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Beaver RC, Neufeld JD. Microbial ecology of the deep terrestrial subsurface. THE ISME JOURNAL 2024; 18:wrae091. [PMID: 38780093 PMCID: PMC11170664 DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrae091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
The terrestrial subsurface hosts microbial communities that, collectively, are predicted to comprise as many microbial cells as global surface soils. Although initially thought to be associated with deposited organic matter, deep subsurface microbial communities are supported by chemolithoautotrophic primary production, with hydrogen serving as an important source of electrons. Despite recent progress, relatively little is known about the deep terrestrial subsurface compared to more commonly studied environments. Understanding the composition of deep terrestrial subsurface microbial communities and the factors that influence them is of importance because of human-associated activities including long-term storage of used nuclear fuel, carbon capture, and storage of hydrogen for use as an energy vector. In addition to identifying deep subsurface microorganisms, recent research focuses on identifying the roles of microorganisms in subsurface communities, as well as elucidating myriad interactions-syntrophic, episymbiotic, and viral-that occur among community members. In recent years, entirely new groups of microorganisms (i.e. candidate phyla radiation bacteria and Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoloarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota archaea) have been discovered in deep terrestrial subsurface environments, suggesting that much remains unknown about this biosphere. This review explores the historical context for deep terrestrial subsurface microbial ecology and highlights recent discoveries that shape current ecological understanding of this poorly explored microbial habitat. Additionally, we highlight the need for multifaceted experimental approaches to observe phenomena such as cryptic cycles, complex interactions, and episymbiosis, which may not be apparent when using single approaches in isolation, but are nonetheless critical to advancing our understanding of this deep biosphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel C Beaver
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Josh D Neufeld
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
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Bassani I, Bellini R, Vizzarro A, Coti C, Pozzovivo V, Barbieri D, Pirri CF, Verga F, Menin B. Biogeochemical characterization of four depleted gas reservoirs for conversion into underground hydrogen storage. Environ Microbiol 2023; 25:3683-3702. [PMID: 37964633 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Depleted gas reservoirs are a valuable option for underground hydrogen storage (UHS). However, different classes of microorganisms, which are capable of using free H2 as a reducing agent for their metabolism, inhabit deep underground formations and can potentially affect the storage. This study integrates metagenomics based on Illumina-NGS sequencing of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA and dsrB and mcrA functional genes to unveil the composition and the variability of indigenous microbial populations of four Italian depleted reservoirs. The obtained mcrA sequences allow us to implement the existing taxonomic database for mcrA gene sequences with newly classified sequences obtained from the Italian gas reservoirs. Moreover, the KEGG and COG predictive functional annotation was used to highlight the metabolic pathways potentially associated with hydrogenotrophic metabolisms. The analyses revealed the specificity of each reservoir microbial community, and taxonomic and functional data highlighted the presence of an enriched number of taxa, whose activity depends on both reservoir hydrochemical composition and nutrient availability, of potential relevance in the context of UHS. This study is the very first to address the profiling of the microbial population and allowed us to perform a preliminary assessment of UHS feasibility in Italy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Bassani
- Centre for Sustainable Future Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Turin, Italy
| | - Ruggero Bellini
- Centre for Sustainable Future Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Turin, Italy
| | - Arianna Vizzarro
- Centre for Sustainable Future Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Turin, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Candido Fabrizio Pirri
- Centre for Sustainable Future Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Turin, Italy
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Francesca Verga
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Barbara Menin
- Centre for Sustainable Future Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Turin, Italy
- National Research Council, Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology (CNR-IBBA), Milan, Italy
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Lin Z, Tan J, Xiong Z, Fu Z, Chen J, Xie T, Zheng J, Zhang Y, Li P. Regulation of the autochthonous microbial community in excess sludge for the bioconversion of carbon dioxide to acetate without exogenic hydrogen. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2023; 378:129011. [PMID: 37011841 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The autochthonous microbial community from excess sludge was regulated for enhanced conversion of CO2 to acetate without exogenic H2. It was interesting that the acetate-fed system exhibited a surprising performance to regulate the microbial community for a high acetate yield and selectivity. As a result, some hydrogen-producing bacteria (e.g., Proteiniborus) and acetogenic bacteria with the ability of CO2 reduction were enriched by acetate feeding, 2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES) addition and CO2 stress. When the selected microbial community was applied to convert CO2, the accumulation of acetate was positively correlated to the concentration of yeast extract. Finally, the acetate yield reached up to 67.24 mM with a high product selectivity of 84 % in the presence of yeast extract (2 g/L) and sufficient CO2 in semi-continuous culture for 10 days. This work should help get new insights into the regulation of microbial community for the efficient acetate production from CO2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiwen Lin
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Jinan Tan
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Zhihan Xiong
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Zisen Fu
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Jing Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Tonghui Xie
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Jia Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Wuliangye-flavor Liquor Solid-state Fermentation, China National Light Industry, Yibin, Sichuan 644007, PR China
| | - Yongkui Zhang
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China
| | - Panyu Li
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biological Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, PR China.
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Ramezanzadeh M, Slowinski S, Rezanezhad F, Murr K, Lam C, Smeaton C, Alibert C, Vandergriendt M, Van Cappellen P. Effects of freeze-thaw cycles on methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation: Experiment and modeling. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 325:138405. [PMID: 36931401 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138405] [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: 11/19/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Cold regions are warming much faster than the global average, resulting in more frequent and intense freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) in soils. In hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, FTCs modify the biogeochemical and physical processes controlling petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) biodegradation and the associated generation of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus, understanding the effects of FTCs on the biodegradation of PHCs is critical for environmental risk assessment and the design of remediation strategies for contaminated soils in cold regions. In this study, we developed a diffusion-reaction model that accounts for the effects of FTCs on toluene biodegradation, including methanogenic biodegradation. The model is verified against data generated in a 215 day-long batch experiment with soil collected from a PHC contaminated site in Ontario, Canada. The fully saturated soil incubations with six different treatments were exposed to successive 4-week FTCs, with temperatures oscillating between -10 °C and +15 °C, under anoxic conditions to stimulate methanogenic biodegradation. We measured the headspace concentrations and 13C isotope compositions of CH4 and CO2 and analyzed the porewater for pH, acetate, dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, and toluene. The numerical model represents solute diffusion, volatilization, sorption, as well as a reaction network of 13 biogeochemical processes. The model successfully simulates the soil porewater and headspace concentration time series data by representing the temperature dependencies of microbial reaction and gas diffusion rates during FTCs. According to the model results, the observed increases in the headspace concentrations of CH4 and CO2 by 87% and 136%, respectively, following toluene addition are explained by toluene fermentation and subsequent methanogenesis reactions. The experiment and the numerical simulation show that methanogenic degradation is the primary toluene attenuation mechanism under the electron acceptor-limited conditions experienced by the soil samples, representing 74% of the attenuation, with sorption contributing to 11%, and evaporation contributing to 15%. Also, the model-predicted contribution of acetate-based methanogenesis to total produced CH4 agrees with that derived from the 13C isotope data. The freezing-induced soil matrix organic carbon release is considered as an important process causing DOC increase following each freezing period according to the calculations of carbon balance and SUVA index. The simulation results of a no FTC scenario indicate that, in the absence of FTCs, CO2 and CH4 generation would decrease by 29% and 26%, respectively, and that toluene would be biodegraded 23% faster than in the FTC scenario. Because our modeling approach represents the dominant processes controlling PHC biodegradation and the associated CH4 and CO2 fluxes, it can be used to analyze the sensitivity of these processes to FTC frequency and duration driven by temperature fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Ramezanzadeh
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada.
| | - Stephanie Slowinski
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Fereidoun Rezanezhad
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Kathleen Murr
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Christina Lam
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Christina Smeaton
- School of Science and the Environment, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
| | - Clement Alibert
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Marianne Vandergriendt
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
| | - Philippe Van Cappellen
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Canada
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Current Status and Prospects of Valorizing Organic Waste via Arrested Anaerobic Digestion: Production and Separation of Volatile Fatty Acids. FERMENTATION-BASEL 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/fermentation9010013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Volatile fatty acids (VFA) are intermediary degradation products during anaerobic digestion (AD) that are subsequently converted to methanogenic substrates, such as hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and acetic acid (CH3COOH). The final step of AD is the conversion of these methanogenic substrates into biogas, a mixture of methane (CH4) and CO2. In arrested AD (AAD), the methanogenic step is suppressed to inhibit VFA conversion to biogas, making VFA the main product of AAD, with CO2 and H2. VFA recovered from the AAD fermentation can be further converted to sustainable biofuels and bioproducts. Although this concept is known, commercialization of the AAD concept has been hindered by low VFA titers and productivity and lack of cost-effective separation methods for recovering VFA. This article reviews the different techniques used to rewire AD to AAD and the current state of the art of VFA production with AAD, emphasizing recent developments made for increasing the production and separation of VFA from complex organic materials. Finally, this paper discusses VFA production by AAD could play a pivotal role in producing sustainable jet fuels from agricultural biomass and wet organic waste materials.
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Microbial community development during syngas methanation in a trickle bed reactor with various nutrient sources. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2022; 106:5317-5333. [PMID: 35799068 PMCID: PMC9329420 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-022-12035-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Microbial community development within an anaerobic trickle bed reactor (TBR) during methanation of syngas (56% H2, 30% CO, 14% CO2) was investigated using three different nutrient media: defined nutrient medium (241 days), diluted digestate from a thermophilic co-digestion plant operating with food waste (200 days) and reject water from dewatered digested sewage sludge at a wastewater treatment plant (220 days). Different TBR operating periods showed slightly different performance that was not clearly linked to the nutrient medium, as all proved suitable for the methanation process. During operation, maximum syngas load was 5.33 L per L packed bed volume (pbv) & day and methane (CH4) production was 1.26 L CH4/Lpbv/d. Microbial community analysis with Illumina Miseq targeting 16S rDNA revealed high relative abundance (20-40%) of several potential syngas and acetate consumers within the genera Sporomusa, Spirochaetaceae, Rikenellaceae and Acetobacterium during the process. These were the dominant taxa except in a period with high flow rate of digestate from the food waste plant. The dominant methanogen in all periods was a member of the genus Methanobacterium, while Methanosarcina was also observed in the carrier community. As in reactor effluent, the dominant bacterial genus in the carrier was Sporomusa. These results show that syngas methanation in TBR can proceed well with different nutrient sources, including undefined medium of different origins. Moreover, the dominant syngas community remained the same over time even when non-sterilised digestates were used as nutrient medium. KEY POINTS: • Independent of nutrient source, syngas methanation above 1 L/Lpbv/D was achieved. • Methanobacterium and Sporomusa were dominant genera throughout the process. • Acetate conversion proceeded via both methanogenesis and syntrophic acetate oxidation.
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Logroño W, Nikolausz M, Harms H, Kleinsteuber S. Physiological Effects of 2-Bromoethanesulfonate on Hydrogenotrophic Pure and Mixed Cultures. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10020355. [PMID: 35208809 PMCID: PMC8877471 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10020355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Mixed or pure cultures can be used for biomethanation of hydrogen. Sodium 2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES) is an inhibitor of methanogenesis used to investigate competing reactions like homoacetogenesis in mixed cultures. To understand the effect of BES on the hydrogenotrophic metabolism in a biomethanation process, anaerobic granules from a wastewater treatment plant, a hydrogenotrophic enrichment culture, and pure cultures of Methanococcus maripaludis and Methanobacterium formicicum were incubated under H2/CO2 headspace in the presence or absence of BES, and the turnover of H2, CO2, CH4, formate and acetate was analyzed. Anaerobic granules produced the highest amount of formate after 24 h of incubation in the presence of BES. Treating the enrichment culture with BES led to the accumulation of formate. M. maripaludis produced more formate than M. formicicum when treated with BES. The non-inhibited methanogenic communities produced small amounts of formate whereas the pure cultures did not. The highest amount of acetate was produced by the anaerobic granules concomitantly with formate consumption. These results indicate that formate is an important intermediate of hydrogenotrophic metabolism accumulating upon methanogenesis inhibition.
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Ntagia E, Chatzigiannidou I, Carvajal-Arroyo JM, Arends JBA, Rabaey K. Continuous H 2/CO 2 fermentation for acetic acid production under transient and continuous sulfide inhibition. CHEMOSPHERE 2021; 285:131536. [PMID: 34273695 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Waste gas fermentation powered by renewable H2 is reaching kiloton scale. The presence of sulfide, inherent to many waste gases, can cause inhibition, requiring additional gas treatment. In this work, acetogenesis and methanogenesis inhibition by sulfide were studied in a 10-L mixed-culture fermenter, supplied with CO2 and connected with a water electrolysis unit for electricity-powered H2 supply. Three cycles of inhibition (1.3 mM total dissolved sulfide (TDS)) and recovery were applied, then the fermenter was operated at 0.5 mM TDS for 35 days. During operation at 0.5 mM TDS the acetate production rate reached 7.1 ± 1.5 mmol C L-1 d-1. Furthermore, 43.7 ± 15.6% of the electrons, provided as H2, were distributed to acetate and 7.7 ± 4.1% to butyrate, the second most abundant fermentation product. Selectivity of sulfide as inhibitor was demonstrated by a 7 days lag-phase of methanogenesis recovery, compared to 48 h for acetogenesis and by the less than 1% electrons distribution to CH4, under 0.5 mM TDS. The microbial community was dominated by Eubacterium, Proteiniphilum and an unclassified member of the Eggerthellaceae family. The taxonomic diversity of the community decreased and conversely the phenotypic diversity increased, during operation. This work illustrated the scale-up potential of waste gas fermentations, by elucidating the effect of sulfide as a common gas impurity, and by demonstrating continuous, potentially renewable supply of electrons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleftheria Ntagia
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium; CAPTURE, www.capture-resources.be, Belgium
| | - Ioanna Chatzigiannidou
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium
| | - Jose M Carvajal-Arroyo
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium
| | - Jan B A Arends
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium; CAPTURE, www.capture-resources.be, Belgium
| | - Korneel Rabaey
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium; CAPTURE, www.capture-resources.be, Belgium.
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Singh A, Nylander JAA, Schnürer A, Bongcam-Rudloff E, Müller B. High-Throughput Sequencing and Unsupervised Analysis of Formyltetrahydrofolate Synthetase (FTHFS) Gene Amplicons to Estimate Acetogenic Community Structure. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:2066. [PMID: 32983047 PMCID: PMC7481360 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.02066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (FTHFS) gene is a molecular marker of choice to study the diversity of acetogenic communities. However, current analyses are limited due to lack of a high-throughput sequencing approach for FTHFS gene amplicons and a dedicated bioinformatics pipeline for data analysis, including taxonomic annotation and visualization of the sequence data. In the present study, we combined the barcode approach for multiplexed sequencing with unsupervised data analysis to visualize acetogenic community structure. We used samples from a biogas digester to develop proof-of-principle for our combined approach. We successfully generated high-throughput sequence data for the partial FTHFS gene and performed unsupervised data analysis using the novel bioinformatics pipeline “AcetoScan” presented in this study, which resulted in taxonomically annotated OTUs, phylogenetic tree, abundance plots and diversity indices. The results demonstrated that high-throughput sequencing can be used to sequence the FTHFS amplicons from a pool of samples, while the analysis pipeline AcetoScan can be reliably used to process the raw sequence data and visualize acetogenic community structure. The method and analysis pipeline described in this paper can assist in the identification and quantification of known or potentially new acetogens. The AcetoScan pipeline is freely available at https://github.com/abhijeetsingh1704/AcetoScan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhijeet Singh
- Anaerobic Microbiology and Biotechnology Group, Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Johan A A Nylander
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.,National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, SciLifeLab, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Schnürer
- Anaerobic Microbiology and Biotechnology Group, Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erik Bongcam-Rudloff
- SLU-Global Bioinformatics Centre, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Bettina Müller
- Anaerobic Microbiology and Biotechnology Group, Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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