Dataset Information

Microbial communities mediating algal detritus turnover under anaerobic conditions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Algae encompass a wide array of photosynthetic organisms that are ubiquitously distributed in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Algal species often bloom in aquatic ecosystems, providing a significant autochthonous carbon input to the deeper anoxic layers in stratified water bodies. In addition, various algal species have been touted as promising candidates for anaerobic biogas production from biomass. Surprisingly, in spite of its ecological and economic relevance, the microbial community involved in algal detritus turnover under anaerobic conditions remains largely unexplored.

Results

Here, we characterized the microbial communities mediating the degradation of Chlorella vulgaris (Chlorophyta), Chara sp. strain IWP1 (Charophyceae), and kelp Ascophyllum nodosum (phylum Phaeophyceae), using sediments from an anaerobic spring (Zodlteone spring, OK; ZDT), sludge from a secondary digester in a local wastewater treatment plant (Stillwater, OK; WWT), and deeper anoxic layers from a seasonally stratified lake (Grand Lake O' the Cherokees, OK; GL) as inoculum sources. Within all enrichments, the majority of algal biomass was metabolized within 13-16 weeks, and the process was accompanied by an increase in cell numbers and a decrease in community diversity. Community surveys based on the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene identified different lineages belonging to the phyla Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria (alpha, delta, gamma, and epsilon classes), Spirochaetes, and Firmicutes that were selectively abundant under various substrate and inoculum conditions. Within all kelp enrichments, the microbial communities structures at the conclusion of the experiment were highly similar regardless of the enrichment source, and were dominated by the genus Clostridium, or family Veillonellaceae within the Firmicutes. In all other enrichments the final microbial community was dependent on the inoculum source, rather than the type of algae utilized as substrate. Lineages enriched included the uncultured groups VadinBC27 and WCHB1-69 within the Bacteroidetes, genus Spirochaeta and the uncultured group SHA-4 within Spirochaetes, Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Yongiibacter, Geosporobacter, and Acidaminobacter within the Firmicutes, and genera Kluyvera, Pantoea, Edwardsiella and Aeromonas, and Buttiauxella within the Gamma-Proteobaceteria order Enterobacteriales.

Conclusions

Our results represent the first systematic survey of microbial communities mediating turnover of algal biomass under anaerobic conditions, and highlights the diversity of lineages putatively involved in the degradation process.

SUBMITTER: Morrison JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5228501 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Microbial communities mediating algal detritus turnover under anaerobic conditions.

Morrison Jessica M JM Murphy Chelsea L CL Baker Kristina K Zamor Richard M RM Nikolai Steve J SJ Wilder Shawn S Elshahed Mostafa S MS Youssef Noha H NH

PeerJ 20170110

<h4>Background</h4>Algae encompass a wide array of photosynthetic organisms that are ubiquitously distributed in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Algal species often bloom in aquatic ecosystems, providing a significant autochthonous carbon input to the deeper anoxic layers in stratified water bodies. In addition, various algal species have been touted as promising candidates for anaerobic biogas production from biomass. Surprisingly, in spite of its ecological and economic relevance, the microb ...[more]

PMID: 28097050

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Project description:Cell proliferation is achieved by numerous enzyme reactions. Temperature governs the activity of each enzyme, which overall determines the optimal growth temperature. Synthesizing useful chemicals and fuels utilizes only part of the metabolic pathways, especially the central metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and TCA cycle to metabolize glucose. However, the optimal temperature for the activity of the central metabolic pathways is inconclusive whether it is correlated with the optimal temperature for cell proliferation. Here, we found that Corynebacterium glutamicum wild type increased the metabolic activity to consume glucose under anaerobic (oxygen deprived) conditions at 42.5ºC, in which the cell hardly grows under aerobic conditions. Glucose consumption rate was increased by 24% at 42.5ºC compared to that at the optimal growth temperature of 30.0ºC. Transcriptional analysis showed that gapX gene encoding glycelaldehydre-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, glucokinase gene, and a gene involved in glucose uptake were upregulated at 42.5ºC. Production of fermentative lactate was increased by 69% than that at 30.0ºC, whereas succinate production was decreased by 13%. In addition to several glycolytic enzymes, the activity of pyruvate kinase was increased with increasing the temperature, whereas the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in anapleotic pathway leading to succinate synthesis was decreased. However, a metabolically engineered succinate over-producing strain, in which lactate production was shut off and pyruvate carboxylase encoding gene in another anapleotic pathway was overexpressed, produced 34% higher succinate at 42.5ºC than that at 30.0ºC with increased glucose consumption. This study provides the evidence that the optimal reaction temperature for production of fermentative products can be set beyond upper limit of growth temperature in C. glutamicum, and hence it could be applicable for producing various chemicals and fuels in C. glutamicum under anaerobic conditions and non-growing cell reactions in other microorganisms.

Project description:Despite the plethora of approaches, the sensitivity of the methods to measure the relationship between the abundance and biomass curves in stressed detritus-based ecosystems still remain to be refined. In this work, we report the comparison between biomass and abundance in a set of detritus-based macrozoobenthic assemblages located in six sampling pools with different salinity in an artificial aquatic ecosystem (disused Tarquinia Saltworks), using two diversity/dominance approaches (Abundance/Biomass Comparisons, or ABC, and Whittaker plots). We also evaluated the contribution of abundances and biomasses diversity (Simpson index) and nestedness, which measures the order by which macroinvertebrates colonized the detrital resource.The outputs obtained by both ABC curves and Whittaker plots highlight two different thresholds in assemblage structure: between about 44 and 50 practical salinity unit (psu) and between 50 and 87 psu, respectively. The first threshold was due to a turnover in taxon composition between assemblages, the second threshold (evidenced by Whittaker plots) was due to a change in taxon richness (lower in pools with higher salinity: i.e. > 50 psu). Moreover, a normal-shaped pattern in diversity (Simpson index) emerged, suggestive of an intermediate disturbance effect. The nested pattern did not show significant differences when considering the density and biomass of the sampled taxa, providing similar threshold of salinity in the relative contribution of macrozoobenthos on nestedness.The use of detailed (ABC and Whittaker plots) and macroscopic (Simpson index and nestedness) approaches is proposed to identify thresholds in the structuring and functioning of detritus-based community of disused aquatic ecosystems: in particular, the inclusion of the parameter of biomass (scarcely utilized in community-based research) appears crucial. The responses of macrozoobenthic assemblages to the salinity stress conditions, in term of abundance and biomass, using a detritus food source (Phragmites australis leaves), may also highlight, by comparing macroscopic and detailed approaches, structuring and functioning patterns to consider for the management of disused artificial ecosystems.

Dataset Information

Microbial communities mediating algal detritus turnover under anaerobic conditions.

Background

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Microbial communities mediating algal detritus turnover under anaerobic conditions.

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