Publications

3806

The deep ocean microbiota represents the unexplored majority of global ocean waters. The phylum Chloroflexi is abundant and broadly distributed in various deep-sea ecosystems.

Manganese (Mn) is an abundant redox-active metal that cycles in many of Earth’s biomes. While diverse bacteria and archaea have been demonstrated to respire Mn(III/IV), only recently have bacteria been implicated in Mn(II) oxidation-dependent growth.

El trabajo se llevó a cabo en tres localidades, Salache, Machachi y Saquisilí, donde se determinó el comportamiento y hábitos del psílido (Bactericera cockerelli.), responsable de la transmisión del fitoplasma conocido como punta morada en el cultivo de papa (Solanum tuberosum). Se observó el desarrollo del insecto, alimentándolo con follaje fresco de plantas de papa, mantenidos en cámaras artesanales de cría; para Salache la temperatura promedio fue de 21 ºC y una humedad relativa del 68% con un ciclo total de 31 días; para Saquisilí se mantuvieron con una humedad relativa promedio de 75%, y una temperatura de 13,9°C con un ciclo total de 33 días y en Machachi se mantuvo una temperatura alrededor de 17°C y una humedad relativa de 74% con un ciclo total de 34 días.  Los datos registrados en todo el proceso fueron: número de huevos depositados, tiempo de desarrollo de cada estado ninfal y duración de la etapa adulto. Las observaciones se realizaron durante los meses de octubre, noviembre y diciembre, en donde se registraron los datos de los primeros instares de B. cockerelli hasta su última etapa, logrando determinar que la localidad Saquisilí tuvo un desarrollo oval rápido promedio de 2 a 6 días y la localidad más longeva en etapa adulta de B. cockerelli fue Salache, la misma que además obtuvo el mejor desarrollo en el ciclo biológico total de la especie.   

AbstractThe Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR, or superphylum Patescibacteria) is a very large group of bacteria with few cultivated representatives first discovered by culture-independent metagenomic analyses. Within the CPR, the candidate phylum Parcubacteria (previously OD1) is prevalent in anoxic lake sediments and groundwater. We identified a bacterium belonging to the Parcubacteria in a methanogenic benzene-degrading enrichment culture originally derived from oil-contaminated sediments. Candidatus Nealsonbacteria DGGOD1a is the only bacterium other than a previously identified benzene-degrading fermenter (Deltaproteobacteria Candidate Sva0485 clade ORM2) consistently and abundantly detected in all active benzene-degrading transfers of this culture. Therefore, we hypothesized that DGGOD1a must serve an important role in sustaining anaerobic benzene metabolism in the consortium. Growth experiments using a variety of possible substrates suggested that it is involved in biomass recycling. Microscopic observations supported by molecular analyses and a closed genome revealed an epibiont lifestyle with very small Ca. Nealsonbacteria DGGOD1a closely associated with much larger Methanosaeta. The images reveal a first example of cross-domain episymbiosis that may apply to other Ca. Nealsonbacteria found in diverse environments.

Anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea can drive anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) using solid iron or manganese oxides as the electron acceptors, hypothetically via direct extracellular electron transfer (EET). This study investigated the response of Candidatus “Methanoperedens nitroreducens TS” (type strain), an ANME archaeon previously characterized to perform nitrate-dependent AOM, to an Fe(III)-amended condition over a prolonged period. Simultaneous consumption of methane and production of dissolved Fe(II) were observed for more than 500 days in the presence of Ca. “M. nitroreducens TS,” indicating that this archaeon can carry out Fe(III)-dependent AOM for a long period. Ca. “M. nitroreducens TS” possesses multiple multiheme c-type cytochromes (MHCs), suggesting that it may have the capability to reduce Fe(III) via EET. Intriguingly, most of these MHCs are orthologous to those identified in Candidatus “Methanoperedens ferrireducens,” an Fe(III)-reducing ANME archaeon. In contrast, the population of Ca. “M. nitroreducens TS” declined and was eventually replaced by Ca. “M. ferrireducens,” implying niche differentiation between these two ANME archaea in the environment.

Epibiotic bacteria are known to live on and off bacterial cells. Here, we describe the ultramicrobacterial anaerobic epibiont OP3 LiM living on Archaea and Bacteria .

Anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea have recently been reported to be capable of using insoluble extracellular electron acceptors via extracellular electron transfer (EET). In this study, we investigated EET by a microbial community dominated by “Candidatus Methanoperedens” archaea at the anode of a bioelectrochemical system (BES) poised at 0 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), in this way measuring current as a direct proxy of EET by this community. After inoculation of the BES, the maximum current density was 274 mA m–2 (stable current up to 39 mA m–2). Concomitant conversion of 13CH4 into 13CO2 demonstrated that current production was methane-dependent, with 38% of the current attributed directly to methane supply. Based on the current production and methane uptake in a closed system, the Coulombic efficiency was about 17%. Polarization curves demonstrated that the current was limited by microbial activity at potentials above 0 V. The metatranscriptome of the inoculum was mined for the expression of c-type cytochromes potentially used for EET, which led to the identification of several multiheme c-type cytochrome-encoding genes among the most abundant transcripts in “Ca. Methanoperedens.” Our study provides strong indications of EET in ANME archaea and describes a system in which ANME-mediated EET can be investigated under laboratory conditions, which provides new research opportunities for mechanistic studies and possibly the generation of axenic ANME cultures.

AbstractGeothermal environments, including terrestrial hot springs and deep-sea hydrothermal sediments, often contain many poorly understood lineages of archaea. Here, we recovered ten metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from geothermal sediments and propose that they constitute a new archaeal class within the TACK superphylum, “Candidatus Culexarchaeia”, named after the Culex Basin in Yellowstone National Park. Culexarchaeia harbor distinct sets of proteins involved in key cellular processes that are either phylogenetically divergent or are absent from other closely related TACK lineages, with a particular divergence in cell division and cytoskeletal proteins. Metabolic reconstruction revealed that Culexarchaeia have the capacity to metabolize a wide variety of organic and inorganic substrates. Notably, Culexarchaeia encode a unique modular, membrane associated, and energy conserving [NiFe]-hydrogenase complex that potentially interacts with heterodisulfide reductase (Hdr) subunits. Comparison of this [NiFe]-hydrogenase complex with similar complexes from other archaea suggests that interactions between membrane associated [NiFe]-hydrogenases and Hdr may be more widespread than previously appreciated in both methanogenic and non-methanogenic lifestyles. The analysis of Culexarchaeia further expands our understanding of the phylogenetic and functional diversity of lineages within the TACK superphylum and the ecology, physiology, and evolution of these organisms in extreme environments.