensis" at Different Growth Temperatures. Appl Environ Microbiol 2019; 85:AEM.01332-19. [PMID: 31420340 PMCID: PMC6805073 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01332-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
For Thaumarchaeota, the ratio of their glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids depends on growth temperature, a premise that forms the basis of the widely applied TEX86 paleotemperature proxy. A thorough understanding of which GDGTs are produced by which Thaumarchaeota and what the effect of temperature is on their GDGT composition is essential for constraining the TEX86 proxy. “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” is a moderately thermophilic thaumarchaeote enriched from a thermal spring, setting it apart in its environmental niche from the other marine mesophilic members of its order. Indeed, we found that the GDGT composition of “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” cultures was distinct from those of other members of its order and was more similar to those of other thermophilic, terrestrial Thaumarchaeota. This suggests that while phylogeny has a strong influence on GDGT distribution, the environmental niche that a thaumarchaeote inhabits also shapes its GDGT composition. “Candidatus Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” is the only cultured moderately thermophilic member of the thaumarchaeotal order Nitrosopumilales (NP) that contains many mesophilic marine strains. We examined its membrane lipid composition at different growth temperatures (37°C, 46°C, and 50°C). Its lipids were all membrane-spanning glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), with 0 to 4 cyclopentane moieties. Crenarchaeol (cren), the characteristic thaumarchaeotal GDGT, and its isomer (crenʹ) were present in high abundance (30 to 70%). The GDGT polar headgroups were mono-, di-, and trihexoses and hexose/phosphohexose. The ratio of glycolipid to phospholipid GDGTs was highest in the cultures grown at 50°C. With increasing growth temperatures, the relative contributions of cren and crenʹ increased, while those of GDGT-0 to GDGT-4 (including isomers) decreased. TEX86 (tetraether index of tetraethers consisting of 86 carbons)-derived temperatures were much lower than the actual growth temperatures, further demonstrating that TEX86 does not accurately reflect the membrane lipid adaptation of thermophilic Thaumarchaeota. As the temperature increased, specific GDGTs changed relative to their isomers, possibly representing temperature adaption-induced changes in cyclopentane ring stereochemistry. Comparison of a wide range of thaumarchaeotal core lipid compositions revealed that the “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” cultures clustered separately from other members of the NP order and the Nitrososphaerales (NS) order. While phylogeny generally seems to have a strong influence on GDGT distribution, our analysis of “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” demonstrates that its terrestrial, higher-temperature niche has led to a lipid composition that clearly differentiates it from other NP members and that this difference is mostly driven by its high crenʹ content. IMPORTANCE For Thaumarchaeota, the ratio of their glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids depends on growth temperature, a premise that forms the basis of the widely applied TEX86 paleotemperature proxy. A thorough understanding of which GDGTs are produced by which Thaumarchaeota and what the effect of temperature is on their GDGT composition is essential for constraining the TEX86 proxy. “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” is a moderately thermophilic thaumarchaeote enriched from a thermal spring, setting it apart in its environmental niche from the other marine mesophilic members of its order. Indeed, we found that the GDGT composition of “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” cultures was distinct from those of other members of its order and was more similar to those of other thermophilic, terrestrial Thaumarchaeota. This suggests that while phylogeny has a strong influence on GDGT distribution, the environmental niche that a thaumarchaeote inhabits also shapes its GDGT composition.
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23
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Lehtovirta-Morley LE. Ammonia oxidation: Ecology, physiology, biochemistry and why they must all come together. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2019; 365:4931719. [PMID: 29668934 DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fny058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Ammonia oxidation is a fundamental core process in the global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. Oxidation of ammonia (NH3) to nitrite (NO2 -) is the first and rate-limiting step in nitrification and is carried out by distinct groups of microorganisms. Ammonia oxidation is essential for nutrient turnover in most terrestrial, aquatic and engineered ecosystems and plays a major role, both directly and indirectly, in greenhouse gas production and environmental damage. Although ammonia oxidation has been studied for over a century, this research field has been galvanised in the past decade by the surprising discoveries of novel ammonia oxidising microorganisms. This review reflects on the ammonia oxidation research to date and discusses the major gaps remaining in our knowledge of the biology of ammonia oxidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura E Lehtovirta-Morley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
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24
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Nawrocki EP, Jones TA, Eddy SR. Group I introns are widespread in archaea. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 46:7970-7976. [PMID: 29788499 PMCID: PMC6125680 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gky414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2018] [Accepted: 05/04/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Group I catalytic introns have been found in bacterial, viral, organellar, and some eukaryotic genomes, but not in archaea. All known archaeal introns are bulge-helix-bulge (BHB) introns, with the exception of a few group II introns. It has been proposed that BHB introns arose from extinct group I intron ancestors, much like eukaryotic spliceosomal introns are thought to have descended from group II introns. However, group I introns have little sequence conservation, making them difficult to detect with standard sequence similarity searches. Taking advantage of recent improvements in a computational homology search method that accounts for both conserved sequence and RNA secondary structure, we have identified 39 group I introns in a wide range of archaeal phyla, including examples of group I introns and BHB introns in the same host gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric P Nawrocki
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Thomas A Jones
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
| | - Sean R Eddy
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.,School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
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25
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Vandekerckhove TGL, Kerckhof FM, De Mulder C, Vlaeminck SE, Boon N. Determining stoichiometry and kinetics of two thermophilic nitrifying communities as a crucial step in the development of thermophilic nitrogen removal. WATER RESEARCH 2019; 156:34-45. [PMID: 30904709 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification and denitrification, the key biological processes for thermophilic nitrogen removal, have separately been established in bioreactors at 50 °C. A well-characterized set of kinetic parameters is essential to integrate these processes while safeguarding the autotrophs performing nitrification. Knowledge on thermophilic nitrifying kinetics is restricted to isolated or highly enriched batch cultures, which do not represent bioreactor conditions. This study characterized the stoichiometry and kinetics of two thermophilic (50 °C) nitrifying communities. The most abundant ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) were related to the Nitrososphaera genus, clustering relatively far from known species Nitrososphaera gargensis (95.5% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity). The most abundant nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were related to Nitrospira calida (97% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity). The nitrification biomass yield was 0.20-0.24 g VSS g-1 N, resulting mainly from a high AOA yield (0.16-0.20 g VSS g-1 N), which was reflected in a high AOA abundance in the community (57-76%) compared to NOB (5-11%). Batch-wise determination of decay rates (AOA: 0.23-0.29 d-1; NOB: 0.32-0.43 d-1) rendered an overestimation compared to in situ estimations of overall decay rate (0.026-0.078 d-1). Possibly, the inactivation rate rather than the actual decay rate was determined in batch experiments. Maximum growth rates of AOA and NOB were 0.12-0.15 d-1 and 0.13-0.33 d-1 respectively. NOB were susceptible to nitrite, opening up opportunities for shortcut nitrogen removal. However, NOB had a similar growth rate and oxygen affinity (0.15-0.55 mg O2 L-1) as AOA and were resilient towards free ammonia (IC50 > 16 mg NH3-N L-1). This might complicate NOB outselection using common practices to establish shortcut nitrogen removal (SRT control; aeration control; free ammonia shocks). Overall, the obtained insights can assist in integrating thermophilic conversions and facilitate single-sludge nitrification/denitrification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom G L Vandekerckhove
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium
| | - Frederiek-Maarten Kerckhof
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium
| | - Chaïm De Mulder
- BIOMATH, Department of Mathematical Modelling, Statistics and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium
| | - Siegfried E Vlaeminck
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium; Research Group of Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerpen, Belgium
| | - Nico Boon
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium.
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26
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Bayer B, Vojvoda J, Reinthaler T, Reyes C, Pinto M, Herndl GJ. Nitrosopumilus adriaticus sp. nov. and Nitrosopumilus piranensis sp. nov., two ammonia-oxidizing archaea from the Adriatic Sea and members of the class Nitrososphaeria. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2019; 69:1892-1902. [PMID: 30938665 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.003360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Two mesophilic, neutrophilic and aerobic marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea, designated strains NF5T and D3CT, were isolated from coastal surface water of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Cells were straight small rods 0.20-0.25 µm wide and 0.49-2.00 µm long. Strain NF5T possessed archaella as cell appendages. Glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers with zero to four cyclopentane moieties (GDGT-0 to GDGT-4) and crenarchaeol were the major core lipids. Menaquinone MK6 : 0 was the major respiratory quinone. Both isolates gained energy by oxidizing ammonia (NH3) to nitrite (NO2-) and used bicarbonate as a carbon source. Strain D3CT was able use urea as a source of ammonia for energy production and growth. Addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavengers (catalase or α-keto acids) was required to sustain growth. Optimal growth occurred between 30 and 32 °C, pH 7.1 and 7.3 and between 34 and 37‰ salinity. The cellular metal abundance ranking of both strains was Fe>Zn>Cu>Mn>Co. The genomes of strains NF5T and D3CT have a DNA G+C content of 33.4 and 33.8 mol%, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that both strains are affiliated with the class Nitrososphaeria, sharing ~85 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with Nitrososphaera viennensis EN76T. The two isolates are separated by phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and are assigned to distinct species within the genus Nitrosopumilus gen. nov. according to average nucleotide identity thresholds of their closed genomes. Isolates NF5T (=JCM 32270T =NCIMB 15114T) and D3CT (=JCM 32271T =DSM 106147T =NCIMB 15115T) are type strains of the species Nitrosopumilusadriaticus sp. nov. and Nitrosopumiluspiranensis sp. nov., respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Bayer
- 1Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Functional Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jana Vojvoda
- 1Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Functional Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Reinthaler
- 1Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Functional Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Carolina Reyes
- 2Department of Environmental Geosciences, Environmental Science Research Network, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Pinto
- 1Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Functional Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gerhard J Herndl
- 1Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, Center of Functional Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,3Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University, Den Burg, The Netherlands
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27
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Krupovic M, Makarova KS, Wolf YI, Medvedeva S, Prangishvili D, Forterre P, Koonin EV. Integrated mobile genetic elements in Thaumarchaeota. Environ Microbiol 2019; 21:2056-2078. [PMID: 30773816 PMCID: PMC6563490 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Revised: 02/10/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
To explore the diversity of mobile genetic elements (MGE) associated with archaea of the phylum Thaumarchaeota, we exploited the property of most MGE to integrate into the genomes of their hosts. Integrated MGE (iMGE) were identified in 20 thaumarchaeal genomes amounting to 2 Mbp of mobile thaumarchaeal DNA. These iMGE group into five major classes: (i) proviruses, (ii) casposons, (iii) insertion sequence-like transposons, (iv) integrative-conjugative elements and (v) cryptic integrated elements. The majority of the iMGE belong to the latter category and might represent novel families of viruses or plasmids. The identified proviruses are related to tailed viruses of the order Caudovirales and to tailless icosahedral viruses with the double jelly-roll capsid proteins. The thaumarchaeal iMGE are all connected within a gene sharing network, highlighting pervasive gene exchange between MGE occupying the same ecological niche. The thaumarchaeal mobilome carries multiple auxiliary metabolic genes, including multicopper oxidases and ammonia monooxygenase subunit C (AmoC), and stress response genes, such as those for universal stress response proteins (UspA). Thus, iMGE might make important contributions to the fitness and adaptation of their hosts. We identified several iMGE carrying type I-B CRISPR-Cas systems and spacers matching other thaumarchaeal iMGE, suggesting antagonistic interactions between coexisting MGE and symbiotic relationships with the ir archaeal hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mart Krupovic
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Biologie Moléculaire du Gène chez les Extrêmophiles, 75015, Paris, France
| | - Kira S Makarova
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Yuri I Wolf
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Sofia Medvedeva
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Biologie Moléculaire du Gène chez les Extrêmophiles, 75015, Paris, France.,Center of Life Sciences, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Skolkovo, Russia.,Sorbonne Université, Collège doctoral, 75005, Paris, France
| | - David Prangishvili
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Biologie Moléculaire du Gène chez les Extrêmophiles, 75015, Paris, France
| | - Patrick Forterre
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Biologie Moléculaire du Gène chez les Extrêmophiles, 75015, Paris, France.,Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), CEA, CNRS, Univ. Paris- Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, Paris, France
| | - Eugene V Koonin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
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"Candidatus Nitrosotenuis aquarius," an Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon from a Freshwater Aquarium Biofilter. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018; 84:AEM.01430-18. [PMID: 29959256 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01430-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Ammonia is a metabolic waste product excreted by aquatic organisms that causes toxicity when it accumulates. Aquaria and aquaculture systems therefore use biological filters that promote the growth of nitrifiers to convert ammonia to nitrate. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) have been isolated from aquarium biofilters and are available as commercial supplements, but recent evidence suggests that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are abundant in aquarium biofilters. In this study, we report the cultivation and closed genome sequence of the novel AOA representative "Candidatus Nitrosotenuis aquarius," which was enriched from a freshwater aquarium biofilter. "Ca Nitrosotenuis aquarius" oxidizes ammonia stoichiometrically to nitrite with a concomitant increase in thaumarchaeotal cells and a generation time of 34.9 h. "Ca Nitrosotenuis aquarius" has an optimal growth temperature of 33°C, tolerates up to 3 mM NH4Cl, and grows optimally at 0.05% salinity. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that "Ca Nitrosotenuis aquarius" cells are rod shaped, with a diameter of ∼0.4 μm and length ranging from 0.6 to 3.6 μm. In addition, these cells possess surface layers (S-layers) and multiple proteinaceous appendages. Phylogenetically, "Ca Nitrosotenuis aquarius" belongs to the group I.1a Thaumarchaeota, clustering with environmental sequences from freshwater aquarium biofilters, aquaculture systems, and wastewater treatment plants. The complete 1.70-Mbp genome contains genes involved in ammonia oxidation, bicarbonate assimilation, flagellum synthesis, chemotaxis, S-layer production, defense, and protein glycosylation. Incubations with differential inhibitors indicate that "Ca Nitrosotenuis aquarius"-like AOA contribute to ammonia oxidation within the aquarium biofilter from which it originated.IMPORTANCE Nitrification is a critical process for preventing ammonia toxicity in engineered biofilter environments. This work describes the cultivation and complete genome sequence of a novel AOA representative enriched from a freshwater aquarium biofilter. In addition, despite the common belief in the aquarium industry that AOB mediate ammonia oxidation, the present study suggests an in situ role for "Ca Nitrosotenuis aquarius"-like AOA in freshwater aquarium biofilters.
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29
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Ammonia oxidizers in the sea-surface microlayer of a coastal marine inlet. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0202636. [PMID: 30125317 PMCID: PMC6101417 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Planktonic archaea are thought to play an important role in ammonia oxidation in marine environments. Data on the distribution, abundance, and diversity of ammonia oxidizers in the coastal sea-surface microlayer (SML) are lacking, despite previous reports of high abundance of Thaumarchaeota in the SML of estuaries and freshwater lakes. Here, we failed to detect the presence of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in any of our samples taken from a semi-enclosed marine inlet in Japan. Therefore, we shifted our focus to examine the archaeal community composition as well as the Thaumarchaeota marine group I (MG-I) and ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene copy numbers and composition in the SML and corresponding underlying water (UW, 20 cm). amoA gene copy numbers obtained by quantitative PCR were consistent with the typical values observed in the surface waters of oceanic and coastal environments where nitrification activity has been detected, but the copy numbers were two- to three-fold less than those reported from the surface layers and UW of high mountain lakes. Both amoA and MG-I 16S rRNA gene copy numbers were significantly negatively correlated with chlorophyll-a and transparent exopolymer particle concentrations in the SML. Communities of archaea and ammonia-oxidizing archaea in SML samples collected during low wind conditions (≤5 m s–1) differed the most from those in UW samples, whereas the communities in SML samples collected during high wind conditions were similar to the UW communities. In the SML, low ratios of amoA to MG-I 16S rRNA genes were observed, implying that most of the SML Thaumarchaeota lacked amoA. To our knowledge, our results provide the first comparison of ammonia-oxidizing communities in the coastal SML with those in the UW.
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30
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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: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [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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31
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Daebeler A, Herbold CW, Vierheilig J, Sedlacek CJ, Pjevac P, Albertsen M, Kirkegaard RH, de la Torre JR, Daims H, Wagner M. Cultivation and Genomic Analysis of " Candidatus Nitrosocaldus islandicus," an Obligately Thermophilic, Ammonia-Oxidizing Thaumarchaeon from a Hot Spring Biofilm in Graendalur Valley, Iceland. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:193. [PMID: 29491853 PMCID: PMC5817080 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) within the phylum Thaumarchaeota are the only known aerobic ammonia oxidizers in geothermal environments. Although molecular data indicate the presence of phylogenetically diverse AOA from the Nitrosocaldus clade, group 1.1b and group 1.1a Thaumarchaeota in terrestrial high-temperature habitats, only one enrichment culture of an AOA thriving above 50°C has been reported and functionally analyzed. In this study, we physiologically and genomically characterized a newly discovered thaumarchaeon from the deep-branching Nitrosocaldaceae family of which we have obtained a high (∼85%) enrichment from biofilm of an Icelandic hot spring (73°C). This AOA, which we provisionally refer to as "Candidatus Nitrosocaldus islandicus," is an obligately thermophilic, aerobic chemolithoautotrophic ammonia oxidizer, which stoichiometrically converts ammonia to nitrite at temperatures between 50 and 70°C. "Ca. N. islandicus" encodes the expected repertoire of enzymes proposed to be required for archaeal ammonia oxidation, but unexpectedly lacks a nirK gene and also possesses no identifiable other enzyme for nitric oxide (NO) generation. Nevertheless, ammonia oxidation by this AOA appears to be NO-dependent as "Ca. N. islandicus" is, like all other tested AOA, inhibited by the addition of an NO scavenger. Furthermore, comparative genomics revealed that "Ca. N. islandicus" has the potential for aromatic amino acid fermentation as its genome encodes an indolepyruvate oxidoreductase (iorAB) as well as a type 3b hydrogenase, which are not present in any other sequenced AOA. A further surprising genomic feature of this thermophilic ammonia oxidizer is the absence of DNA polymerase D genes - one of the predominant replicative DNA polymerases in all other ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota. Collectively, our findings suggest that metabolic versatility and DNA replication might differ substantially between obligately thermophilic and other AOA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Daebeler
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Craig W. Herbold
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia Vierheilig
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christopher J. Sedlacek
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Petra Pjevac
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mads Albertsen
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Rasmus H. Kirkegaard
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - José R. de la Torre
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Holger Daims
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Wagner
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Research Network “Chemistry meets Microbiology”, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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32
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Liu S, Han P, Hink L, Prosser JI, Wagner M, Brüggemann N. Abiotic Conversion of Extracellular NH 2OH Contributes to N 2O Emission during Ammonia Oxidation. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2017; 51:13122-13132. [PMID: 29039187 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b02360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Abiotic processes involving the reactive ammonia-oxidation intermediates nitric oxide (NO) or hydroxylamine (NH2OH) for N2O production have been indicated recently. The latter process would require the availability of substantial amounts of free NH2OH for chemical reactions during ammonia (NH3) oxidation, but little is known about extracellular NH2OH formation by the different clades of ammonia-oxidizing microbes. Here we determined extracellular NH2OH concentrations in culture media of several ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), as well as one complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) enrichment (Ca. Nitrospira inopinata) during incubation under standard cultivation conditions. NH2OH was measurable in the incubation media of Nitrosomonas europaea, Nitrosospira multiformis, Nitrososphaera gargensis, and Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis, but not in media of the other tested AOB and AOA. NH2OH was also formed by the comammox enrichment during NH3 oxidation. This enrichment exhibited the largest NH2OH:final product ratio (1.92%), followed by N. multiformis (0.56%) and N. gargensis (0.46%). The maximum proportions of NH4+ converted to N2O via extracellular NH2OH during incubation, estimated on the basis of NH2OH abiotic conversion rates, were 0.12%, 0.08%, and 0.14% for AOB, AOA, and Ca. Nitrospira inopinata, respectively, and were consistent with published NH4+:N2O conversion ratios for AOB and AOA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shurong Liu
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences-Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH , 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Ping Han
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, Research Network Chemistry meets Microbiology, University of Vienna , Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Linda Hink
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen , Cruickshank Building, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, United Kingdom
| | - James I Prosser
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen , Cruickshank Building, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Wagner
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, Research Network Chemistry meets Microbiology, University of Vienna , Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nicolas Brüggemann
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences-Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH , 52425 Jülich, Germany
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33
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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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34
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Kinetic analysis of a complete nitrifier reveals an oligotrophic lifestyle. Nature 2017; 549:269-272. [PMID: 28847001 PMCID: PMC5600814 DOI: 10.1038/nature23679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 355] [Impact Index Per Article: 50.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia (NH3) via nitrite
(NO2-) to nitrate (NO3-), is a
key process of the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. For decades, ammonia and
nitrite oxidation were thought to be separately catalyzed by ammonia-oxidizing
bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), and by nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The
recent discovery of complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) in the NOB genus
Nitrospira1,2, which alone convert ammonia to nitrate,
raised questions about the ecological niches where comammox
Nitrospira successfully compete with canonical nitrifiers.
Here we isolated the first pure culture of a comammox bacterium,
Nitrospira inopinata, and show that it is adapted to slow
growth in oligotrophic and dynamic habitats based on a high affinity for
ammonia, low maximum rate of ammonia oxidation, high growth yield compared to
canonical nitrifiers, and genomic potential for alternative metabolisms. The
nitrification kinetics of four AOA from soil and hot springs were determined for
comparison. Their surprisingly poor substrate affinities and lower growth yields
reveal that, in contrast to earlier assumptions, not all AOA are most
competitive in strongly oligotrophic environments and that N.
inopinata has the highest substrate affinity of all analyzed
ammonia oxidizer isolates except the marine AOA Nitrosopumilus
maritimus SCM13. These
results suggest a role of comammox organisms for nitrification under
oligotrophic and dynamic conditions.
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35
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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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36
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Sauder LA, Albertsen M, Engel K, Schwarz J, Nielsen PH, Wagner M, Neufeld JD. Cultivation and characterization of Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus exaquare, an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from a municipal wastewater treatment system. ISME JOURNAL 2017; 11:1142-1157. [PMID: 28195581 PMCID: PMC5398378 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2016.192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2016] [Revised: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Thaumarchaeota have been detected in several industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), despite the fact that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are thought to be adapted to low ammonia environments. However, the activity, physiology and metabolism of WWTP-associated AOA remain poorly understood. We report the cultivation and complete genome sequence of Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus exaquare, a novel AOA representative from a municipal WWTP in Guelph, Ontario (Canada). In enrichment culture, Ca. N. exaquare oxidizes ammonia to nitrite stoichiometrically, is mesophilic, and tolerates at least 15 mm of ammonium chloride or sodium nitrite. Microautoradiography (MAR) for enrichment cultures demonstrates that Ca. N. exaquare assimilates bicarbonate in association with ammonia oxidation. However, despite using inorganic carbon, the ammonia-oxidizing activity of Ca. N. exaquare is greatly stimulated in enrichment culture by the addition of organic compounds, especially malate and succinate. Ca. N. exaquare cells are coccoid with a diameter of ~1–2 μm. Phylogenetically, Ca. N. exaquare belongs to the Nitrososphaera sister cluster within the Group I.1b Thaumarchaeota, a lineage which includes most other reported AOA sequences from municipal and industrial WWTPs. The 2.99 Mbp genome of Ca. N. exaquare encodes pathways for ammonia oxidation, bicarbonate fixation, and urea transport and breakdown. In addition, this genome encodes several key genes for dealing with oxidative stress, including peroxidase and catalase. Incubations of WWTP biofilm demonstrate partial inhibition of ammonia-oxidizing activity by 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide (PTIO), suggesting that Ca. N. exaquare-like AOA may contribute to nitrification in situ. However, CARD-FISH-MAR showed no incorporation of bicarbonate by detected Thaumarchaeaota, suggesting that detected AOA may incorporate non-bicarbonate carbon sources or rely on an alternative and yet unknown metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura A Sauder
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mads Albertsen
- Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Katja Engel
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jasmin Schwarz
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, Research Network 'Chemistry meets Microbiology', University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Per H Nielsen
- Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Michael Wagner
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, Research Network 'Chemistry meets Microbiology', University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Josh D Neufeld
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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37
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Merkel AY, Pimenov NV, Rusanov II, Slobodkin AI, Slobodkina GB, Tarnovetckii IY, Frolov EN, Dubin AV, Perevalova AA, Bonch-Osmolovskaya EA. Microbial diversity and autotrophic activity in Kamchatka hot springs. Extremophiles 2016; 21:307-317. [DOI: 10.1007/s00792-016-0903-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Accepted: 11/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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38
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Lu X, Seuradge BJ, Neufeld JD. Biogeography of soil Thaumarchaeota in relation to soil depth and land usage. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2016; 93:fiw246. [DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiw246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 06/27/2016] [Accepted: 12/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
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39
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Kerou M, Offre P, Valledor L, Abby SS, Melcher M, Nagler M, Weckwerth W, Schleper C. Proteomics and comparative genomics of Nitrososphaera viennensis reveal the core genome and adaptations of archaeal ammonia oxidizers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:E7937-E7946. [PMID: 27864514 PMCID: PMC5150414 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1601212113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are among the most abundant microorganisms and key players in the global nitrogen and carbon cycles. They share a common energy metabolism but represent a heterogeneous group with respect to their environmental distribution and adaptions, growth requirements, and genome contents. We report here the genome and proteome of Nitrososphaera viennensis EN76, the type species of the archaeal class Nitrososphaeria of the phylum Thaumarchaeota encompassing all known AOA. N. viennensis is a soil organism with a 2.52-Mb genome and 3,123 predicted protein-coding genes. Proteomic analysis revealed that nearly 50% of the predicted genes were translated under standard laboratory growth conditions. Comparison with genomes of closely related species of the predominantly terrestrial Nitrososphaerales as well as the more streamlined marine Nitrosopumilales [Candidatus (Ca.) order] and the acidophile "Ca. Nitrosotalea devanaterra" revealed a core genome of AOA comprising 860 genes, which allowed for the reconstruction of central metabolic pathways common to all known AOA and expressed in the N. viennensis and "Ca Nitrosopelagicus brevis" proteomes. Concomitantly, we were able to identify candidate proteins for as yet unidentified crucial steps in central metabolisms. In addition to unraveling aspects of core AOA metabolism, we identified specific metabolic innovations associated with the Nitrososphaerales mediating growth and survival in the soil milieu, including the capacity for biofilm formation, cell surface modifications and cell adhesion, and carbohydrate conversions as well as detoxification of aromatic compounds and drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melina Kerou
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Pierre Offre
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Luis Valledor
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Sophie S Abby
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Melcher
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Matthias Nagler
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Wolfram Weckwerth
- Vienna Metabolomics Center, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christa Schleper
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria;
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40
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Jung MY, Kim JG, Sinninghe Damsté JS, Rijpstra WIC, Madsen EL, Kim SJ, Hong H, Si OJ, Kerou M, Schleper C, Rhee SK. A hydrophobic ammonia-oxidizing archaeon of the Nitrosocosmicus clade isolated from coal tar-contaminated sediment. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS 2016; 8:983-992. [PMID: 27700018 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2016] [Revised: 09/20/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
A wide diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) within the phylum Thaumarchaeota exists and plays a key role in the N cycle in a variety of habitats. In this study, we isolated and characterized an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon, strain MY3, from a coal tar-contaminated sediment. Phylogenetically, strain MY3 falls in clade 'Nitrosocosmicus' of the thaumarchaeotal group I.1b. The cells of strain MY3 are large 'walnut-like' cocci, divide by binary fission along a central cingulum, and form aggregates. Strain MY3 is mesophilic and neutrophilic. An assay of 13 C-bicarbonate incorporation into archaeal membrane lipids indicated that strain MY3 is capable of autotrophy. In contrast to some other AOA, TCA cycle intermediates, i.e. pruvate, oxaloacetate and α-ketoglutarate, did not affect the growth rates and yields of strain MY3. The attachment of cells of strain MY3 to XAD-7 hydrophobic beads and to the adsorbent vermiculite demonstrated the potential of strain MY3 to form biofilms. The cell surface was confirmed to be hydrophobic by the extraction of strain MY3 from an aqueous medium with p-xylene. Our finding of a strong potential for surface attachment by strain MY3 may reflect an adaptation to the selective pressures in hydrophobic terrestrial environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man-Young Jung
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, 28644, South Korea
| | - Jong-Geol Kim
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, 28644, South Korea
| | - Jaap S Sinninghe Damsté
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, AB Den Burg, 1790, The Netherlands
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.021, Utrecht, 3508, TA, The Netherlands
| | - W Irene C Rijpstra
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, AB Den Burg, 1790, The Netherlands
| | - Eugene L Madsen
- Department of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853-8101, USA
| | - So-Jeong Kim
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, 28644, South Korea
| | - Heeji Hong
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, 28644, South Korea
| | - Ok-Ja Si
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, 28644, South Korea
| | - Melina Kerou
- Department of Genetics in Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, A-1090, Austria
| | - Christa Schleper
- Department of Genetics in Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, A-1090, Austria
| | - Sung-Keun Rhee
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, 28644, South Korea
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Villanueva L, Schouten S, Damsté JSS. Phylogenomic analysis of lipid biosynthetic genes of Archaea shed light on the ‘lipid divide’. Environ Microbiol 2016; 19:54-69. [DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Villanueva
- Department of Marine Microbiology and BiogeochemistryNIOZ, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht UniversityP.O. Box 591790AB Den Burg Texel The Netherlands
| | - Stefan Schouten
- Department of Marine Microbiology and BiogeochemistryNIOZ, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht UniversityP.O. Box 591790AB Den Burg Texel The Netherlands
- Faculty of GeosciencesUtrecht UniversityP.O. Box 80.021Utrecht3508 TA The Netherlands
| | - Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté
- Department of Marine Microbiology and BiogeochemistryNIOZ, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht UniversityP.O. Box 591790AB Den Burg Texel The Netherlands
- Faculty of GeosciencesUtrecht UniversityP.O. Box 80.021Utrecht3508 TA The Netherlands
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Koonin EV. Origin of eukaryotes from within archaea, archaeal eukaryome and bursts of gene gain: eukaryogenesis just made easier? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 370:20140333. [PMID: 26323764 PMCID: PMC4571572 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of eukaryotes is a fundamental, forbidding evolutionary puzzle. Comparative genomic analysis clearly shows that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) possessed most of the signature complex features of modern eukaryotic cells, in particular the mitochondria, the endomembrane system including the nucleus, an advanced cytoskeleton and the ubiquitin network. Numerous duplications of ancestral genes, e.g. DNA polymerases, RNA polymerases and proteasome subunits, also can be traced back to the LECA. Thus, the LECA was not a primitive organism and its emergence must have resulted from extensive evolution towards cellular complexity. However, the scenario of eukaryogenesis, and in particular the relationship between endosymbiosis and the origin of eukaryotes, is far from being clear. Four recent developments provide new clues to the likely routes of eukaryogenesis. First, evolutionary reconstructions suggest complex ancestors for most of the major groups of archaea, with the subsequent evolution dominated by gene loss. Second, homologues of signature eukaryotic proteins, such as actin and tubulin that form the core of the cytoskeleton or the ubiquitin system, have been detected in diverse archaea. The discovery of this ‘dispersed eukaryome’ implies that the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes was a complex cell that might have been capable of a primitive form of phagocytosis and thus conducive to endosymbiont capture. Third, phylogenomic analyses converge on the origin of most eukaryotic genes of archaeal descent from within the archaeal evolutionary tree, specifically, the TACK superphylum. Fourth, evidence has been presented that the origin of the major archaeal phyla involved massive acquisition of bacterial genes. Taken together, these findings make the symbiogenetic scenario for the origin of eukaryotes considerably more plausible and the origin of the organizational complexity of eukaryotic cells more readily explainable than they appeared until recently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugene V Koonin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
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Courtens ENP, Vandekerckhove T, Prat D, Vilchez-Vargas R, Vital M, Pieper DH, Meerbergen K, Lievens B, Boon N, Vlaeminck SE. Empowering a mesophilic inoculum for thermophilic nitrification: Growth mode and temperature pattern as critical proliferation factors for archaeal ammonia oxidizers. WATER RESEARCH 2016; 92:94-103. [PMID: 26841233 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2016.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2015] [Revised: 12/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/11/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Cost-efficient biological treatment of warm nitrogenous wastewaters requires the development of thermophilic nitrogen removal processes. Only one thermophilic nitrifying bioreactor was described so far, achieving 200 mg N L(-1) d(-1) after more than 300 days of enrichment from compost samples. From the practical point of view in which existing plants would be upgraded, however, a more time-efficient development strategy based on mesophilic nitrifying sludge is preferred. This study evaluated the adaptive capacities of mesophilic nitrifying sludge for two linear temperature increase patterns (non-oscillating vs. oscillating), two different slopes (0.25 vs. 0.08 °C d(-1)) and two different reactor types (floc vs. biofilm growth). The oscillating temperature pattern (0.25 °C d(-1)) and the moving bed biofilm reactor (0.08 °C d(-1)) could not reach nitrification at temperatures higher than 46 °C. However, nitrification rates up to 800 mg N L(-1) d(-1) and 150 mg N g(-1) volatile suspended solids d(-1) were achieved at a temperature as high as 49 °C by imposing the slowest linear temperature increase to floccular sludge. Microbial community analysis revealed that this successful transition was related with a shift in ammonium oxidizing archaea dominating ammonia oxidizing bacteria, while for nitrite oxidation Nitrospira spp. was constantly more abundant than Nitrobacter spp.. This observation was accompanied with an increase in observed sludge yield and a shift in maximal optimum temperature, determined with ex-situ temperature sensitivity measurements, predicting an upcoming reactor failure at higher temperature. Overall, this study achieved nitrification at 49 °C within 150 days by gradual adaptation of mesophilic sludge, and showed that ex-situ temperature sensitivity screening can be used to monitor and steer the transition process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilie N P Courtens
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Tom Vandekerckhove
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Delphine Prat
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Ramiro Vilchez-Vargas
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Marius Vital
- Microbial Interactions and Processes Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Dietmar H Pieper
- Microbial Interactions and Processes Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Ken Meerbergen
- Laboratory for Process Microbial Ecology and Bioinspirational Management (PME&BIM), KU Leuven, Campus De Nayer, Fortsesteenweg 30A, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium
| | - Bart Lievens
- Laboratory for Process Microbial Ecology and Bioinspirational Management (PME&BIM), KU Leuven, Campus De Nayer, Fortsesteenweg 30A, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium
| | - Nico Boon
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Siegfried E Vlaeminck
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium; Research Group of Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology, Department of Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium.
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A novel ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from wastewater treatment plant: Its enrichment, physiological and genomic characteristics. Sci Rep 2016; 6:23747. [PMID: 27030530 PMCID: PMC4814877 DOI: 10.1038/srep23747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2015] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are recently found to participate in the ammonia removal processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), similar to their bacterial counterparts. However, due to lack of cultivated AOA strains from WWTPs, their functions and contributions in these systems remain unclear. Here we report a novel AOA strain SAT1 enriched from activated sludge, with its physiological and genomic characteristics investigated. The maximal 16S rRNA gene similarity between SAT1 and other reported AOA strain is 96% (with “Ca. Nitrosotenuis chungbukensis”), and it is affiliated with Wastewater Cluster B (WWC-B) based on amoA gene phylogeny, a cluster within group I.1a and specific for activated sludge. Our strain is autotrophic, mesophilic (25 °C–33 °C) and neutrophilic (pH 5.0–7.0). Its genome size is 1.62 Mb, with a large fragment inversion (accounted for 68% genomic size) inside. The strain could not utilize urea due to truncation of the urea transporter gene. The lack of the pathways to synthesize usual compatible solutes makes it intolerant to high salinity (>0.03%), but could adapt to low salinity (0.005%) environments. This adaptation, together with possibly enhanced cell-biofilm attachment ability, makes it suitable for WWTPs environment. We propose the name “Candidatus Nitrosotenuis cloacae” for the strain SAT1.
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45
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A robust nitrifying community in a bioreactor at 50 °C opens up the path for thermophilic nitrogen removal. ISME JOURNAL 2016; 10:2293-303. [PMID: 26894446 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2016.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2015] [Revised: 01/03/2016] [Accepted: 01/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The increasing production of nitrogen-containing fertilizers is crucial to meet the global food demand, yet high losses of reactive nitrogen associated with the food production/consumption chain progressively deteriorate the natural environment. Currently, mesophilic nitrogen-removing microbes eliminate nitrogen from wastewaters. Although thermophilic nitrifiers have been separately enriched from natural environments, no bioreactors are described that couple these processes for the treatment of nitrogen in hot wastewaters. Samples from composting facilities were used as inoculum for the batch-wise enrichment of thermophilic nitrifiers (350 days). Subsequently, the enrichments were transferred to a bioreactor to obtain a stable, high-rate nitrifying process (560 days). The community contained up to 17% ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOAs) closely related to 'Candidatus Nitrososphaera gargensis', and 25% nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOBs) related to Nitrospira calida. Incorporation of (13)C-derived bicarbonate into the respective characteristic membrane lipids during nitrification supported their activity as autotrophs. Specific activities up to 198±10 and 894±81 mg N g(-1) VSS per day for AOAs and NOBs were measured, where NOBs were 33% more sensitive to free ammonia. The NOBs were extremely sensitive to free nitrous acid, whereas the AOAs could only be inhibited by high nitrite concentrations, independent of the free nitrous acid concentration. The observed difference in product/substrate inhibition could facilitate the development of NOB inhibition strategies to achieve more cost-effective processes such as deammonification. This study describes the enrichment of autotrophic thermophilic nitrifiers from a nutrient-rich environment and the successful operation of a thermophilic nitrifying bioreactor for the first time, facilitating opportunities for thermophilic nitrogen removal biotechnology.
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46
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Stempfhuber B, Richter-Heitmann T, Regan KM, Kölbl A, Wüst PK, Marhan S, Sikorski J, Overmann J, Friedrich MW, Kandeler E, Schloter M. Spatial Interaction of Archaeal Ammonia-Oxidizers and Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria in an Unfertilized Grassland Soil. Front Microbiol 2016; 6:1567. [PMID: 26834718 PMCID: PMC4722141 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 12/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Interrelated successive transformation steps of nitrification are performed by distinct microbial groups - the ammonia-oxidizers, comprising ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB), and nitrite-oxidizers such as Nitrobacter and Nitrospira, which are the dominant genera in the investigated soils. Hence, not only their presence and activity in the investigated habitat is required for nitrification, but also their temporal and spatial interactions. To demonstrate the interdependence of both groups and to address factors promoting putative niche differentiation within each group, temporal and spatial changes in nitrifying organisms were monitored in an unfertilized grassland site over an entire vegetation period at the plot scale of 10 m(2). Nitrifying organisms were assessed by measuring the abundance of marker genes (amoA for AOA and AOB, nxrA for Nitrobacter, 16S rRNA gene for Nitrospira) selected for the respective sub-processes. A positive correlation between numerically dominant AOA and Nitrospira, and their co-occurrence at the same spatial scale in August and October, suggests that the nitrification process is predominantly performed by these groups and is restricted to a limited timeframe. Amongst nitrite-oxidizers, niche differentiation was evident in observed seasonally varying patterns of co-occurrence and spatial separation. While their distributions were most likely driven by substrate concentrations, oxygen availability may also have played a role under substrate-limited conditions. Phylogenetic analysis revealed temporal shifts in Nitrospira community composition with an increasing relative abundance of OTU03 assigned to sublineage V from August onward, indicating its important role in nitrite oxidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Stempfhuber
- Environmental Genomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health Neuherberg, Germany
| | | | - Kathleen M Regan
- Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany
| | - Angelika Kölbl
- Lehrstuhl für Bodenkunde, Technische Universität München Freising, Germany
| | - Pia K Wüst
- Leibniz-Institute DSMZ, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Sven Marhan
- Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany
| | - Johannes Sikorski
- Leibniz-Institute DSMZ, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Jörg Overmann
- Leibniz-Institute DSMZ, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Braunschweig, Germany
| | | | - Ellen Kandeler
- Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany
| | - Michael Schloter
- Environmental Genomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health Neuherberg, Germany
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47
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Daims H, Lebedeva EV, Pjevac P, Han P, Herbold C, Albertsen M, Jehmlich N, Palatinszky M, Vierheilig J, Bulaev A, Kirkegaard RH, von Bergen M, Rattei T, Bendinger B, Nielsen PH, Wagner M. Complete nitrification by Nitrospira bacteria. Nature 2015; 528:504-9. [PMID: 26610024 PMCID: PMC5152751 DOI: 10.1038/nature16461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1111] [Impact Index Per Article: 123.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate, has always been considered to be a two-step process catalysed by chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms oxidizing either ammonia or nitrite. No known nitrifier carries out both steps, although complete nitrification should be energetically advantageous. This functional separation has puzzled microbiologists for a century. Here we report on the discovery and cultivation of a completely nitrifying bacterium from the genus Nitrospira, a globally distributed group of nitrite oxidizers. The genome of this chemolithoautotrophic organism encodes the pathways both for ammonia and nitrite oxidation, which are concomitantly activated during growth by ammonia oxidation to nitrate. Genes affiliated with the phylogenetically distinct ammonia monooxygenase and hydroxylamine dehydrogenase genes of Nitrospira are present in many environments and were retrieved on Nitrospira-contigs in new metagenomes from engineered systems. These findings fundamentally change our picture of nitrification and point to completely nitrifying Nitrospira as key components of nitrogen-cycling microbial communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Daims
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Elena V. Lebedeva
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of
Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Ave. 33, bld. 2, 119071
Moscow, Russia
| | - Petra Pjevac
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Ping Han
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Craig Herbold
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Mads Albertsen
- Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and
Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Nico Jehmlich
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of
Proteomics, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marton Palatinszky
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Julia Vierheilig
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Alexandr Bulaev
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of
Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Ave. 33, bld. 2, 119071
Moscow, Russia
| | - Rasmus H. Kirkegaard
- Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and
Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Martin von Bergen
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of
Proteomics, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of
Metabolomics, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Rattei
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Computational Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
| | - Bernd Bendinger
- DVGW-Forschungsstelle TUHH, Hamburg University of Technology, 21073
Hamburg, Germany
| | - Per H. Nielsen
- Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and
Bioscience, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Michael Wagner
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of
Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria
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48
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Physiological and genomic characterization of two novel marine thaumarchaeal strains indicates niche differentiation. ISME JOURNAL 2015; 10:1051-63. [PMID: 26528837 PMCID: PMC4839502 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2015.200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2015] [Revised: 09/28/2015] [Accepted: 10/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA) are ubiquitous throughout the oceanic water column; however, our knowledge on their physiological and ecological diversity in different oceanic regions is rather limited. Here, we report the cultivation and characterization of two novel Nitrosopumilus strains, originating from coastal surface waters of the Northern Adriatic Sea. The combined physiological and genomic information revealed that each strain exhibits different metabolic and functional traits, potentially reflecting contrasting life modes. Strain NF5 contains many chemotaxis-related genes and is able to express archaella, suggesting that it can sense and actively seek favorable microenvironments such as nutrient-rich particles. In contrast, strain D3C is non-motile and shows higher versatility in substrate utilization, being able to use urea as an alternative substrate in addition to ammonia. Furthermore, it encodes a divergent, second copy of the AmoB subunit of the key enzyme ammonia monooxygenase, which might have an additional catalytic function and suggests further metabolic versatility. However, the role of this gene requires further investigation. Our results provide evidence for functional diversity and metabolic versatility among phylogenetically closely related thaumarchaeal strains, and point toward adaptations to free-living versus particle-associated life styles and possible niche differentiation among AOA in marine ecosystems.
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Palatinszky M, Herbold C, Jehmlich N, Pogoda M, Han P, von Bergen M, Lagkouvardos I, Karst SM, Galushko A, Koch H, Berry D, Daims H, Wagner M. Cyanate as an energy source for nitrifiers. Nature 2015; 524:105-8. [PMID: 26222031 PMCID: PMC4539577 DOI: 10.1038/nature14856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2014] [Accepted: 06/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing microorganisms are collectively responsible for the aerobic oxidation of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate and have essential roles in the global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. The physiology of nitrifiers has been intensively studied, and urea and ammonia are the only recognized energy sources that promote the aerobic growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea. Here we report the aerobic growth of a pure culture of the ammonia-oxidizing thaumarchaeote Nitrososphaera gargensis using cyanate as the sole source of energy and reductant; to our knowledge, the first organism known to do so. Cyanate, a potentially important source of reduced nitrogen in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, is converted to ammonium and carbon dioxide in Nitrososphaera gargensis by a cyanase enzyme that is induced upon addition of this compound. Within the cyanase gene family, this cyanase is a member of a distinct clade also containing cyanases of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria of the genus Nitrospira. We demonstrate by co-culture experiments that these nitrite oxidizers supply cyanase-lacking ammonia oxidizers with ammonium from cyanate, which is fully nitrified by this microbial consortium through reciprocal feeding. By screening a comprehensive set of more than 3,000 publically available metagenomes from environmental samples, we reveal that cyanase-encoding genes clustering with the cyanases of these nitrifiers are widespread in the environment. Our results demonstrate an unexpected metabolic versatility of nitrifying microorganisms, and suggest a previously unrecognized importance of cyanate in cycling of nitrogen compounds in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marton Palatinszky
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Craig Herbold
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nico Jehmlich
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Proteomics, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mario Pogoda
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ping Han
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Martin von Bergen
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Proteomics, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Metabolomics, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, The Faculty of Engineering and Science, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7, Building H, Room 3401., 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Ilias Lagkouvardos
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Søren M. Karst
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, The Faculty of Engineering and Science, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7, Building H, Room 3401., 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Alexander Galushko
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Hanna Koch
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - David Berry
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Holger Daims
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Wagner
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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Hong JK, Cho JC. Environmental Variables Shaping the Ecological Niche of Thaumarchaeota in Soil: Direct and Indirect Causal Effects. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0133763. [PMID: 26241328 PMCID: PMC4524719 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2015] [Accepted: 07/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
To find environmental variables (EVs) shaping the ecological niche of the archaeal phylum Thaumarchaeota in terrestrial environments, we determined the abundance of Thaumarchaeota in various soil samples using real-time PCR targeting thaumarchaeotal 16S rRNA gene sequences. We employed our previously developed primer, THAUM-494, which had greater coverage for Thaumarchaeota and lower tolerance to nonthaumarchaeotal taxa than previous Thaumarchaeota-directed primers. The relative abundance estimates (RVs) of Thaumarchaeota (RTHAUM), Archaea (RARCH), and Bacteria (RBACT) were subjected to a series of statistical analyses. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed a significant (p < 0.05) canonical relationship between RVs and EVs. Negative causal relationships between RTHAUM and nutrient level-related EVs were observed in an RDA biplot. These negative relationships were further confirmed by correlation and regression analyses. Total nitrogen content (TN) appeared to be the EV that affected RTHAUM most strongly, and total carbon content (TC), which reflected the content of organic matter (OM), appeared to be the EV that affected it least. However, in the path analysis, a path model indicated that TN might be a mediator EV that could be controlled directly by the OM. Additionally, another path model implied that water content (WC) might also indirectly affect RTHAUM by controlling ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) level through ammonification. Thus, although most directly affected by NH4+-N, RTHAUM could be ultimately determined by OM content, suggesting that Thaumarchaeota could prefer low-OM or low-WC conditions, because either of these EVs could subsequently result in low levels of NH4+-N in soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Kyung Hong
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Department of Environmental Sciences, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yong-In, Korea
| | - Jae-Chang Cho
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Department of Environmental Sciences, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yong-In, Korea
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