Project description:The global significance of marine non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs, notably heterotrophic bacterial diazotrophs (HBDs), has become increasingly clear. Understanding N2 fixation rates for these largely uncultured organisms poses a challenge due to uncertain growth requirements and complex nitrogenase regulation. We identified Candidatus Thalassolituus haligoni as an Oceanospirillales member, closely related to other significant γ-proteobacterial HBDs. Pangenome analysis reinforces this classification, indicating the isolate belongs to the same species as the uncultured metagenome-assembled genome Arc-Gamma-03. Analysis of the nifH gene in amplicon sequencing libraries reveals the extensive distribution of Cand. T. haligoni across the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Through combined proteomic analysis and N2 fixation rate measurements, we confirmed the isolate’s capacity for nitrate independent N2 fixation, although a clear understanding of nitrogenase regulation remains unclear. Overall, our study highlights the significance of Cand. T. haligoni as the first globally distributed, cultured model species within the understudied group of Oceanospirillales, and γ-HBDs in general.
Project description:An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and large volume underwater pumps were used to collect microbial biomass from offshore waters of the Sargasso Sea, from surface waters and into the deep ocean. Seawater collection was performed along a transect in the western North Atlantic Ocean beginning near Bermuda and ending off the coast of Massachusetts, capturing metabolic signatures from oligotrophic, continental margin, and productive coastal ecosystems.
Project description:Sensitive models of climate change impacts would require a better integration of multi-omics approaches that connect the abundance and activity of microbial populations. Here, we show that climate is a fundamental driver of the protein abundance of microbial populations (metaproteomics), yet not their genomic abundance (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing), supporting the hypothesis that metabolic activity may be more closely linked to climate than community composition.