Science


Publications
6

Cryptic diversity of cellulose-degrading gut bacteria in industrialized humans

Citation
Moraïs et al. (2024). Science 383 (6688)
Names
Ruminococcus ruminiciens Ruminococcus primiciens Ruminococcus hominiciens
Abstract
Humans, like all mammals, depend on the gut microbiome for digestion of cellulose, the main component of plant fiber. However, evidence for cellulose fermentation in the human gut is scarce. We have identified ruminococcal species in the gut microbiota of human populations that assemble functional multienzymatic cellulosome structures capable of degrading plant cell wall polysaccharides. One of these species, which is strongly associated with humans, likely originated in the ruminant gut and was

On the origins of oxygenic photosynthesis and aerobic respiration in Cyanobacteria

Citation
Soo et al. (2017). Science 355 (6332)
Names
“Sericytochromatia”
Abstract
Oxygen-producing photosynthesis and oxygen-consuming respiration evolved after the divergence of the main lineages of blue-green algae.

Unicellular Cyanobacterium Symbiotic with a Single-Celled Eukaryotic Alga

Citation
Thompson et al. (2012). Science 337 (6101)
Names
“Atelocyanobacterium thalassae”
Abstract
Fixing on a Marine Partnership Nitrogen fixation by microorganisms determines the productivity of the biosphere. Although plants photosynthesize by virtue of the ancient incorporation of cyanobacteria to form chloroplasts, no equivalent endosymbiotic event has occurred for nitrogen fixation. Nevertheless, in terrestrial environments, nitrogen-fixing symbioses between bacteria and plants, for example, are common. Thompson et al.

Genome of an Endosymbiont Coupling N 2 Fixation to Cellulolysis Within Protist Cells in Termite Gut

Citation
Hongoh et al. (2008). Science 322 (5904)
Names
Azobacteroides Azobacteroides pseudotrichonymphae Ts
Abstract
Termites harbor diverse symbiotic gut microorganisms, the majority of which are as yet uncultivable and their interrelationships unclear. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of the uncultured Bacteroidales endosymbiont of the cellulolytic protist Pseudotrichonympha grassii, which accounts for 70% of the bacterial cells in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus . Functional annotation of the chromosome (1,114,206 base p

Environmental Genomics Reveals a Single-Species Ecosystem Deep Within Earth

Citation
Chivian et al. (2008). Science 322 (5899)
Names
Desulforudis audaxviator Ts Desulforudis
Abstract
DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator , composes >99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machiner