Long-Term Transcriptional Activity at Zero Growth of a Cosmopolitan Rare Biosphere Member


Citation
Hausmann et al. (2019). mBio 10 (1)
Names (1)
Subjects
Microbiology Virology
Abstract
The microbial rare biosphere represents the largest pool of biodiversity on Earth and constitutes, in sum of all its members, a considerable part of a habitat’s biomass. Dormancy or starvation is typically used to explain the persistence of low-abundance microorganisms in the environment. We show that a low-abundance microorganism can be highly transcriptionally active while remaining in a zero-growth state for at least 7 weeks. Our results provide evidence that this zero growth at a high cellular activity state is driven by maintenance requirements. We show that this is true for a microbial keystone species, in particular a cosmopolitan but permanently low-abundance sulfate-reducing microorganism in wetlands that is involved in counterbalancing greenhouse gas emissions. In summary, our results provide an important step forward in understanding time-resolved activities of rare biosphere members relevant for ecosystem functions.
Authors
Publication date
2019-02-26
DOI
10.1128/mbio.02189-18

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