Project description:Bacteria are recognized for their diverse metabolic capabilities, yet the impact of microbe-microbe interactions on multispecies community structure and dynamics is poorly understood. Cell-to-cell signaling in the form of quorum sensing (QS) often regulates secondary metabolite production and microbial interactions. Here we examine how acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) mediated QS impacts microbial community structure in a 10-member synthetic community of isolates from Populus deltoides. To explore the role of QS in microbial community structure and dynamics, we disrupted AHL signaling using purified AiiA-lactonase, an enzyme that cleaves the lactone ring. Microbial community structure resulting from signal inactivation, as measured by 16S amplicon sequencing and secondary metabolite production, was assessed after successive passaging of the community. Further, we investigated the impact of quorum quenching on microbe-microbe interactions using pairwise inhibition assays. Our results indicate that AHL inactivation alters the relative abundance of dominant community members at later passages but does not impact the overall membership in the community. Quorum quenching significantly alters the metabolic profile in AiiA-lactonase treated communities. This metabolic alteration impacts microbe-microbe interactions through decreased inhibition of other community members. Together, these results indicate that QS impacts microbial community structure through the regulation of secondary metabolites in dominant members and that membership of microbial communities can be relatively stable despite changes in metabolic profiles
Project description:Maize and rice are the two most economically important grass crops and utilize distinct forms of photosynthesis to fix carbon: C4 and C3 respectively. Relative to C3 photosynthesis, C4 photosynthesis reduces photorespiration and affords higher water and nitrogen use efficiencies under hot arid conditions. To define key innovations in C4 photosynthesis, we profiled metabolites and gene expression along a developing leaf gradient. A novel statistical method was implemented to compare transcriptomes from these two species along a unified leaf developmental gradient and define candidate cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors driving photosynthetic gene expression. We also present comparative primary and secondary metabolic profiles along the gradients that provide new insight into nitrogen and carbon metabolism in C3 and C4 grasses. These resources, including community viewers to access and mine these datasets, will enable the elucidation and engineering of C4 photosynthetic networks to improve the photosynthetic capacity of C3 and C4 grasses.
Project description:The increased urban pressures are often associated with specialization of microbial communities. Microbial communities being a critical player in the geochemical processes, makes it important to identify key environmental parameters that influence the community structure and its function.In this proect we study the influence of land use type and environmental parameters on the structure and function of microbial communities. The present study was conducted in an urban catchment, where the metal and pollutants levels are under allowable limits. The overall goal of this study is to understand the role of engineered physicochemical environment on the structure and function of microbial communities in urban storm-water canals. Microbial community structure was determined using PhyoChio (G3) Water and sediment samples were collected after a rain event from Sungei Ulu Pandan watershed of >25km2, which has two major land use types: Residential and industrial. Samples were analyzed for physicochemical variables and microbial community structure and composition. Microbial community structure was determined using PhyoChio (G3)
Project description:To understand microbial community functional structures of activated sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the effects of environmental factors on their structure, 12 activated sludge samples were collected from four WWTPs in Beijing. GeoChip 4.2 was used to determine the microbial functional genes involved in a variety of biogeochemical processes. The results showed that, for each gene category, such as egl, amyA, nir, ppx, dsrA sox and benAB, there were a number of microorganisms shared by all 12 samples, suggestive of the presence of a core microbial community in the activated sludge of four WWTPs. Variance partitioning analyses (VPA) showed that a total of 53% of microbial community variation can be explained by wastewater characteristics (25%) and operational parameters (23%), respectively. This study provided an overall picture of microbial community functional structures of activated sludge in WWTPs and discerned the linkages between microbial communities and environmental variables in WWTPs. Four full-scale wastewater treatment systems located in Beijing were investigated. Triplicate samples were collected in each site.
Project description:To understand microbial community functional structures of activated sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the effects of environmental factors on their structure, 12 activated sludge samples were collected from four WWTPs in Beijing. GeoChip 4.2 was used to determine the microbial functional genes involved in a variety of biogeochemical processes. The results showed that, for each gene category, such as egl, amyA, nir, ppx, dsrA sox and benAB, there were a number of microorganisms shared by all 12 samples, suggestive of the presence of a core microbial community in the activated sludge of four WWTPs. Variance partitioning analyses (VPA) showed that a total of 53% of microbial community variation can be explained by wastewater characteristics (25%) and operational parameters (23%), respectively. This study provided an overall picture of microbial community functional structures of activated sludge in WWTPs and discerned the linkages between microbial communities and environmental variables in WWTPs.
Project description:Xiangjiang River (Hunan, China) has been contaminated with heavy metal for several decades by surrounding factories. However, little is known about the influence of a gradient of heavy metal contamination on the diversity, structure of microbial functional gene in sediment. To deeply understand the impact of heavy metal contamination on microbial community, a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0) has been used to study the functional genes structure, composition, diversity and metabolic potential of microbial community from three heavy metal polluted sites of Xiangjiang River.
Project description:Maize and rice are the two most economically important grass crops and utilize distinct forms of photosynthesis to fix carbon: C4 and C3 respectively. Relative to C3 photosynthesis, C4 photosynthesis reduces photorespiration and affords higher water and nitrogen use efficiencies under hot arid conditions. To define key innovations in C4 photosynthesis, we profiled metabolites and gene expression along a developing leaf gradient. A novel statistical method was implemented to compare transcriptomes from these two species along a unified leaf developmental gradient and define candidate cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors driving photosynthetic gene expression. We also present comparative primary and secondary metabolic profiles along the gradients that provide new insight into nitrogen and carbon metabolism in C3 and C4 grasses. These resources, including community viewers to access and mine these datasets, will enable the elucidation and engineering of C4 photosynthetic networks to improve the photosynthetic capacity of C3 and C4 grasses. [Maize] Nine day old third leaves of maize were cut into fifteen 1 cm segments; samples were pooled from an average of seven plants per biological replicate and six biological replicates in total were collected on different dates. [Rice] 14 day old third leaves of rice were cut into eleven 2 cm segments, samples were pooled from an average of 15 plants per biological replicate and four replicates in total were collected.
Project description:In this study, we used multiple meta-omic approaches to characterize the microbial community and the active metabolic pathways of a stable industrial biogas reactor operating at thermophilic temperatures (60°C) and elevated levels of free ammonia (367 mg NH3-N/L).
Project description:Xiangjiang River (Hunan, China) has been contaminated with heavy metal for several decades by surrounding factories. However, little is known about the influence of a gradient of heavy metal contamination on the diversity, structure of microbial functional gene in sediment. To deeply understand the impact of heavy metal contamination on microbial community, a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0) has been used to study the functional genes structure, composition, diversity and metabolic potential of microbial community from three heavy metal polluted sites of Xiangjiang River. Three groups of samples, A, B and C. Every group has 3 replicates.