Project description:The functional diversity of soil microbial communities was explored for a poplar plantation, which was treated solely with biogas slurry, or combined with biochar at different fertilization intensities over several years.
Project description:The rate, timing, and mode of species dispersal is recognized as a key driver of the structure and function of communities of macroorganisms, and may be one ecological process that determines the diversity of microbiomes. Many previous studies have quantified the modes and mechanisms of bacterial motility using monocultures of a few model bacterial species. But most microbes live in multispecies microbial communities, where direct interactions between microbes may inhibit or facilitate dispersal through a number of physical (e.g., hydrodynamic) and biological (e.g., chemotaxis) mechanisms, which remain largely unexplored. Using cheese rinds as a model microbiome, we demonstrate that physical networks created by filamentous fungi can impact the extent of small-scale bacterial dispersal and can shape the composition of microbiomes. From the cheese rind of Saint Nectaire, we serendipitously observed the bacterium Serratia proteamaculans actively spreads on networks formed by the fungus Mucor. By experimentally recreating these pairwise interactions in the lab, we show that Serratia spreads on actively growing and previously established fungal networks. The extent of symbiotic dispersal is dependent on the fungal network: diffuse and fast-growing Mucor networks provide the greatest dispersal facilitation of the Serratia species, while dense and slow-growing Penicillium networks provide limited dispersal facilitation. Fungal-mediated dispersal occurs in closely related Serratia species isolated from other environments, suggesting that this bacterial-fungal interaction is widespread in nature. Both RNA-seq and transposon mutagenesis point to specific molecular mechanisms that play key roles in this bacterial-fungal interaction, including chitin utilization and flagellin biosynthesis. By manipulating the presence and type of fungal networks in multispecies communities, we provide the first evidence that fungal networks shape the composition of bacterial communities, with Mucor networks shifting experimental bacterial communities to complete dominance by motile Proteobacteria. Collectively, our work demonstrates that these strong biophysical interactions between bacterial and fungi can have community-level consequences and may be operating in many other microbiomes.
2017-08-02 | GSE85095 | GEO
Project description:Fungal compost communities
| PRJNA1201072 | ENA
Project description:Soil bacterial and fungal communities under biochar application-ZM
Project description:Oral administration of an extract of compost fermented with thermophiles to pigs reduces the incidence of stillbirth and promotes piglet growth. However, the mechanism by which compost extract modulates the physiological conditions of the animals remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate the effects of compost extract on the gene expression in the intestine of the rat as a mammalian model. Gene expression analyses of the intestine indicated that several immune-related genes were upregulated following compost exposure. Thus, thermophile-fermented compost can contain microbes and/or substances that activate the gut mucosal immune response in the rat.
2012-11-02 | GSE37732 | GEO
Project description:Bacterial compost communities
| PRJNA1200637 | ENA
Project description:Fungal Communities under bamboo biochar
Project description:Oral administration of an extract of compost fermented with thermophiles to pigs reduces the incidence of stillbirth and promotes piglet growth. However, the mechanism by which compost extract modulates the physiological conditions of the animals remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate the effects of compost extract on the gene expression in the intestine of the rat as a mammalian model. Gene expression analyses of the intestine indicated that several immune-related genes were upregulated following compost exposure. Thus, thermophile-fermented compost can contain microbes and/or substances that activate the gut mucosal immune response in the rat. In Male Wistar rats aged 3 weeks, tap water was supplemented with 1.0% (v/v) compost extract for the experimental rats, whereas water only was given to the control rats. The rats received water ad libitum for 12 weeks. Fresh gut samples were collected from individual rats at the end of the feeding test and stored at -80°C. The intestine were separated from the gut and used as samples for the isolation of total RNA. otal RNA was then subjected to microarray experiments using the Whole Rat Genome (4x44k) Oligo Microarray (Agilent Technologies, Inc.)
Project description:Volatilization of lower-chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyls (LC-PCBs) from sediment poses health threats to nearby communities and ecosystems. Biodegradation combined with black carbon (BC) materials is an emerging approach to remove PCBs from sediment, but development of aerobic biofilms on BC for long-term, sustained LC-PCBs remediation is poorly understood. This work aimed to characterize cell enrichment and activity of biphenyl- and benzoate-grown Paraburkholderia xenovorans strain LB400 on various BCs. Biphenyl dioxygenase gene (bphA) abundance on four BC types demonstrated corn kernel biochar hosted at least four orders of magnitude more attached cells per gram than other feedstocks, and microscopic imaging revealed the attached live cell fraction was >1.5X more on corn kernel biochar than GAC. BC characteristics (i.e., sorption potential, surface area, pH) drove cell attachment differences. Reverse transcription qPCR indicated BC feedstocks significantly influenced bphA expression in attached cells. The bphA transcript-per-gene ratio of attached cells was >10-fold more than suspended cells, confirmed by transcriptomics. RNA-seq also demonstrated significant upregulation of biphenyl and benzoate degradation pathways on attached cells, revealing biofilm formation potential and cell-cell communication pathway connections. These novel findings demonstrate aerobic PCB-degrading cell abundance and activity could be tuned by adjusting BC feedstocks/ attributes to improve LC-PCBs biodegradation.