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Probing the diversity of chloromethane-degrading bacteria by comparative genomics and isotopic fractionation.

ABSTRACT: Chloromethane (CH3Cl) is produced on earth by a variety of abiotic and biological processes. It is the most important halogenated trace gas in the atmosphere, where it contributes to ozone destruction. Current estimates of the global CH3Cl budget are uncertain and suggest that microorganisms might play a more important role in degrading atmospheric CH3Cl than previously thought. Its degradation by bacteria has been demonstrated in marine, terrestrial, and phyllospheric environments. Improving our knowledge of these degradation processes and their magnitude is thus highly relevant for a better understanding of the global budget of CH3Cl. The cmu pathway, for chloromethane utilisation, is the only microbial pathway for CH3Cl degradation elucidated so far, and was characterized in detail in aerobic methylotrophic Alphaproteobacteria. Here, we reveal the potential of using a two-pronged approach involving a combination of comparative genomics and isotopic fractionation during CH3Cl degradation to newly address the question of the diversity of chloromethane-degrading bacteria in the environment. Analysis of available bacterial genome sequences reveals that several bacteria not yet known to degrade CH3Cl contain part or all of the complement of cmu genes required for CH3Cl degradation. These organisms, unlike bacteria shown to grow with CH3Cl using the cmu pathway, are obligate anaerobes. On the other hand, analysis of the complete genome of the chloromethane-degrading bacterium Leisingera methylohalidivorans MB2 showed that this bacterium does not contain cmu genes. Isotope fractionation experiments with L. methylohalidivorans MB2 suggest that the unknown pathway used by this bacterium for growth with CH3Cl can be differentiated from the cmu pathway. This result opens the prospect that contributions from bacteria with the cmu and Leisingera-type pathways to the atmospheric CH3Cl budget may be teased apart in the future.

SUBMITTER: Nadalig T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4197683 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Probing the diversity of chloromethane-degrading bacteria by comparative genomics and isotopic fractionation.

Nadalig Thierry T Greule Markus M Bringel Françoise F Keppler Frank F Vuilleumier Stéphane S

Frontiers in microbiology 20141015

Chloromethane (CH3Cl) is produced on earth by a variety of abiotic and biological processes. It is the most important halogenated trace gas in the atmosphere, where it contributes to ozone destruction. Current estimates of the global CH3Cl budget are uncertain and suggest that microorganisms might play a more important role in degrading atmospheric CH3Cl than previously thought. Its degradation by bacteria has been demonstrated in marine, terrestrial, and phyllospheric environments. Improving ou ...[more]

PMID: 25360131

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Project description:BackgroundApproximately 500 Tg of isoprene are emitted to the atmosphere annually, an amount similar to that of methane, and despite its significant effects on the climate, very little is known about the biological degradation of isoprene in the environment. Isolation and characterisation of isoprene degraders at the molecular level has allowed the development of probes targeting isoA encoding the α-subunit of the isoprene monooxygenase. This enzyme belongs to the soluble diiron centre monooxygenase family and catalyses the first step in the isoprene degradation pathway. The use of probes targeting key metabolic genes is a successful approach in molecular ecology to study specific groups of bacteria in complex environments. Here, we developed and tested a novel isoA PCR primer set to study the distribution, abundance, and diversity of isoprene degraders in a wide range of environments.ResultsThe new isoA probes specifically amplified isoA genes from taxonomically diverse isoprene-degrading bacteria including members of the genera Rhodococcus, Variovorax, and Sphingopyxis. There was no cross-reactivity with genes encoding related oxygenases from non-isoprene degraders. Sequencing of isoA amplicons from DNA extracted from environmental samples enriched with isoprene revealed that most environments tested harboured a considerable variety of isoA sequences, with poplar leaf enrichments containing more phylogenetically diverse isoA genes. Quantification by qPCR using these isoA probes revealed that isoprene degraders are widespread in the phyllosphere, terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. Specifically, soils in the vicinity of high isoprene-emitting trees contained the highest number of isoprene-degrading bacteria.ConclusionThis study provides the molecular ecology tools to broaden our knowledge of the distribution, abundance and diversity of isoprene degraders in the environment, which is a fundamental step necessary to assess the impact that microbes have in mitigating the effects of this important climate-active gas.

Project description:Nitrogen use efficiency is an important index in ruminants and can be indirectly evaluated through the N isotopic discrimination between the animal and its diet (Δ15Nanimal-diet). The concentration and source of N may determine both the extent of the N isotopic discrimination in bacteria and N use efficiency. We hypothesised that the uptake and release of ammonia by rumen bacteria will affect the natural 15N enrichment of the bacterial biomass over their substrates (Δ15Nbacteria-substrate) and thereby further impacting Δ15Nanimal-diet. To test this hypothesis, two independent in vitro experiments were conducted using two contrasting N sources (organic vs inorganic) at different levels either in pure rumen bacteria culture incubations (Experiment #1) or in mixed rumen cultures (Experiment #2). In Experiment #1, tryptone casein or ammonium chloride were tested at low (1 mM N) and high (11.5 mM N) concentrations on three rumen bacterial strains (Fibrobacter succinogenes, Eubacterium limosum and Xylanibacter ruminicola) incubated in triplicate in anaerobic batch monocultures during 48h. In Experiment #2 mixed rumen cultures were incubated during 120 h with peptone or ammonium chloride at five different levels of N (1.5, 3, 4.5, 6 and 12-mM). In experiment #1, Δ15Nbacteria-substrate was lowest when the ammonia-consumer bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes was grown on ammonium chloride, and highest when the proteolytic bacterial strain Xylanibacter ruminicola was grown on tryptone. In experiment #2, Δ15Nbacteria-substrate was lower with inorganic (ammonium chloride) vs organic (peptone) N source. A strong negative correlation between Δ15Nbacteria-substrate and Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, a potential fibrolytic rumen bacterium, was detected. Together, our results showed that Δ15Nbacteria-substrate may change according to the balance between synthesis of microbial protein from ammonia versus non-ammonia N sources and confirm the key role of rumen bacteria as modulators of Δ15Nanimal-diet.

Dataset Information

Probing the diversity of chloromethane-degrading bacteria by comparative genomics and isotopic fractionation.

Publications

Probing the diversity of chloromethane-degrading bacteria by comparative genomics and isotopic fractionation.

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