Project description:Marine microbial communities are critical for biogeochemical cycles and the productivity of ocean ecosystems. Primary productivity, at the base of marine food webs, is constrained by nutrient availability in the surface ocean, and nutrient advection from deeper waters can fuel photosynthesis. In this study, we compared the transcriptional responses by surface microbial communities after experimental deep water mixing to the transcriptional patterns of in situ microbial communities collected with high-resolution automated sampling during a bloom in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Transcriptional responses were assayed with the MicroTOOLs (Microbiological Targets for Ocean Observing Laboratories) marine environmental microarray, which targets all three domains of life and viruses. The experiments showed that mixing of deep and surface waters substantially affects the transcription of photosystem and nutrient response genes among photosynthetic taxa within 24 hours, and that there are specific responses associated with the addition of deep water containing particles (organisms and detritus) compared to filtered deep water. In situ gene transcription was most similar to that in surface water experiments with deep water additions, showing that in situ populations were affected by mixing of nutrients at the six sampling sites. Together, these results show the value of targeted metatranscriptomes for assessing the physiological status of complex microbial communities.
Project description:The diversity and environmental distribution of the nosZ gene, which encodes the enzyme responsible for the consumption of nitrous oxide, was investigated in marine and terrestrial environments using a functional gene microarray. The microbial communities represented by the nosZ gene probes showed strong biogeographical separation, with communities from surface ocean waters and agricultural soils significantly different from each other and from those in oceanic oxygen minimum zones. Atypical nosZ genes, usually associated with incomplete denitrification pathways, were detected in all the environments, including surface ocean waters. The abundance of nosZ genes, as estimated by quantitative PCR, was highest in the agricultural soils and lowest in surface ocean waters.
Project description:Gas hydrates, also known as clathrates, are cages of ice-like water crystals encasing gas molecules such as methane (CH4). Despite the global importance of gas hydrates, their microbiomes remain mysterious. Microbial cells are physically associated with hydrates, and the taxonomy of these hydrate-associated microbiomes is distinct from non-hydrate-bearing sites. Global 16S rRNA gene surveys show that members of sub-clade JS-1 of the uncultivated bacterial candidate phylum Atribacteria are the dominant taxa in gas hydrates. The Atribacteria phylogeny is highly diverse, suggesting the potential for wide functional variation and niche specialization. Here, we examined the distribution, phylogeny, and metabolic potential of uncultivated Atribacteria in cold, salty, and high-pressure sediments beneath Hydrate Ridge, off the coast of Oregon, USA, using a combination of 16S rRNA gene amplicon, metagenomic, and metaproteomic analysis. Methods were developed to extract bacterial cellular protein from these sediments, as outlined below. Sample Description Three sediments samples were collected from beneath Hydrate Ridge, off the coast of Oregon, USA. Sediments were cored at ODP site 1244 (44°35.1784´N; 125°7.1902´W; 895 m water depth) on the eastern flank of Hydrate Ridge ~3 km northeast of the southern summit on ODP Leg 204 in 2002 and stored at -80°C at the IODP Gulf Coast Repository. E10H5 sediment is from 68.5 meters below sediment surface interface C1H2 sediment is from 2 meters below sediment surface interface. C3H4 sediment is from 21 meters below sediment surface interface.
Project description:Metagenomic approaches have revealed unprecedented genetic diversity within microbial communities across vast expanses of the world’s oceans. Linking this genetic diversity with key metabolic and cellular activities of microbial assemblages is a fundamental challenge. Here we report on a collaborative effort to design MicroTOOLs (Microbiological Targets for Ocean Observing Laboratories), a high-density oligonucleotide microarray that targets functional genes of diverse taxa in pelagic and coastal marine microbial communities. MicroTOOLs integrates nucleotide sequence information from disparate data types: genomes, PCR-amplicons, metagenomes, and metatranscriptomes. It targets 19 400 unique sequences over 145 different genes that are relevant to stress responses and microbial metabolism across the three domains of life and viruses. MicroTOOLs was used in a proof-of-concept experiment that compared the functional responses of microbial communities following Fe and P enrichments of surface water samples from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. We detected transcription of 68% of the gene targets across major taxonomic groups, and the pattern of transcription indicated relief from Fe limitation and transition to N limitation in some taxa. Prochlorococcus (eHLI), Synechococcus (sub-cluster 5.3) and Alphaproteobacteria SAR11 clade (HIMB59) showed the strongest responses to the Fe enrichment. In addition, members of uncharacterized lineages also responded. The MicroTOOLs microarray provides a robust tool for comprehensive characterization of major functional groups of microbes in the open ocean, and the design can be easily amended for specific environments and research questions.
Project description:Dataset from a shipboard incubation experiment of an ocean surface-water microbial community sampled at 25m depth at Station ALOHA in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Incubations were amended with ammonium, glutamate, leucine, nitrate and urea, in two isotopic variants: 15N (to track incorporation by various community members) and 14N (for quantitation of abundance changes by diDO-IPTL).
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE22171: Pacific salmon gill samples: fate tracking in river, sampled in ocean GSE22177: Pacific salmon gill samples: fate tracking in river GSE22347: Pacific salmon gill samples: fate tracking at spawning grounds Refer to individual Series