Publications

4868

Summary Until now anaerobic oxidation of VFA at high salt‐pH has been demonstrated only at sulfate‐reducing conditions. Here, we present results of a microbiological investigation of anaerobic conversion of organic acids and alcohols at methanogenic conditions by syntrophic associations enriched from hypersaline soda lakes in Central Asia. Sediment incubation experiments showed active, albeit very slow, methane formation from acetate, propionate, butyrate and C 2 C 4 alcohols at pH 10 and various levels of salinity. Enrichments of syntrophic associations using hydrogenotrophic members of the genus Methanocalculus from soda lakes as partners resulted in several highly enriched cultures converting acetate, propionate, butyrate, benzoate and EtOH to methane. Most syntrophs belonged to Firmicutes , while the propionate‐oxidizer formed a novel lineage within the family Syntrophobacteraceae in the Deltaproteobacteria . The acetate‐oxidizing syntroph was identified as ‘ Ca . Syntrophonatronum acetioxidans’ previously found to oxidize acetate at sulfate‐reducing conditions up to salt‐saturating concentrations. Butyrate and a benzoate‐degrading syntrophs represent novel genus‐level lineages in Syntrophomonadales which are proposed as Candidatus taxons ‘Syntrophobaca’, ‘Syntrophocurvum’ and ‘Syntropholuna’. Overall, despite very slow growth, the results indicated the presence of a functionally competent syntrophic community in hypersaline soda lakes, capable of efficient oxidation of fermentation products to methane at extremely haloalkaline conditions.

AbstractThe NC10 phylum is a candidate phylum of prokaryotes and is considered important in biogeochemical cycles and evolutionary history. NC10 members are as-yet-uncultured and are difficult to enrich and our knowledge regarding this phylum is largely limited to the first species ‘Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera’ (M. oxyfera). Here, we enriched NC10 members from paddy soil and obtained a novel species of the NC10 phylum that mediates the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to nitrite reduction. By comparing the new 16S rRNA gene sequences with those already in the database, this new species was found to be widely distributed in various habitats in China. Therefore, we tentatively named it ‘Candidatus Methylomirabilis sinica’ (M. sinica). Cells of M. sinica are roughly coccus-shaped (0.7–1.2 μm), distinct from M. oxyfera (rod-shaped; 0.25–0.5 × 0.8–1.1 μm). Notably, microscopic inspections revealed that M. sinica grew in honeycomb-shaped microcolonies, which was the first discovery of microcolony of the NC10 phylum. This finding opens the possibility to isolate NC10 members using microcolony-dependent isolation strategies.

Summary The R ickettsiae comprise intracellular bacterial symbionts and pathogens infecting diverse eukaryotes. Here, we provide a detailed characterization of ‘ C andidatus   J idaibacter acanthamoeba’, a rickettsial symbiont of A canthamoeba . The bacterium establishes the infection in its amoeba host within 2 h where it replicates within vacuoles. Higher bacterial loads and accelerated spread of infection at elevated temperatures were observed. The infection had a negative impact on host growth rate, although no increased levels of host cell lysis were seen. Phylogenomic analysis identified this bacterium as member of the M idichloriaceae . Its 2.4 Mb genome represents the largest among R ickettsiales and is characterized by a moderate degree of pseudogenization and a high coding density. We found an unusually large number of genes encoding proteins with eukaryotic‐like domains such as ankyrins, leucine‐rich repeats and tetratricopeptide repeats, which likely function in host interaction. There are a total of three divergent, independently acquired type IV secretion systems, and 35 flagellar genes representing the most complete set found in an obligate intracellular A lphaproteobacterium . The deeply branching phylogenetic position of ‘ C andidatus   J idaibacter acanthamoeba’ together with its ancient features place it closely to the rickettsial ancestor and helps to better understand the transition from a free‐living to an intracellular lifestyle.

Summary The C hlamydiae are a phylum of obligate intracellular bacteria comprising important human and animal pathogens, yet their occurrence in the environment, their phylogenetic diversity and their host range has been largely underestimated. We investigated the seasonality of environmental chlamydiae in a Tyrrhenian coastal lake. By catalysed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization, we quantified the small planktonic cells and detected a peak in the abundance of environmental chlamydiae in early autumn with up to 5.9 × 10 4 cells ml −1 . Super‐resolution microscopy improved the visualization and quantification of these bacteria and enabled the detection of pleomorphic chlamydial cells in their protist host directly in an environmental sample. To isolate environmental chlamydiae together with their host, we applied a high‐throughput limited dilution approach and successfully recovered a V exillifera sp., strain harbouring chlamydiae (93% 16 S r RNA sequence identity to S imkania negevensis ), tentatively named ‘ C andidatus   N eptunochlamydia vexilliferae’. Transmission electron microscopy in combination with fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to prove the intracellular location of these bacteria representing the first strain of marine chlamydiae stably maintained alongside with their host in a laboratory culture. Taken together, this study contributes to a better understanding of the distribution and diversity of environmental chlamydiae in previously neglected marine environments.

“ Ca . Pelagibacter ubique” is a key driver of marine biogeochemistry cycles and a model for understanding how minimal genomes evolved in free-living anucleate organisms. This study explores the unusual sulfur acquisition strategy that has evolved in these cells, which lack assimilatory sulfate reduction and instead rely on reduced sulfur compounds found in oxic marine environments to meet their cellular quotas. Our findings demonstrate that the sulfur acquisition systems are constitutively expressed but the enzymatic steps leading to the essential sulfur-containing amino acid methionine are regulated by a unique array of riboswitches and genes, many of which are encoded in a rapidly evolving genome region. These findings support mounting evidence that streamlined cells have evolved regulatory mechanisms that minimize transcriptional switching and, unexpectedly, localize essential sulfur acquisition genes in a genome region normally associated with adaption to environmental variation.

ABSTRACT We present here the draft genome sequence of the first “ Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos” strain found in cattle in Mexico. This hemotropic mycoplasma causes acute and chronic disease in animals. This genome is a starting point for studying the role of this mycoplasma in coinfections and synergistic mechanisms associated with the disease.