Bacterial communities of two ubiquitous Great Barrier Reef corals reveals both site- and species-specificity of common bacterial associates.

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E Charlotte E Kvennefors

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Coral-associated bacteria are increasingly considered to be important in coral health, and altered bacterial community structures have been linked to both coral disease and bleaching. Despite this, assessments of bacterial communities on corals rarely apply sufficient replication to adequately describe the natural variability. Replicated data such as these are crucial in determining potential roles of bacteria on coral. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE of the V3 region of the 16S ribosomal DNA was used in a highly replicated approach to analyse bacterial communities on both healthy and diseased corals. Although site-specific variations in the bacterial communities of healthy corals were present, host species-specific bacterial associates within a distinct cluster of gamma-proteobacteria could be identified, which are potentially linked to coral health. Corals affected by "White Syndrome" (WS underwent pronounced changes in their bacterial communities in comparison to healthy colonies. However, the community structure and bacterial ribotypes identified in diseased corals did not support the previously suggested theory of a bacterial pathogen as the causative agent of the syndrome. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study to employ large numbers of replicated samples to assess the bacterial communities of healthy and diseased corals, and the first culture-independent assessment of bacterial communities on WS affected Acroporid corals on the GBR. Results indicate that a minimum of 6 replicate samples are required in order to draw inferences on species, spatial or health-related changes in community composition, as a set of clearly distinct bacterial community profiles exist in healthy corals. Coral bacterial communities may be both site and species specific. Furthermore, a cluster of gamma-proteobacterial ribotypes may represent a group of specific common coral and marine

The bacterial community of entomophilic nematodes and host beetles.

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Koneru, Sneha L; Salinas, Heilly; Flores, Gilberto E; Hong, Ray L

2016-05-01

Insects form the most species-rich lineage of Eukaryotes and each is a potential host for organisms from multiple phyla, including fungi, protozoa, mites, bacteria and nematodes. In particular, beetles are known to be associated with distinct bacterial communities and entomophilic nematodes. While entomopathogenic nematodes require symbiotic bacteria to kill and reproduce inside their insect hosts, the microbial ecology that facilitates other types of nematode-insect associations is largely unknown. To illuminate detailed patterns of the tritrophic beetle-nematode-bacteria relationship, we surveyed the nematode infestation profiles of scarab beetles in the greater Los Angeles area over a five-year period and found distinct nematode infestation patterns for certain beetle hosts. Over a single season, we characterized the bacterial communities of beetles and their associated nematodes using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. We found significant differences in bacterial community composition among the five prevalent beetle host species, independent of geographical origin. Anaerobes Synergistaceae and sulphate-reducing Desulfovibrionaceae were most abundant in Amblonoxia beetles, while Enterobacteriaceae and Lachnospiraceae were common in Cyclocephala beetles. Unlike entomopathogenic nematodes that carry bacterial symbionts, insect-associated nematodes do not alter the beetles' native bacterial communities, nor do their microbiomes differ according to nematode or beetle host species. The conservation of Diplogastrid nematodes associations with Melolonthinae beetles and sulphate-reducing bacteria suggests a possible link between beetle-bacterial communities and their associated nematodes. Our results establish a starting point towards understanding the dynamic interactions between soil macroinvertebrates and their microbiota in a highly accessible urban environment. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Functional recovery of biofilm bacterial communities after copper exposure

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Boivin, Marie-Elene Y.; Massieux, Boris; Breure, Anton M.; Greve, Gerdit D.; Rutgers, Michiel; Admiraal, Wim

2006-01-01

Potential of bacterial communities in biofilms to recover after copper exposure was investigated. Biofilms grown outdoor in shallow water on glass dishes were exposed in the laboratory to 0.6, 2.1, 6.8 μmol/l copper amended surface water and a reference and subsequently to un-amended surface water. Transitions of bacterial communities were characterised with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and community-level physiological profiles (CLPP). Exposure to 6.8 μmol/l copper provoked distinct changes in DGGE profiles of bacterial consortia, which did not reverse upon copper depuration. Exposure to 2.1 and 6.8 μmol/l copper was found to induce marked changes in CLPP of bacterial communities that proved to be reversible during copper depuration. Furthermore, copper exposure induced the development of copper-tolerance, which was partially lost during depuration. It is concluded that bacterial communities exposed to copper contaminated water for a period of 26 days are capable to restore their metabolic attributes after introduction of unpolluted water in aquaria for 28 days. - Genetically different bacterial communities can have similar functions and tolerance to copper

Architectural design drives the biogeography of indoor bacterial communities.

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Kembel, Steven W; Meadow, James F; O'Connor, Timothy K; Mhuireach, Gwynne; Northcutt, Dale; Kline, Jeff; Moriyama, Maxwell; Brown, G Z; Bohannan, Brendan J M; Green, Jessica L

2014-01-01

Architectural design has the potential to influence the microbiology of the built environment, with implications for human health and well-being, but the impact of design on the microbial biogeography of buildings remains poorly understood. In this study we combined microbiological data with information on the function, form, and organization of spaces from a classroom and office building to understand how design choices influence the biogeography of the built environment microbiome. Sequencing of the bacterial 16S gene from dust samples revealed that indoor bacterial communities were extremely diverse, containing more than 32,750 OTUs (operational taxonomic units, 97% sequence similarity cutoff), but most communities were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Deinococci. Architectural design characteristics related to space type, building arrangement, human use and movement, and ventilation source had a large influence on the structure of bacterial communities. Restrooms contained bacterial communities that were highly distinct from all other rooms, and spaces with high human occupant diversity and a high degree of connectedness to other spaces via ventilation or human movement contained a distinct set of bacterial taxa when compared to spaces with low occupant diversity and low connectedness. Within offices, the source of ventilation air had the greatest effect on bacterial community structure. Our study indicates that humans have a guiding impact on the microbial biodiversity in buildings, both indirectly through the effects of architectural design on microbial community structure, and more directly through the effects of human occupancy and use patterns on the microbes found in different spaces and space types. The impact of design decisions in structuring the indoor microbiome offers the possibility to use ecological knowledge to shape our buildings in a way that will select for an indoor microbiome that promotes our health and well-being.

Distinctive tropical forest variants have unique soil microbial communities, but not always low microbial diversity

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Binu M Tripathi

2016-04-01

Full Text Available There has been little study of whether different variants of tropical rainforest have distinct soil microbial communities and levels of diversity. We compared bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity between primary mixed dipterocarp, secondary mixed dipterocarp, white sand heath, inland heath, and peat swamp forests in Brunei Darussalam, northwest Borneo by analyzing Illumina Miseq sequence data of 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 region. We hypothesized that white sand heath, inland heath and peat swamp forests would show lower microbial diversity and relatively distinct microbial communities (compared to MDF primary and secondary forests due to their distinctive environments. We found that soil properties together with bacterial and fungal communities varied significantly between forest types. Alpha and beta-diversity of bacteria was highest in secondary dipterocarp and white sand heath forests. Also, bacterial alpha diversity was strongly structured by pH, adding another instance of this widespread pattern in nature. The alpha diversity of fungi was equally high in all forest types except peat swamp forest, although fungal beta-diversity was highest in primary and secondary mixed dipterocarp forests. The relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal (EcM fungi varied significantly between forest types, with highest relative abundance observed in MDF primary forest. Overall, our results suggest that the soil bacterial and fungal communities in these forest types are to a certain extent predictable and structured by soil properties, but that diversity is not determined by how distinctive the conditions are. This contrasts with the diversity patterns seen in rainforest trees, where distinctive soil conditions have consistently lower tree diversity.

The bacterial communities of Drosophila suzukii collected from undamaged cherries

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James Angus Chandler

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Drosophila suzukii is an introduced pest insect that feeds on undamaged, attached fruit. This diet is distinct from the fallen, discomposing fruits utilized by most other species of Drosophila. Since the bacterial microbiota of Drosophila, and of many other animals, is affected by diet, we hypothesized that the bacteria associated with D. suzukii are distinct from that of other Drosophila. Using 16S rDNA PCR and Illumina sequencing, we characterized the bacterial communities of larval and adult D. suzukii collected from undamaged, attached cherries in California, USA. We find that the bacterial communities associated with these samples of D. suzukii contain a high frequency of Tatumella. Gluconobacter and Acetobacter, two taxa with known associations with Drosophila, were also found, although at lower frequency than Tatumella in four of the five samples examined. Sampling D. suzukii from different locations and/or while feeding on different fruits is needed to determine the generality of the results determined by these samples. Nevertheless this is, to our knowledge, the first study characterizing the bacterial communities of this ecologically unique and economically important species of Drosophila.

Characterization of coastal urban watershed bacterial communities leads to alternative community-based indicators

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Wu, C.H.; Sercu, B.; Van De Werhorst, L.C.; Wong, J.; DeSantis, T.Z.; Brodie, E.L.; Hazen, T.C.; Holden, P.A.; Andersen, G.L.

2010-03-01

Microbial communities in aquatic environments are spatially and temporally dynamic due to environmental fluctuations and varied external input sources. A large percentage of the urban watersheds in the United States are affected by fecal pollution, including human pathogens, thus warranting comprehensive monitoring. Using a high-density microarray (PhyloChip), we examined water column bacterial community DNA extracted from two connecting urban watersheds, elucidating variable and stable bacterial subpopulations over a 3-day period and community composition profiles that were distinct to fecal and non-fecal sources. Two approaches were used for indication of fecal influence. The first approach utilized similarity of 503 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) common to all fecal samples analyzed in this study with the watershed samples as an index of fecal pollution. A majority of the 503 OTUs were found in the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria. The second approach incorporated relative richness of 4 bacterial classes (Bacilli, Bacteroidetes, Clostridia and a-proteobacteria) found to have the highest variance in fecal and non-fecal samples. The ratio of these 4 classes (BBC:A) from the watershed samples demonstrated a trend where bacterial communities from gut and sewage sources had higher ratios than from sources not impacted by fecal material. This trend was also observed in the 124 bacterial communities from previously published and unpublished sequencing or PhyloChip- analyzed studies. This study provided a detailed characterization of bacterial community variability during dry weather across a 3-day period in two urban watersheds. The comparative analysis of watershed community composition resulted in alternative community-based indicators that could be useful for assessing ecosystem health.

Light structures phototroph, bacterial and fungal communities at the soil surface.

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Lawrence O Davies

Full Text Available The upper few millimeters of soil harbour photosynthetic microbial communities that are structurally distinct from those of underlying bulk soil due to the presence of light. Previous studies in arid zones have demonstrated functional importance of these communities in reducing soil erosion, and enhancing carbon and nitrogen fixation. Despite being widely distributed, comparative understanding of the biodiversity of the soil surface and underlying soil is lacking, particularly in temperate zones. We investigated the establishment of soil surface communities on pasture soil in microcosms exposed to light or dark conditions, focusing on changes in phototroph, bacterial and fungal communities at the soil surface (0-3 mm and bulk soil (3-12 mm using ribosomal marker gene analyses. Microbial community structure changed with time and structurally similar phototrophic communities were found at the soil surface and in bulk soil in the light exposed microcosms suggesting that light can influence phototroph community structure even in the underlying bulk soil. 454 pyrosequencing showed a significant selection for diazotrophic cyanobacteria such as Nostoc punctiforme and Anabaena spp., in addition to the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus. The soil surface also harboured distinct heterotrophic bacterial and fungal communities in the presence of light, in particular, the selection for the phylum Firmicutes. However, these light driven changes in bacterial community structure did not extend to the underlying soil suggesting a discrete zone of influence, analogous to the rhizosphere.

Watershed Urbanization Linked to Differences in Stream Bacterial Community Composition

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Jacob D. Hosen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Urbanization strongly influences headwater stream chemistry and hydrology, but little is known about how these conditions impact bacterial community composition. We predicted that urbanization would impact bacterial community composition, but that stream water column bacterial communities would be most strongly linked to urbanization at a watershed-scale, as measured by impervious cover, while sediment bacterial communities would correlate with environmental conditions at the scale of stream reaches. To test this hypothesis, we determined bacterial community composition in the water column and sediment of headwater streams located across a gradient of watershed impervious cover using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Alpha diversity metrics did not show a strong response to catchment urbanization, but beta diversity was significantly related to watershed impervious cover with significant differences also found between water column and sediment samples. Samples grouped primarily according to habitat—water column vs. sediment—with a significant response to watershed impervious cover nested within each habitat type. Compositional shifts for communities in urbanized streams indicated an increase in taxa associated with human activity including bacteria from the genus Polynucleobacter, which is widespread, but has been associated with eutrophic conditions in larger water bodies. Another indicator of communities in urbanized streams was an OTU from the genus Gallionella, which is linked to corrosion of water distribution systems. To identify changes in bacterial community interactions, bacterial co-occurrence networks were generated from urban and forested samples. The urbanized co-occurrence network was much smaller and had fewer co-occurrence events per taxon than forested equivalents, indicating a loss of keystone taxa with urbanization. Our results suggest that urbanization has significant impacts on the community composition

Analysis of soil whole- and inner-microaggregate bacterial communities

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Mummey, D L; Stahl, P D [University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Renewable Resources

2004-07-01

Although soil structure largely determines energy flows and the distribution and composition of soil microhabitats, little is known about how microbial community composition is influenced by soil structural characteristics and organic matter compartmentalization dynamics. A UV irradiation-based procedure was developed to specifically isolate inner-microaggregate microbial communities, thus providing the means to analyze these communities in relation to their environment. Whole- and inner-microaggregate fractions of undisturbed soil and soils reclaimed after disturbance by surface coal mining were analyzed using 16S rDNA terminal restriction fragment polymorphism (T-RFLP) and sequence analyses to determine salient bacterial community structural characteristics. We hypothesized that inner-microaggregate environments select for definable microbial communities and that, due to their sequestered environment, inner-microaggregate communities would not be significantly impacted by disturbance. However, T-RFLP analysis indicated distinct differences between bacterial populations of inner-microaggregates of undisturbed and reclaimed soils. While both undisturbed and reclaimed inner-microaggregate bacterial communities were dominated by Actinobacteria, undisturbed soils contained only Actinobacteridae, while in inner-microaggregates of reclaimed soils Rubrobacteridae predominate. Spatial stratification of division-level lineages within microaggregates was also seen. The fractionation methods employed in this study therefore represent a valuable tool for defining relationships between biodiversity and soil structure.

Tank bromeliad water: similar or distinct environments for research of bacterial bioactives?

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Carmo, F L; Santos, H F; Peixoto, R S; Rosado, A S; Araujo, F V

2014-01-01

The Atlantic Rainforest does not have a uniform physiognomy, its relief determines different environmental conditions that define the composition of its flora and fauna. Within this ecosystem, bromeliads that form tanks with their leaves hold water reservoirs throughout the year, maintaining complex food chains, based mainly on autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria. Some works concluded that the water held by tank bromeliads concentrate the microbial diversity of their ecosystem. To investigate the bacterial diversity and the potential biotechnology of these ecosystems, tank bromeliads of the Neoregelia cruenta species from the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil were used as models for this research. Bacteria isolated from these models were tested for production of bioactive compounds. DGGE of the water held by tank bromeliads was performed in different seasons, locations and sun exposure to verify whether these environmental factors affect bacterial communities. The DGGE bands profile showed no grouping of bacterial community by the environmental factors tested. Most of the isolates demonstrated promising activities in the tests performed. Collectively, these results suggest that tank bromeliads of the N. cruenta species provide important habitats for a diverse microbial community, suggesting that each tank forms a distinct micro-habitat. These tanks can be considered excellent sources for the search for new enzymes and/or new bioactive composites of microbial origin.

Invasive lionfish harbor a different external bacterial community than native Bahamian fishes

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Stevens, J. L.; Olson, J. B.

2013-12-01

The introduction and subsequent spread of lionfish into the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea has become a worldwide conservation issue. These highly successful invaders may also be capable of introducing non-native microorganisms to the invaded regions. This study compared the bacterial communities associated with lionfish external tissue to those of native Bahamian fishes and ambient water. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses demonstrated that lionfish bacterial communities were significantly different than those associated with three native Bahamian fishes. Additionally, all fishes harbored distinct bacterial communities from the ambient bacterioplankton. Analysis of bacterial clone libraries from invasive lionfish and native squirrelfish indicated that lionfish communities were more diverse than those associated with squirrelfish, yet did not contain known fish pathogens. Using microscopy and molecular genetic approaches, lionfish eggs were examined for the presence of bacteria to evaluate the capacity for vertical transmission. Eggs removed from the ovaries of gravid females were free of bacteria, suggesting that lionfish likely acquire bacteria from the environment. This study was the first examination of bacterial communities associated with the invasive lionfish and indicated that they support different communities of environmentally derived bacteria than Caribbean reef fishes.

Effects of triclosan on bacterial community composition and ...

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Pharmaceuticals and personal care products, including antimicrobials, can be found at trace levels in treated wastewater effluent. Impacts of chemical contaminants on coastal aquatic microbial community structure and pathogen abundance are unknown despite the potential for selection through antimicrobial resistance. In particular, Vibrio, a marine bacterial genus that includes several human pathogens, displays resistance to the ubiquitous antimicrobial compound triclosan. Here we demonstrated through use of natural seawater microcosms that triclosan (at a concentration of ~5 ppm) can induce a significant Vibrio growth response (68–1,700 fold increases) in comparison with no treatment controls for three distinct coastal ecosystems: Looe Key Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary), Doctors Arm Canal (Big Pine Key, FL), and Clam Bank Landing (North Inlet Estuary, Georgetown, SC). Additionally, microbial community analysis by 16 S rRNA gene sequencing for Looe Key Reef showed distinct changes in microbial community structure with exposure to 5 ppm triclosan, with increases observed in the relative abundance of Vibrionaceae (17-fold), Pseudoalteromonadaceae (65-fold), Alteromonadaceae (108-fold), Colwelliaceae (430-fold), and Oceanospirillaceae (1,494-fold). While the triclosan doses tested were above concentrations typically observed in coastal surface waters, results identify bacterial families that are potentially resistant to triclosan and/or adapted to u

Bacterial Communities: Interactions to Scale

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Reed M. Stubbendieck

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In the environment, bacteria live in complex multispecies communities. These communities span in scale from small, multicellular aggregates to billions or trillions of cells within the gastrointestinal tract of animals. The dynamics of bacterial communities are determined by pairwise interactions that occur between different species in the community. Though interactions occur between a few cells at a time, the outcomes of these interchanges have ramifications that ripple through many orders of magnitude, and ultimately affect the macroscopic world including the health of host organisms. In this review we cover how bacterial competition influences the structures of bacterial communities. We also emphasize methods and insights garnered from culture-dependent pairwise interaction studies, metagenomic analyses, and modeling experiments. Finally, we argue that the integration of multiple approaches will be instrumental to future understanding of the underlying dynamics of bacterial communities.

Influences of Plant Species, Season and Location on Leaf Endophytic Bacterial Communities of Non-Cultivated Plants.

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Ding, Tao; Melcher, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Bacteria are known to be associated endophytically with plants. Research on endophytic bacteria has identified their importance in food safety, agricultural production and phytoremediation. However, the diversity of endophytic bacterial communities and the forces that shape their compositions in non-cultivated plants are largely uncharacterized. In this study, we explored the diversity, community structure, and dynamics of endophytic bacteria in different plant species in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve of northern Oklahoma, USA. High throughput sequencing of amplified segments of bacterial rDNA from 81 samples collected at four sampling times from five plant species at four locations identified 335 distinct OTUs at 97% sequence similarity, representing 16 phyla. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in the communities, followed by the phyla Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria. Bacteria from four classes of Proteobacteria were detected with Alphaproteobacteria as the dominant class. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that host plant species and collecting date had significant influences on the compositions of the leaf endophytic bacterial communities. The proportion of Alphaproteobacteria was much higher in the communities from Asclepias viridis than from other plant species and differed from month to month. The most dominant bacterial groups identified in LDA Effect Size analysis showed host-specific patterns, indicating mutual selection between host plants and endophytic bacteria and that leaf endophytic bacterial compositions were dynamic, varying with the host plant's growing season in three distinct patterns. In summary, next generation sequencing has revealed variations in the taxonomic compositions of leaf endophytic bacterial communities dependent primarily on the nature of the plant host species.

Influences of Plant Species, Season and Location on Leaf Endophytic Bacterial Communities of Non-Cultivated Plants.

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Tao Ding

Full Text Available Bacteria are known to be associated endophytically with plants. Research on endophytic bacteria has identified their importance in food safety, agricultural production and phytoremediation. However, the diversity of endophytic bacterial communities and the forces that shape their compositions in non-cultivated plants are largely uncharacterized. In this study, we explored the diversity, community structure, and dynamics of endophytic bacteria in different plant species in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve of northern Oklahoma, USA. High throughput sequencing of amplified segments of bacterial rDNA from 81 samples collected at four sampling times from five plant species at four locations identified 335 distinct OTUs at 97% sequence similarity, representing 16 phyla. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in the communities, followed by the phyla Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria. Bacteria from four classes of Proteobacteria were detected with Alphaproteobacteria as the dominant class. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that host plant species and collecting date had significant influences on the compositions of the leaf endophytic bacterial communities. The proportion of Alphaproteobacteria was much higher in the communities from Asclepias viridis than from other plant species and differed from month to month. The most dominant bacterial groups identified in LDA Effect Size analysis showed host-specific patterns, indicating mutual selection between host plants and endophytic bacteria and that leaf endophytic bacterial compositions were dynamic, varying with the host plant's growing season in three distinct patterns. In summary, next generation sequencing has revealed variations in the taxonomic compositions of leaf endophytic bacterial communities dependent primarily on the nature of the plant host species.

Characterization of bovine ruminal epithelial bacterial communities using 16S rRNA sequencing, PCR-DGGE, and qRT-PCR analysis.

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Li, Meiju; Zhou, Mi; Adamowicz, Elizabeth; Basarab, John A; Guan, Le Luo

2012-02-24

Currently, knowledge regarding the ecology and function of bacteria attached to the epithelial tissue of the rumen wall is limited. In this study, the diversity of the bacterial community attached to the rumen epithelial tissue was compared to the rumen content bacterial community using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, PCR-DGGE, and qRT-PCR analysis. Sequence analysis of 2785 randomly selected clones from six 16S rDNA (∼1.4kb) libraries showed that the community structures of three rumen content libraries clustered together and were separated from the rumen tissue libraries. The diversity index of each library revealed that ruminal content bacterial communities (4.12/4.42/4.88) were higher than ruminal tissue communities (2.90/2.73/3.23), based on 97% similarity. The phylum Firmicutes was predominant in the ruminal tissue communities, while the phylum Bacteroidetes was predominant in the ruminal content communities. The phyla Fibrobacteres, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia were only detected in the ruminal content communities. PCR-DGGE analysis of the bacterial profiles of the rumen content and ruminal epithelial tissue samples from 22 steers further confirmed that there is a distinct bacterial community that inhibits the rumen epithelium. The distinctive epimural bacterial communities suggest that Firmicutes, together with other epithelial-specific species, may have additional functions other than food digestion. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Biogeography of cryoconite bacterial communities on glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yongqin; Vick-Majors, Trista J; Priscu, John C; Yao, Tandong; Kang, Shichang; Liu, Keshao; Cong, Ziyuang; Xiong, Jingbo; Li, Yang

2017-06-01

Cryoconite holes, water-filled pockets containing biological and mineralogical deposits that form on glacier surfaces, play important roles in glacier mass balance, glacial geochemistry and carbon cycling. The presence of cryoconite material decreases surface albedo and accelerates glacier mass loss, a problem of particular importance in the rapidly melting Tibetan Plateau. No studies have addressed the microbial community composition of cryoconite holes and their associated ecosystem processes on Tibetan glaciers. To further enhance our understanding of these glacial ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau and to examine their role in carbon cycling as the glaciers respond to climate change, we explored the bacterial communities within cryoconite holes associated with three climatically distinct Tibetan Plateau glaciers using Illumina sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Cryoconite bacterial communities were dominated by Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. Cryoconite bacterial community composition varied according to their geographical locations, exhibiting significant differences among glaciers studied. Regional beta diversity was driven by the interaction between geographic distance and environmental variables; the latter contributed more than geographic distance to the variation in cryoconite microbial communities. Our study is the first to describe the regional-scale spatial variability and to identify the factors that drive regional variability of cryoconite bacterial communities on the Tibetan Plateau. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Factors affecting the bacterial community composition and heterotrophic production of Columbia River estuarine turbidity maxima.

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Herfort, Lydie; Crump, Byron C; Fortunato, Caroline S; McCue, Lee Ann; Campbell, Victoria; Simon, Holly M; Baptista, António M; Zuber, Peter

2017-12-01

Estuarine turbidity maxima (ETM) function as hotspots of microbial activity and diversity in estuaries, yet, little is known about the temporal and spatial variability in ETM bacterial community composition. To determine which environmental factors affect ETM bacterial populations in the Columbia River estuary, we analyzed ETM bacterial community composition (Sanger sequencing and amplicon pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene) and bulk heterotrophic production ( 3 H-leucine incorporation rates). We collected water 20 times to cover five ETM events and obtained 42 samples characterized by different salinities, turbidities, seasons, coastal regimes (upwelling vs. downwelling), locations, and particle size. Spring and summer populations were distinct. All May samples had similar bacterial community composition despite having different salinities (1-24 PSU), but summer non-ETM bacteria separated into marine, freshwater, and brackish assemblages. Summer ETM bacterial communities varied depending on coastal upwelling or downwelling conditions and on the sampling site location with respect to tidal intrusion during the previous neap tide. In contrast to ETM, whole (>0.2 μm) and free-living (0.2-3 μm) assemblages of non-ETM waters were similar to each other, indicating that particle-attached (>3 μm) non-ETM bacteria do not develop a distinct community. Brackish water type (ETM or non-ETM) is thus a major factor affecting particle-attached bacterial communities. Heterotrophic production was higher in particle-attached than free-living fractions in all brackish waters collected throughout the water column during the rise to decline of turbidity through an ETM event (i.e., ETM-impacted waters). However, free-living communities showed higher productivity prior to or after an ETM event (i.e., non-ETM-impacted waters). This study has thus found that Columbia River ETM bacterial communities vary based on seasons, salinity, sampling location, and particle size, with the

Impact of cadmium on the bacterial communities in the gut of Metaphire posthuma

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Liang, Shih-Hsiung; Chen, Mu-Hsuan; Chen, Chien-Cheng; Chen, Colin S [Department of Biotechnology, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (China); Chen, Jiun-Hong [Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Chen, Ssu Ching, E-mail: osycchna@ksts.seed.net.tw [Department of Biotechnology, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (China)

2010-12-30

The effects of cadmium (Cd) contamination in soil onto the bacterial communities of the guts pooled from ten Metaphire posthuma were addressed during 14 days' incubation. We found that about 50% of Cd (5 mg/kg, dry weight soil) in the contaminated soil was bio-accumulated into the earthworms. DNA was extracted from the guts of M. posthuma and their dwelling soil irrespective of Cd treatment for the analysis of the bacterial communities of guts in M. posthuma and in soil by PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). A distinctive cluster of bacterial communities of the guts in the earthworm with and without Cd treatment using the analysis of unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was observed, indicating that the bacterial community of guts could be changed by Cd. However, no differences in the bacterial communities in soil irrespective of Cd treatment were observed, which could be resulted from the bioremediation of Cd by earthworms leading to insignificant effect of Cd on bacterial communities in soil. For the sequencing of some of the dominant bands in the DGGE profile, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Stenotrophomonas sp. D2, and Labrys, sp. CC-BB4, whose sequences display an identity of more than 97% using blast program against a known sequence in the GeneBank database and Ribosomal database, were identified. Collectively, our results showed that earthworm treatment can decrease the concentrations of Cd in soil, and Cd cause a shift in the bacterial communities in the guts of M. posthuma. The application of M. posthuma for Cd bioremediation would be desired.

Impact of cadmium on the bacterial communities in the gut of Metaphire posthuma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Shih-Hsiung; Chen, Mu-Hsuan; Chen, Chien-Cheng; Chen, Colin S.; Chen, Jiun-Hong; Chen, Ssu Ching

2009-01-01

The effects of cadmium (Cd) contamination in soil onto the bacterial communities of the guts pooled from ten Metaphire posthuma were addressed during 14 days' incubation. We found that about 50% of Cd (5 mg/kg, dry weight soil) in the contaminated soil was bio-accumulated into the earthworms. DNA was extracted from the guts of M. posthuma and their dwelling soil irrespective of Cd treatment for the analysis of the bacterial communities of guts in M. posthuma and in soil by PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). A distinctive cluster of bacterial communities of the guts in the earthworm with and without Cd treatment using the analysis of unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was observed, indicating that the bacterial community of guts could be changed by Cd. However, no differences in the bacterial communities in soil irrespective of Cd treatment were observed, which could be resulted from the bioremediation of Cd by earthworms leading to insignificant effect of Cd on bacterial communities in soil. For the sequencing of some of the dominant bands in the DGGE profile, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Stenotrophomonas sp. D2, and Labrys, sp. CC-BB4, whose sequences display an identity of more than 97% using blast program against a known sequence in the GeneBank database and Ribosomal database, were identified. Collectively, our results showed that earthworm treatment can decrease the concentrations of Cd in soil, and Cd cause a shift in the bacterial communities in the guts of M. posthuma. The application of M. posthuma for Cd bioremediation would be desired.

Canopy soil bacterial communities altered by severing host tree limbs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cody R. Dangerfield

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Trees of temperate rainforests host a large biomass of epiphytic plants, which are associated with soils formed in the forest canopy. Falling of epiphytic material results in the transfer of carbon and nutrients from the canopy to the forest floor. This study provides the first characterization of bacterial communities in canopy soils enabled by high-depth environmental sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Canopy soil included many of the same major taxonomic groups of Bacteria that are also found in ground soil, but canopy bacterial communities were lower in diversity and contained different operational taxonomic units. A field experiment was conducted with epiphytic material from six Acer macrophyllum trees in Olympic National Park, Washington, USA to document changes in the bacterial communities of soils associated with epiphytic material that falls to the forest floor. Bacterial diversity and composition of canopy soil was highly similar, but not identical, to adjacent ground soil two years after transfer to the forest floor, indicating that canopy bacteria are almost, but not completely, replaced by ground soil bacteria. Furthermore, soil associated with epiphytic material on branches that were severed from the host tree and suspended in the canopy contained altered bacterial communities that were distinct from those in canopy material moved to the forest floor. Therefore, the unique nature of canopy soil bacteria is determined in part by the host tree and not only by the physical environmental conditions associated with the canopy. Connection to the living tree appears to be a key feature of the canopy habitat. These results represent an initial survey of bacterial diversity of the canopy and provide a foundation upon which future studies can more fully investigate the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of these communities.

Diazotrophic potential among bacterial communities associated with wild and cultivated Agave species.

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Desgarennes, Damaris; Garrido, Etzel; Torres-Gomez, Miryam J; Peña-Cabriales, Juan J; Partida-Martinez, Laila P

2014-12-01

Agaves are major biotic resources in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Despite their ecological, economical and cultural relevance, many aspects of the microbial communities associated with agaves are still unknown. Here, we investigated the bacterial communities associated with two Agave species by 16S rRNA- Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting and sequencing. We also evaluated the effects of biotic and abiotic factors in the structure of the bacterial communities. In parallel, we isolated and characterized diazotrophic bacteria associated with agaves, as Agave soils are characterized by their low nitrogen content. Our results demonstrate that in Agave, the structure of prokaryotic assemblages was mostly influenced by the community group, where the soil, episphere, and endosphere were clearly distinct. Proteobacteria (γ and α), Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria were the dominant phyla. Bacterial communities in the episphere of agaves were mainly influenced by the host species, whereas in the endosphere were affected by the season. Fifteen bacterial taxa were common and abundant in the endosphere of both Agave species during the dry season. Notably, some of the confirmed diazotrophic strains belonged to this group, suggesting a possible beneficial role in planta. © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bacterial Community Succession in Pine-Wood Decomposition.

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Kielak, Anna M; Scheublin, Tanja R; Mendes, Lucas W; van Veen, Johannes A; Kuramae, Eiko E

2016-01-01

Though bacteria and fungi are common inhabitants of decaying wood, little is known about the relationship between bacterial and fungal community dynamics during natural wood decay. Based on previous studies involving inoculated wood blocks, strong fungal selection on bacteria abundance and community composition was expected to occur during natural wood decay. Here, we focused on bacterial and fungal community compositions in pine wood samples collected from dead trees in different stages of decomposition. We showed that bacterial communities undergo less drastic changes than fungal communities during wood decay. Furthermore, we found that bacterial community assembly was a stochastic process at initial stage of wood decay and became more deterministic in later stages, likely due to environmental factors. Moreover, composition of bacterial communities did not respond to the changes in the major fungal species present in the wood but rather to the stage of decay reflected by the wood density. We concluded that the shifts in the bacterial communities were a result of the changes in wood properties during decomposition and largely independent of the composition of the wood-decaying fungal communities.

Impact of cadmium on the bacterial communities in the gut of Metaphire posthuma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liang, Shih-Hsiung; Chen, Mu-Hsuan; Chen, Chien-Cheng; Chen, Colin S. [Department of Biotechnology, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (China); Chen, Jiun-Hong [Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Chen, Ssu Ching, E-mail: osycchna@ksts.seed.net.tw [Department of Biotechnology, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (China)

2009-12-30

The effects of cadmium (Cd) contamination in soil onto the bacterial communities of the guts pooled from ten Metaphire posthuma were addressed during 14 days' incubation. We found that about 50% of Cd (5 mg/kg, dry weight soil) in the contaminated soil was bio-accumulated into the earthworms. DNA was extracted from the guts of M. posthuma and their dwelling soil irrespective of Cd treatment for the analysis of the bacterial communities of guts in M. posthuma and in soil by PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). A distinctive cluster of bacterial communities of the guts in the earthworm with and without Cd treatment using the analysis of unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was observed, indicating that the bacterial community of guts could be changed by Cd. However, no differences in the bacterial communities in soil irrespective of Cd treatment were observed, which could be resulted from the bioremediation of Cd by earthworms leading to insignificant effect of Cd on bacterial communities in soil. For the sequencing of some of the dominant bands in the DGGE profile, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Stenotrophomonas sp. D2, and Labrys, sp. CC-BB4, whose sequences display an identity of more than 97% using blast program against a known sequence in the GeneBank database and Ribosomal database, were identified. Collectively, our results showed that earthworm treatment can decrease the concentrations of Cd in soil, and Cd cause a shift in the bacterial communities in the guts of M. posthuma. The application of M. posthuma for Cd bioremediation would be desired.

Bacterial communities associated with culex mosquito larvae and two emergent aquatic plants of bioremediation importance.

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Dagne Duguma

Full Text Available Microbes are important for mosquito nutrition, growth, reproduction and control. In this study, we examined bacterial communities associated with larval mosquitoes and their habitats. Specifically, we characterized bacterial communities associated with late larval instars of the western encephalitis mosquito (Culextarsalis, the submerged portions of two emergent macrophytes (California bulrush, Schoenoplectuscalifornicus and alkali bulrush, Schoenoplectusmaritimus, and the associated water columns to investigate potential differential use of resources by mosquitoes in different wetland habitats. Using next-generation sequence data from 16S rRNA gene hypervariable regions, the alpha diversity of mosquito gut microbial communities did not differ between pond mesocosms containing distinct monotypic plants. Proteobacteria, dominated by the genus Thorsellia (Enterobacteriaceae, was the most abundant phylum recovered from C. tarsalis larvae. Approximately 49% of bacterial OTUs found in larval mosquitoes were identical to OTUs recovered from the water column and submerged portions of the two bulrushes. Plant and water samples were similar to one another, both being dominated by Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia phyla. Overall, the bacterial communities within C. tarsalis larvae were conserved and did not change across sampling dates and between two distinct plant habitats. Although Thorsellia spp. dominated mosquito gut communities, overlap of mosquito gut, plant and water-column OTUs likely reveal the effects of larval feeding. Future research will investigate the role of the key indicator groups of bacteria across the different developmental stages of this mosquito species.

Co-occurrence patterns in aquatic bacterial communities across changing permafrost landscapes

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Comte, J.; Lovejoy, C.; Crevecoeur, S.; Vincent, W. F.

2016-01-01

Permafrost thaw ponds and lakes are widespread across the northern landscape and may play a central role in global biogeochemical cycles, yet knowledge about their microbial ecology is limited. We sampled a set of thaw ponds and lakes as well as shallow rock-basin lakes that are located in distinct valleys along a north-south permafrost degradation gradient. We applied high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to determine co-occurrence patterns among bacterial taxa (operational taxonomic units, OTUs), and then analyzed these results relative to environmental variables to identify variables controlling bacterial community structure. Network analysis was applied to identify possible ecological linkages among the bacterial taxa and with abiotic and biotic variables. The results showed an overall high level of shared taxa among bacterial communities within each valley; however, the bacterial co-occurrence patterns were non-random, with evidence of habitat preferences. There were taxonomic differences in bacterial assemblages among the different valleys that were statistically related to dissolved organic carbon concentration, conductivity and phytoplankton biomass. Co-occurrence networks revealed complex interdependencies within the bacterioplankton communities and showed contrasting linkages to environmental conditions among the main bacterial phyla. The thaw pond networks were composed of a limited number of highly connected taxa. This "small world network" property would render the communities more robust to environmental change but vulnerable to the loss of microbial "keystone species". These highly connected nodes (OTUs) in the network were not merely the numerically dominant taxa, and their loss would alter the organization of microbial consortia and ultimately the food web structure and functioning of these aquatic ecosystems.

Bacterial profiling of White Plague Disease across corals and oceans indicates a conserved and distinct disease microbiome

KAUST Repository

Roder, C.

2014-01-29

Coral diseases are characterized by microbial community shifts in coral mucus and tissue, but causes and consequences of these changes are vaguely understood due to the complexity and dynamics of coral-associated bacteria. We used 16S rRNA gene microarrays to assay differences in bacterial assemblages of healthy and diseased colonies displaying White Plague Disease (WPD) signs from two closely related Caribbean coral species, Orbicella faveolata and Orbicella franksi. Analysis of differentially abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) revealed strong differences between healthy and diseased specimens, but not between coral species. A subsequent comparison to data from two Indo-Pacific coral species (Pavona duerdeni and Porites lutea) revealed distinct microbial community patterns associated with ocean basin, coral species and health state. Coral species were clearly separated by site, but also, the relatedness of the underlying bacterial community structures resembled the phylogenetic relationship of the coral hosts. In diseased samples, bacterial richness increased and putatively opportunistic bacteria were consistently more abundant highlighting the role of opportunistic conditions in structuring microbial community patterns during disease. Our comparative analysis shows that it is possible to derive conserved bacterial footprints of diseased coral holobionts that might help in identifying key bacterial species related to the underlying etiopathology. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that similar-appearing disease phenotypes produce microbial community patterns that are consistent over coral species and oceans, irrespective of the putative underlying pathogen. Consequently, profiling coral diseases by microbial community structure over multiple coral species might allow the development of a comparative disease framework that can inform on cause and relatedness of coral diseases. 2013 The Authors Molecular Ecology John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Lesion bacterial communities in American lobsters with diet-induced shell disease.

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Quinn, Robert A; Metzler, Anita; Tlusty, Michael; Smolowitz, Roxanna M; Leberg, Paul; Chistoserdov, Andrei Y

2012-04-26

In southern New England, USA, shell disease affects the profitability of the American lobster Homarus americanus fishery. In laboratory trials using juvenile lobsters, exclusive feeding of herring Clupea harengus induces shell disease typified initially by small melanized spots that progress into distinct lesions. Amongst a cohabitated, but segregated, cohort of 11 juvenile lobsters fed exclusively herring, bacterial communities colonizing spots and lesions were investigated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rDNA amplified using 1 group-specific and 2 universal primer sets. The Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria predominated in both spots and lesions and included members of the orders Flavobacteriales (Bacteriodetes), Rhodobacterales, Rhodospirillales and Rhizobiales (Alphaproteobacteria), Xanthomonadales (Gammaproteobacteria) and unclassified Gammaproteobacteria. Bacterial communities in spot lesions displayed more diversity than communities with larger (older) lesions, indicating that the lesion communities stabilize over time. At least 8 bacterial types persisted as lesions developed from spots. Aquimarina 'homaria', a species commonly cultured from lesions present on wild lobsters with epizootic shell disease, was found ubiquitously in spots and lesions, as was the 'Candidatus Kopriimonas aquarianus', implicating putative roles of these species in diet-induced shell disease of captive lobsters.

Soil-borne bacterial structure and diversity does not reflect community activity in Pampa biome.

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Lupatini, Manoeli; Suleiman, Afnan Khalil Ahmad; Jacques, Rodrigo Josemar Seminoti; Antoniolli, Zaida Inês; Kuramae, Eiko Eurya; de Oliveira Camargo, Flávio Anastácio; Roesch, Luiz Fernando Würdig

2013-01-01

The Pampa biome is considered one of the main hotspots of the world's biodiversity and it is estimated that half of its original vegetation was removed and converted to agricultural land and tree plantations. Although an increasing amount of knowledge is being assembled regarding the response of soil bacterial communities to land use change, to the associated plant community and to soil properties, our understanding about how these interactions affect the microbial community from the Brazilian Pampa is still poor and incomplete. In this study, we hypothesized that the same soil type from the same geographic region but under distinct land use present dissimilar soil bacterial communities. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the soil bacterial communities from four land-uses within the same soil type by 454-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene and by soil microbial activity analyzes. We found that the same soil type under different land uses harbor similar (but not equal) bacterial communities and the differences were controlled by many microbial taxa. No differences regarding diversity and richness between natural areas and areas under anthropogenic disturbance were detected. However, the measures of microbial activity did not converge with the 16S rRNA data supporting the idea that the coupling between functioning and composition of bacterial communities is not necessarily correlated.

Bacterial community succession in pine-wood decomposition

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Anna eKielak

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Though bacteria and fungi are common inhabitants of decaying wood, little is known about the relationship between bacterial and fungal community dynamics during natural wood decay. Based on previous studies involving inoculated wood blocks, strong fungal selection on bacteria abundance and community composition was expected to occur during natural wood decay. Here we focused on bacterial and fungal community compositions in pine wood samples collected from dead trees in different stages of decomposition. We showed that bacterial communities undergo less drastic changes than fungal communities during wood decay. Furthermore, we found that bacterial community assembly was a stochastic process at initial stage of wood decay and became more deterministic in later stages, likely due to environmental factors. Moreover, composition of bacterial communities did not respond to the changes in the major fungal species present in the wood but rather to the stage of decay reflected by the wood density. We concluded that the shifts in the bacterial communities were a result of the changes in wood properties during decomposition and largely independent of the composition of the wood-decaying fungal communities.

Drivers shaping the diversity and biogeography of total and active bacterial communities in the South China Sea

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Zhang, Yao; Zhao, Zihao; Dai, Minhan; Jiao, Nianzhi; Herndl, Gerhard J

2014-01-01

To test the hypothesis that different drivers shape the diversity and biogeography of the total and active bacterial community, we examined the bacterial community composition along two transects, one from the inner Pearl River estuary to the open waters of the South China Sea (SCS) and the other from the Luzon Strait to the SCS basin, using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA and 16S rRNA gene (V1-3 regions) and thereby characterizing the active and total bacterial community, respectively. The diversity and biogeographic patterns differed substantially between the active and total bacterial communities. Although the composition of both the total and active bacterial community was strongly correlated with environmental factors and weakly correlated with geographic distance, the active bacterial community displayed higher environmental sensitivity than the total community and particularly a greater distance effect largely caused by the active assemblage from deep waters. The 16S rRNA vs. rDNA relationships indicated that the active bacteria were low in relative abundance in the SCS. This might be due to a high competition between active bacterial taxa as indicated by our community network models. Based on these analyses, we speculate that high competition could cause some dispersal limitation of the active bacterial community resulting in a distinct distance-decay relationship. Altogether, our results indicated that the biogeographic distribution of bacteria in the SCS is the result of both environmental control and distance decay. PMID:24684298

Adaptations in bacterial and fungal communities to termite fungiculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otani, Saria

in the bacterial and fungal communities. To do this, we used pyrosequencing, fluorescent in situ hybridisation, light and confocal microscopy, enzymatic assays, chemical extractions, in vitro assays, and feeding experiments in this thesis work to elucidate these predicted changes in fungus-growing termite...... in the proportion of fungal material provided to the cockroaches. However, gut microbiotas remained distinct from those of termites after Termitomyces-feeding, indicating that a fungal diet can play a role in structuring gut community composition, but at the same time exemplifies how original community compositions......, and possibly gut microenvironment constrain the magnitude of change. This thesis also characterises the fungus comb fungal communities (mycobiotas) in fungusgrowing termites, and shows that non-Termitomyces fungi were essentially absent in combs, and that Termitomyces fungal crops are maintained...

Simplified and representative bacterial community of maize roots.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Ben; Paulson, Joseph Nathaniel; Zheng, Xiaoqi; Kolter, Roberto

2017-03-21

Plant-associated microbes are important for the growth and health of their hosts. As a result of numerous prior studies, we know that host genotypes and abiotic factors influence the composition of plant microbiomes. However, the high complexity of these communities challenges detailed studies to define experimentally the mechanisms underlying the dynamics of community assembly and the beneficial effects of such microbiomes on plant hosts. In this work, from the distinctive microbiota assembled by maize roots, through host-mediated selection, we obtained a greatly simplified synthetic bacterial community consisting of seven strains ( Enterobacter cloacae , Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Ochrobactrum pituitosum, Herbaspirillum frisingense, Pseudomonas putida, Curtobacterium pusillum , and Chryseobacterium indologenes ) representing three of the four most dominant phyla found in maize roots. By using a selective culture-dependent method to track the abundance of each strain, we investigated the role that each plays in community assembly on roots of axenic maize seedlings. Only the removal of E. cloacae led to the complete loss of the community, and C. pusillum took over. This result suggests that E. cloacae plays the role of keystone species in this model ecosystem. In planta and in vitro, this model community inhibited the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium verticillioides , indicating a clear benefit to the host. Thus, combined with the selective culture-dependent quantification method, our synthetic seven-species community representing the root microbiome has the potential to serve as a useful system to explore how bacterial interspecies interactions affect root microbiome assembly and to dissect the beneficial effects of the root microbiota on hosts under laboratory conditions in the future.

Exploring lot-to-lot variation in spoilage bacterial communities on commercial modified atmosphere packaged beef.

Science.gov (United States)

Säde, Elina; Penttinen, Katri; Björkroth, Johanna; Hultman, Jenni

2017-04-01

Understanding the factors influencing meat bacterial communities is important as these communities are largely responsible for meat spoilage. The composition and structure of a bacterial community on a high-O 2 modified-atmosphere packaged beef product were examined after packaging, on the use-by date and two days after, to determine whether the communities at each stage were similar to those in samples taken from different production lots. Furthermore, we examined whether the taxa associated with product spoilage were distributed across production lots. Results from 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing showed that while the early samples harbored distinct bacterial communities, after 8-12 days storage at 6 °C the communities were similar to those in samples from different lots, comprising mainly of common meat spoilage bacteria Carnobacterium spp., Brochothrix spp., Leuconostoc spp. and Lactococcus spp. Interestingly, abundant operational taxonomic units associated with product spoilage were shared between the production lots, suggesting that the bacteria enable to spoil the product were constant contaminants in the production chain. A characteristic succession pattern and the distribution of common spoilage bacteria between lots suggest that both the packaging type and the initial community structure influenced the development of the spoilage bacterial community. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic diversity of dominant bacterial communities during bioremediation of crude oil-polluted soil

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Eugene Thomas Cloete

2011-08-01

degradation. Cluster analysis of DGGE bands using simple matching group average setting revealed that poultry droppings-amended soils and calcium ammonium nitrate-amended soils formed distinct clades meaning that the treatment selected similar bacterial populations for each of the treatments whereas NPK soils showed less association. Excision, reamplification and sequencing of dominant DGGE bands in biostimulated soils revealed the presence of distinct hydrocarbon degraders like Corynebacterium spp., Dietzia spp., low G+C Gram positive bacteria and some uncultured bacterial clones. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of these dominant bacterial communities was conducted using the neighbour joining method of PHYLIP. Two distinct clades appeared in the tree clustered members of the Actinobacteria and Firmicutes separately. The overall data suggested that Gram positive bacteria especially members of the Actinobacteria may have a key role in bioremediation of crude oil-polluted soil.

Temporal relationships exist between cecum, ileum and litter bacterial microbiomes in a commercial turkey flock, and subtherapeutic penicillin treatment impacts ileum bacterial community establishment

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Jessica L Danzeisen

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Gut health is paramount for commercial poultry production, and improved methods to assess gut health are critically needed to better understand how the avian gastrointestinal tract matures over time. One important aspect of gut health is the totality of bacterial populations inhabiting different sites of the avian gastrointestinal tract, and associations of these populations with the poultry farm environment, since these bacteria are thought to drive metabolism and prime the developing host immune system. In this study, a single flock of commercial turkeys was followed over the course of twelve weeks to examine bacterial microbiome inhabiting the ceca, ileum, and corresponding poultry litter. Furthermore, the effects of low-dose, growth-promoting penicillin treatment (50 g/ton in feed on the ileum bacterial microbiome were also examined during the early brood period. The cecum and ileum bacterial communities of turkeys were distinct, yet shifted in parallel to one another over time during bird maturation. Corresponding poultry litter was also distinct yet more closely represented the ileal bacterial populations than cecal bacterial populations, and also changed parallel to ileum bacterial populations over time. Penicillin applied at low dose in feed significantly enhanced early weight gain in commercial poults, and this correlated with predictable shifts in the ileum bacterial populations in control versus treatment groups. Overall, this study identified the dynamics of the turkey gastrointestinal microbiome during development, correlations between bacterial populations in the gastrointestinal tract and the litter environment, and the impact of low-dose penicillin on modulation of bacterial communities in the ileum. Such modulations provide a target for alternatives to low-dose antibiotics.

Molecular profiling of rhizosphere bacterial communities associated with Prosopis juliflora and Parthenium hysterophorus.

Science.gov (United States)

Jothibasu, K; Chinnadurai, C; Sundaram, Sp; Kumar, K; Balachandar, Dananjeyan

2012-03-01

Prosopis juliflora and Parthenium hysterophorus are the two arid, exotic weeds of India that are characterized by distinct, profuse growth even in nutritionally poor soils and environmentally stressed conditions. Owing to the exceptional growth nature of these two plants, they are believed to harbor some novel bacterial communities with wide adaptability in their rhizosphere. Hence, in the present study, the bacterial communities associated with the rhizosphere of Prosopis and Parthenium were characterized by clonal 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The culturable microbial counts in the rhizosphere of these two plants were higher than bulk soils, possibly influenced by the root exudates of these two plants. The phylogenetic analysis of V1_V2 domains of the 16S rRNA gene indicated a wider range of bacterial communities present in the rhizosphere of these two plants than in bulk soils and the predominant genera included Acidobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteriodetes in the rhizosphere of Prosopis, and Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Nitrospirae in the Parthenium rhizosphere. The diversity of bacterial communities was more pronounced in the Parthenium rhizosphere than in the Prosopis rhizosphere. This culture-independent bacterial analysis offered extensive possibilities of unraveling novel microbes in the rhizospheres of Prosopis and Parthenium with genes for diverse functions, which could be exploited for nutrient transformation and stress tolerance in cultivated crops.

Bacterial communities in the sediments of Dianchi Lake, a partitioned eutrophic waterbody in China.

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Yaohui Bai

Full Text Available Bacteria play an important role in the decomposition and cycling of a variety of compounds in freshwater aquatic environments, particularly nutrient-rich eutrophic lakes. A unique Chinese eutrophic lake--Dianchi--was selected for study because it has two separate and distinct basins, Caohai with higher organic carbon levels and Waihai with lower organic carbon levels. Sediment bacterial communities were studied in the two basins using samples collected in each season from June 2010 to March 2011. Barcoded pyrosequencing based on the 16 S rRNA gene found that certain common phyla, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Chloroflexi, were dominant in the sediments from both basins. However, from the class to genus level, the dominant bacterial groups found in the sediments were distinct between the two basins. Correlation analysis revealed that, among the environmental parameters examined, total organic carbon (TOC accounted for the greatest proportion of variability in bacterial community. Interestingly, study results suggest that increasing allochthonous organic carbon could enhance bacterial diversity and biomass in the sediment. In addition, analysis of function genes (amoA and nosZ demonstrated that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB were dominant in sediments, with 99% belonging to Nitrosomonas. Denitrifying bacteria were comparatively diverse and were associated with some cultivatable bacteria.

Experimental warming effects on the bacterial community structure and diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, W.; Han, S.; Adams, J.; Son, Y.

2014-12-01

The objective of this study is to investigate the responses of soil bacterial community to future temperature increase by conducting open-field warming experiment. We conducted an open-field experimental warming system using infra-red heater in 2011 and regulated the temperature of warmed plots by 3oC higher than that of control plots constantly. The seeds of Pinus densiflora, Abies holophylla, Abies koreana, Betula costata, Quercus variabilis, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, and Zelkova serrata were planted in each 1 m × 1 m plot (n=3) in April, 2012. We collected soil samples from the rhizosphere of 7 tree species. DNA was extracted and PCR-amplified for the bacterial 16S gene targeting V1-V3 region. The paired-end sequencing was performed at Beijing Genome Institute (BGI, Hong Kong, China) using 2× 100 bp Hiseq2000 (Illumina). This study aimed to answer the following prediction/hypothesis: 1) Experimental warming will change the structure of soil bacterial community, 2) There will be distinct 'indicator group' which response to warming treatment relatively more sensitive than other groups. 3) Warming treatment will enhance the microbial activity in terms of soil respiration. 4) The rhizoplane bacterial communities for each of 7 tree species will show different response pattern to warming treatment. Since the sequence data does not arrive before the submission deadline, therefore, we would like to present the results and discussions on December 2014, AGU Fall Meeting.

Diazotrophic Bacterial Community of Degraded Pastures

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João Tiago Correia Oliveira

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Pasture degradation can cause changes in diazotrophic bacterial communities. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the culturable and total diazotrophic bacterial community, associated with regions of the rhizosphere and roots of Brachiaria decumbens Stapf. pastures in different stages of degradation. Samples of roots and rhizospheric soil were collected from slightly, partially, and highly degraded pastures. McCrady’s table was used to obtain the Most Probable Number (MPN of bacteria per gram of sample, in order to determine population density and calculate the Shannon-Weaver diversity index. The diversity of total diazotrophic bacterial community was determined by the technique of Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE of the nifH gene, while the diversity of the culturable diazotrophic bacteria was determined by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (BOX-PCR technique. The increase in the degradation stage of the B. decumbens Stapf. pasture did not reduce the population density of the cultivated diazotrophic bacterial community, suggesting that the degradation at any degree of severity was highly harmful to the bacteria. The structure of the total diazotrophic bacterial community associated with B. decumbens Stapf. was altered by the pasture degradation stage, suggesting a high adaptive capacity of the bacteria to altered environments.

Detection of Spiroplasma and Wolbachia in the bacterial gonad community of Chorthippus parallelus.

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Martínez-Rodríguez, P; Hernández-Pérez, M; Bella, J L

2013-07-01

We have recently detected the endosymbiont Wolbachia in multiple individuals and populations of the grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: acrididae). This bacterium induces reproductive anomalies, including cytoplasmic incompatibility. Such incompatibilities may help explain the maintenance of two distinct subspecies of this grasshopper, C. parallelus parallelus and C. parallelus erythropus, which are involved in a Pyrenean hybrid zone that has been extensively studied for the past 20 years, becoming a model system for the study of genetic divergence and speciation. To evaluate whether Wolbachia is the sole bacterial infection that might induce reproductive anomalies, the gonadal bacterial community of individuals from 13 distinct populations of C. parallelus was determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments and sequencing. The study revealed low bacterial diversity in the gonads: a persistent bacterial trio consistent with Spiroplasma sp. and the two previously described supergroups of Wolbachia (B and F) dominated the gonad microbiota. A further evaluation of the composition of the gonad bacterial communities was carried out by whole cell hybridization. Our results confirm previous studies of the cytological distribution of Wolbachia in C. parallelus gonads and show a homogeneous infection by Spiroplasma. Spiroplasma and Wolbachia cooccurred in some individuals, but there was no significant association of Spiroplasma with a grasshopper's sex or with Wolbachia infection, although subtle trends might be detected with a larger sample size. This information, together with previous experimental crosses of this grasshopper, suggests that Spiroplasma is unlikely to contribute to sex-specific reproductive anomalies; instead, they implicate Wolbachia as the agent of the observed anomalies in C. parallelus.

Antibiotics promote aggregation within aquatic bacterial communities

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Gianluca eCorno

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The release of antibiotics (AB into the environment poses several threats for human health due to potential development of ABresistant natural bacteria. Even though the use of low-dose antibiotics has been promoted in health care and farming, significant amounts of AB are observed in aquatic environments. Knowledge on the impact of AB on natural bacterial communities is missing both in terms of spread and evolution of resistance mechanisms, and of modifications of community composition and productivity. New approaches are required to study the response of microbial communities rather than individual resistance genes. In this study a chemostat-based experiment with 4 coexisting bacterial strains has been performed to mimicking the response of a freshwater bacterial community to the presence of antibiotics in low and high doses. Bacterial abundance rapidly decreased by 75% in the presence of AB, independently of their concentration, and remained constant until the end of the experiment. The bacterial community was mainly dominated by Aeromonas hydrophila and Brevundimonas intermedia while the other two strains, Micrococcus luteus and Rhodococcus sp. never exceed 10%. Interestingly, the bacterial strains, which were isolated at the end of the experiment, were not AB-resistant, while reassembled communities composed of the 4 strains, isolated from treatments under AB stress, significantly raised their performance (growth rate, abundance in the presence of AB compared to the communities reassembled with strains isolated from the treatment without AB. By investigating the phenotypic adaptations of the communities subjected to the different treatments, we found that the presence of AB significantly increased co-aggregation by 5-6 fold.These results represent the first observation of co-aggregation as a successful strategy of AB resistance based on phenotype in aquatic bacterial communities, and can represent a fundamental step in the understanding of

Community-acquired bacterial meningitis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Beek, Diederik; Brouwer, Matthijs; Hasbun, Rodrigo; Koedel, Uwe; Whitney, Cynthia G.; Wijdicks, Eelco

2016-01-01

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges and subarachnoid space that can also involve the brain cortex and parenchyma. It can be acquired spontaneously in the community - community-acquired bacterial meningitis - or in the hospital as a complication of invasive procedures or head trauma

Two distinct microbial communities revealed in the sponge Cinachyrella

Science.gov (United States)

Cuvelier, Marie L.; Blake, Emily; Mulheron, Rebecca; McCarthy, Peter J.; Blackwelder, Patricia; Thurber, Rebecca L. Vega; Lopez, Jose V.

2014-01-01

Marine sponges are vital components of benthic and coral reef ecosystems, providing shelter and nutrition for many organisms. In addition, sponges act as an essential carbon and nutrient link between the pelagic and benthic environment by filtering large quantities of seawater. Many sponge species harbor a diverse microbial community (including Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryotes), which can constitute up to 50% of the sponge biomass. Sponges of the genus Cinachyrella are common in Caribbean and Floridian reefs and their archaeal and bacterial microbiomes were explored here using 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing. Cinachyrella specimens and seawater samples were collected from the same South Florida reef at two different times of year. In total, 639 OTUs (12 archaeal and 627 bacterial) belonging to 2 archaeal and 21 bacterial phyla were detected in the sponges. Based on their microbiomes, the six sponge samples formed two distinct groups, namely sponge group 1 (SG1) with lower diversity (Shannon-Weiner index: 3.73 ± 0.22) and SG2 with higher diversity (Shannon-Weiner index: 5.95 ± 0.25). Hosts' 28S rRNA gene sequences further confirmed that the sponge specimens were composed of two taxa closely related to Cinachyrella kuekenthalli. Both sponge groups were dominated by Proteobacteria, but Alphaproteobacteria were significantly more abundant in SG1. SG2 harbored many bacterial phyla (>1% of sequences) present in low abundance or below detection limits (<0.07%) in SG1 including: Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, PAUC34f, Poribacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. Furthermore, SG1 and SG2 only had 95 OTUs in common, representing 30.5 and 22.4% of SG1 and SG2's total OTUs, respectively. These results suggest that the sponge host may exert a pivotal influence on the nature and structure of the microbial community and may only be marginally affected by external environment parameters. PMID:25408689

Two distinct microbial communities revealed in the sponge Cinachyrella

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Marie Laure Cuvelier

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Marine sponges are vital components of benthic and coral reef ecosystems, providing shelter and nutrition for many organisms. In addition, sponges act as an essential carbon and nutrient link between the pelagic and benthic environment by filtering large quantities of seawater. Many sponge species harbor a diverse microbial community (including Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryotes, which can constitute up to 50% of the sponge biomass. Sponges of the genus Cinachyrella are common in Caribbean and Floridian reefs and their archaeal and bacterial microbiomes were explored here using 16S rDNA tag pyrosequencing. Cinachyrella specimens and seawater samples were collected from the same South Florida reef at two different times of year. In total, 639 OTUs (12 archaeal and 627 bacterial belonging to 2 archaeal and 21 bacterial phyla were detected in the sponges. Based on their microbiomes, the six sponge samples formed two distinct groups, namely sponge group 1 (SG1 with low diversity (Shannon-Weiner index: 3.73 ± 0.22 and SG2 with higher diversity (Shannon-Weiner index: 5.95 ± 0.25. Hosts’ 28S rDNA sequences further confirmed that the sponge specimens were composed of two taxa closely related to Cinachyrella kuekenthalli. Both sponge groups were dominated by Proteobacteria, but Alphaproteobacteria were significantly more abundant in SG1. SG2 harbored many bacterial phyla (>1% of sequences present in low abundance or below detection limits (<0.07% in SG1 including: Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, PAUC34f, Poribacteria and Verrucomicrobia. Furthermore, SG1 and SG2 only had 95 OTUs in common, representing 30.5% and 22.4% of SG1 and SG2’s total OTUs, respectively. These results suggest that the sponge host may exert a pivotal influence on the nature and structure of the microbial community and may only be marginally affected by external environment parameters.

Bacterial community affects toxin production by Gymnodinium catenatum.

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Maria E Albinsson

Full Text Available The paralytic shellfish toxin (PST-producing dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum grows in association with a complex marine bacterial community that is both essential for growth and can alter culture growth dynamics. Using a bacterial community replacement approach, we examined the intracellular PST content, production rate, and profile of G. catenatum cultures grown with bacterial communities of differing complexity and composition. Clonal offspring were established from surface-sterilized resting cysts (produced by sexual crosses of strain GCDE06 and strain GCLV01 and grown with: 1 complex bacterial communities derived from each of the two parent cultures; 2 simplified bacterial communities composed of the G. catenatum-associated bacteria Marinobacter sp. strain DG879 or Alcanivorax sp. strain DG881; 3 a complex bacterial community associated with an untreated, unsterilized sexual cross of the parents. Toxin content (STX-equivalent per cell of clonal offspring (134-197 fmol STX cell(-1 was similar to the parent cultures (169-206 fmol STX cell(-1, however cultures grown with single bacterial types contained less toxin (134-146 fmol STX cell(-1 than offspring or parent cultures grown with more complex mixed bacterial communities (152-176 fmol STX cell(-1. Specific toxin production rate (fmol STX day(-1 was strongly correlated with culture growth rate. Net toxin production rate (fmol STX cell(-1 day(-1 did not differ among treatments, however, mean net toxin production rate of offspring was 8-fold lower than the parent cultures, suggesting that completion of the sexual lifecycle in laboratory cultures leads to reduced toxin production. The PST profiles of offspring cultures were most similar to parent GCDE06 with the exception of cultures grown with Marinobacter sp. DG879 which produced higher proportions of dcGTX2+3 and GC1+2, and lower proportions of C1+2 and C3+4. Our data demonstrate that the bacterial community can alter intracellular STX

Bacterial community affects toxin production by Gymnodinium catenatum.

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Albinsson, Maria E; Negri, Andrew P; Blackburn, Susan I; Bolch, Christopher J S

2014-01-01

The paralytic shellfish toxin (PST)-producing dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum grows in association with a complex marine bacterial community that is both essential for growth and can alter culture growth dynamics. Using a bacterial community replacement approach, we examined the intracellular PST content, production rate, and profile of G. catenatum cultures grown with bacterial communities of differing complexity and composition. Clonal offspring were established from surface-sterilized resting cysts (produced by sexual crosses of strain GCDE06 and strain GCLV01) and grown with: 1) complex bacterial communities derived from each of the two parent cultures; 2) simplified bacterial communities composed of the G. catenatum-associated bacteria Marinobacter sp. strain DG879 or Alcanivorax sp. strain DG881; 3) a complex bacterial community associated with an untreated, unsterilized sexual cross of the parents. Toxin content (STX-equivalent per cell) of clonal offspring (134-197 fmol STX cell(-1)) was similar to the parent cultures (169-206 fmol STX cell(-1)), however cultures grown with single bacterial types contained less toxin (134-146 fmol STX cell(-1)) than offspring or parent cultures grown with more complex mixed bacterial communities (152-176 fmol STX cell(-1)). Specific toxin production rate (fmol STX day(-1)) was strongly correlated with culture growth rate. Net toxin production rate (fmol STX cell(-1) day(-1)) did not differ among treatments, however, mean net toxin production rate of offspring was 8-fold lower than the parent cultures, suggesting that completion of the sexual lifecycle in laboratory cultures leads to reduced toxin production. The PST profiles of offspring cultures were most similar to parent GCDE06 with the exception of cultures grown with Marinobacter sp. DG879 which produced higher proportions of dcGTX2+3 and GC1+2, and lower proportions of C1+2 and C3+4. Our data demonstrate that the bacterial community can alter intracellular STX

Bacterial Community Associated with Healthy and Diseased Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Larvae and Rearing Water across Different Growth Stages.

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Zheng, Yanfen; Yu, Min; Liu, Jiwen; Qiao, Yanlu; Wang, Long; Li, Zhitao; Zhang, Xiao-Hua; Yu, Mingchao

2017-01-01

Bacterial communities are called another "organ" for aquatic animals and their important influence on the health of host has drawn increasing attention. Thus, it is important to study the relationships between aquatic animals and bacterial communities. Here, bacterial communities associated with Litopenaeus vannamei larvae at different healthy statuses (diseased and healthy) and growth stages (i.e., zoea, mysis, and early postlarvae periods) were examined using 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Bacterial communities with significant difference were observed between healthy and diseased rearing water, and several bacterial groups, such as genera Nautella and Kordiimonas could also distinguish healthy and diseased shrimp. Rhodobacteraceae was widely distributed in rearing water at all growth stages but there were several stage-specific groups, indicating that bacterial members in rearing water assembled into distinct communities throughout the larval development. However, Gammaproteobacteria , mainly family Enterobacteriaceae , was the most abundant group (accounting for more than 85%) in shrimp larvae at all growth stages. This study compared bacterial communities associated with healthy and diseased L . vannamei larvae and rearing water, and identified several health- and growth stage-specific bacterial groups, which might be provided as indicators for monitoring the healthy status of shrimp larvae in hatchery.

Bacterial Community Associated with Healthy and Diseased Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei Larvae and Rearing Water across Different Growth Stages

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Yanfen Zheng

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Bacterial communities are called another “organ” for aquatic animals and their important influence on the health of host has drawn increasing attention. Thus, it is important to study the relationships between aquatic animals and bacterial communities. Here, bacterial communities associated with Litopenaeus vannamei larvae at different healthy statuses (diseased and healthy and growth stages (i.e., zoea, mysis, and early postlarvae periods were examined using 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Bacterial communities with significant difference were observed between healthy and diseased rearing water, and several bacterial groups, such as genera Nautella and Kordiimonas could also distinguish healthy and diseased shrimp. Rhodobacteraceae was widely distributed in rearing water at all growth stages but there were several stage-specific groups, indicating that bacterial members in rearing water assembled into distinct communities throughout the larval development. However, Gammaproteobacteria, mainly family Enterobacteriaceae, was the most abundant group (accounting for more than 85% in shrimp larvae at all growth stages. This study compared bacterial communities associated with healthy and diseased L. vannamei larvae and rearing water, and identified several health- and growth stage-specific bacterial groups, which might be provided as indicators for monitoring the healthy status of shrimp larvae in hatchery.

Antibiotic Discovery: Combatting Bacterial Resistance in Cells and in Biofilm Communities

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Anahit Penesyan

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Bacterial resistance is a rapidly escalating threat to public health as our arsenal of effective antibiotics dwindles. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new antibiotics. Drug discovery has historically focused on bacteria growing in planktonic cultures. Many antibiotics were originally developed to target individual bacterial cells, being assessed in vitro against microorganisms in a planktonic mode of life. However, towards the end of the 20th century it became clear that many bacteria live as complex communities called biofilms in their natural habitat, and this includes habitats within a human host. The biofilm mode of life provides advantages to microorganisms, such as enhanced resistance towards environmental stresses, including antibiotic challenge. The community level resistance provided by biofilms is distinct from resistance mechanisms that operate at a cellular level, and cannot be overlooked in the development of novel strategies to combat infectious diseases. The review compares mechanisms of antibiotic resistance at cellular and community levels in the light of past and present antibiotic discovery efforts. Future perspectives on novel strategies for treatment of biofilm-related infectious diseases are explored.

Impact of hydraulic well restoration on native bacterial communities in drinking water wells.

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Karwautz, Clemens; Lueders, Tillmann

2014-01-01

The microbial monitoring of drinking water production systems is essential to assure water quality and minimize possible risks. However, the comparative impact of microbes from the surrounding aquifer and of those established within drinking water wells on water parameters remains poorly understood. High pressure jetting is a routine method to impede well clogging by fine sediments and also biofilms. In the present study, bacterial communities were investigated in a drinking water production system before, during, and after hydraulic purging. Variations were observed in bacterial communities between different wells of the same production system before maintenance, despite them having practically identical water chemistries. This may have reflected the distinct usage practices of the different wells, and also local aquifer heterogeneity. Hydraulic jetting of one well preferentially purged a subset of the dominating taxa, including lineages related to Diaphorobacter, Nitrospira, Sphingobium, Ralstonia, Alkanindiges, Janthinobacterium, and Pseudomonas spp, suggesting their tendency for growth in well-associated biofilms. Lineages of potential drinking water concern (i.e. Legionellaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and Acinetobacter spp.) reacted distinctly to hydraulic jetting. Bacterial diversity was markedly reduced in drinking water 2 weeks after the cleaning procedure. The results of the present study provide a better understanding of drinking water wells as a microbial habitat, as well as their role in the microbiology of drinking water systems.

Impact of Hydraulic Well Restoration on Native Bacterial Communities in Drinking Water Wells

Science.gov (United States)

Karwautz, Clemens; Lueders, Tillmann

2014-01-01

The microbial monitoring of drinking water production systems is essential to assure water quality and minimize possible risks. However, the comparative impact of microbes from the surrounding aquifer and of those established within drinking water wells on water parameters remains poorly understood. High pressure jetting is a routine method to impede well clogging by fine sediments and also biofilms. In the present study, bacterial communities were investigated in a drinking water production system before, during, and after hydraulic purging. Variations were observed in bacterial communities between different wells of the same production system before maintenance, despite them having practically identical water chemistries. This may have reflected the distinct usage practices of the different wells, and also local aquifer heterogeneity. Hydraulic jetting of one well preferentially purged a subset of the dominating taxa, including lineages related to Diaphorobacter, Nitrospira, Sphingobium, Ralstonia, Alkanindiges, Janthinobacterium, and Pseudomonas spp, suggesting their tendency for growth in well-associated biofilms. Lineages of potential drinking water concern (i.e. Legionellaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and Acinetobacter spp.) reacted distinctly to hydraulic jetting. Bacterial diversity was markedly reduced in drinking water 2 weeks after the cleaning procedure. The results of the present study provide a better understanding of drinking water wells as a microbial habitat, as well as their role in the microbiology of drinking water systems. PMID:25273229

Shifts in soil bacterial community after eight years of land-use change.

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Suleiman, Afnan Khalil Ahmad; Manoeli, Lupatini; Boldo, Juliano Tomazzoni; Pereira, Marcos G; Roesch, Luiz Fernando Wurdig

2013-03-01

The interaction between plants, soil and microorganisms is considered to be the major driver of ecosystem functions and any modification of plant cover and/or soil properties might affect the microbial structure, which, in turn, will influence ecological processes. Assuming that soil properties are the major drivers of soil bacterial diversity and structure within the same soil type, it can be postulated whether plant cover causes significant shifts in soil bacterial community composition. To address this question, this study used 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to detect differences in diversity, composition and/or relative abundance of bacterial taxa from an area covered by pristine forest, as well as eight-year-old grassland surrounded by the same forest. It was shown that a total of 69% of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shared between environments. Overall, forest and grassland samples presented the same diversity and the clustering analysis did not show the occurrence of very distinctive bacterial communities between environments. However, 11 OTUs were detected in statistically significant higher abundance in the forest samples but in lower abundance in the grassland samples, whereas 12 OTUs occurred in statistically significant higher abundance in the grassland samples but in lower abundance in the forest samples. The results suggested the prevalence of a resilient core microbial community that did not suffer any change related to land use, soil type or edaphic conditions. The results illustrated that the history of land use might influence present-day community structure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Determinants of bacterial communities in Canadian agroforestry systems.

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Banerjee, Samiran; Baah-Acheamfour, Mark; Carlyle, Cameron N; Bissett, Andrew; Richardson, Alan E; Siddique, Tariq; Bork, Edward W; Chang, Scott X

2016-06-01

Land-use change is one of the most important factors influencing soil microbial communities, which play a pivotal role in most biogeochemical and ecological processes. Using agroforestry systems as a model, this study examined the effects of land uses and edaphic properties on bacterial communities in three agroforestry types covering a 270 km soil-climate gradient in Alberta, Canada. Our results demonstrate that land-use patterns exert stronger effects on soil bacterial communities than soil zones in these agroforestry systems. Plots with trees in agroforestry systems promoted greater bacterial abundance and to some extent species richness, which was associated with more nutrient-rich soil resources. While Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla and subphyla across land uses, Arthrobacter, Acidobacteria_Gp16, Burkholderia, Rhodanobacter and Rhizobium were the keystone taxa in these agroforestry systems. Soil pH and carbon contents emerged as the major determinants of bacterial community characteristics. We found non-random co-occurrence and modular patterns of soil bacterial communities, and these patterns were controlled by edaphic factors and not their taxonomy. Overall, this study highlights the drivers and co-occurrence patterns of soil microbial communities in agroforestry systems. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bacterial and archaeal communities in sediments of the north Chinese marginal seas.

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Liu, Jiwen; Liu, Xiaoshou; Wang, Min; Qiao, Yanlu; Zheng, Yanfen; Zhang, Xiao-Hua

2015-07-01

Microbial communities of the Chinese marginal seas have rarely been reported. Here, bacterial and archaeal community structures and abundance in the surface sediment of four sea areas including the Bohai Sea (BS), North Yellow Sea (NYS), South Yellow Sea (SYS), and the north East China Sea (NECS) were surveyed by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene pyrosequencing and quantitative PCR. The results showed that microbial communities of the four geographic areas were distinct from each other at the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level, whereas the microbial communities of the BS, NYS, and SYS were more similar to each other than to the NECS at higher taxonomic levels. Across all samples, Bacteria were numerically dominant relative to Archaea, and among them, Gammaproteobacteria and Euryarchaeota were predominant in the BS, NYS, and SYS, while Deltaproteobacteria and Thaumarchaeota were prevalent in the NECS. The most abundant bacterial genera were putative sulfur oxidizer and sulfate reducer, suggesting that sulfur cycle processes might prevail in these areas, and the high abundance of dsrB (10(7)-10(8) copies g(-1)) in all sites verified the dominance of sulfate reducer in the north Chinese marginal seas. The differences in sediment sources among the sampling areas were potential explanations for the observed microbial community variations. Furthermore, temperature and dissolved oxygen of bottom water were significant environmental factors in determining both bacterial and archaeal communities, whereas chlorophyll a in sediment was significant only in structuring archaeal community. This study presented an outline of benthic microbial communities and provided insights into understanding the biogeochemical cycles in sediments of the north Chinese marginal seas.

Differences between bacterial communities in the gut of a soil-feeding termite (Cubitermes niokoloensis) and its mounds.

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Fall, Saliou; Hamelin, Jérôme; Ndiaye, Farma; Assigbetse, Komi; Aragno, Michel; Chotte, Jean Luc; Brauman, Alain

2007-08-01

In tropical ecosystems, termite mound soils constitute an important soil compartment covering around 10% of African soils. Previous studies have shown (S. Fall, S. Nazaret, J. L. Chotte, and A. Brauman, Microb. Ecol. 28:191-199, 2004) that the bacterial genetic structure of the mounds of soil-feeding termites (Cubitermes niokoloensis) is different from that of their surrounding soil. The aim of this study was to characterize the specificity of bacterial communities within mounds with respect to the digestive and soil origins of the mound. We have compared the bacterial community structures of a termite mound, termite gut sections, and surrounding soil using PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis and cloning and sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments. DGGE analysis revealed a drastic difference between the genetic structures of the bacterial communities of the termite gut and the mound. Analysis of 266 clones, including 54 from excised bands, revealed a high level of diversity in each biota investigated. The soil-feeding termite mound was dominated by the Actinobacteria phylum, whereas the Firmicutes and Proteobacteria phyla dominate the gut sections of termites and the surrounding soil, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a distinct clustering of Actinobacteria phylotypes between the mound and the surrounding soil. The Actinobacteria clones of the termite mound were diverse, distributed among 10 distinct families, and like those in the termite gut environment lightly dominated by the Nocardioidaceae family. Our findings confirmed that the soil-feeding termite mound (C. niokoloensis) represents a specific bacterial habitat in the tropics.

Fertilization Shapes Bacterial Community Structure by Alteration of Soil pH

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Yuting Zhang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Application of chemical fertilizer or manure can affect soil microorganisms directly by supplying nutrients and indirectly by altering soil pH. However, it remains uncertain which effect mostly shapes microbial community structure. We determined soil bacterial diversity and community structure by 454 pyrosequencing the V1-V3 regions of 16S rRNA genes after 7-years (2007–2014 of applying chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK fertilizers, composted manure or their combination to acidic (pH 5.8, near-neutral (pH 6.8 or alkaline (pH 8.4 Eutric Regosol soil in a maize-vegetable rotation in southwest China. In alkaline soil, nutrient sources did not affect bacterial Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU richness or Shannon diversity index, despite higher available N, P, K, and soil organic carbon in fertilized than in unfertilized soil. In contrast, bacterial OTU richness and Shannon diversity index were significantly lower in acidic and near-neutral soils under NPK than under manure or their combination, which corresponded with changes in soil pH. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance showed that bacterial community structure was significantly affected across these three soils, but the PCoA ordination patterns indicated the effect was less distinct among nutrient sources in alkaline than in acidic and near-neural soils. Distance-based redundancy analysis showed that bacterial community structures were significantly altered by soil pH in acidic and near-neutral soils, but not by any soil chemical properties in alkaline soil. The relative abundance (% of most bacterial phyla was higher in near-neutral than in acidic or alkaline soils. The most dominant phyla were Proteobacteria (24.6%, Actinobacteria (19.7%, Chloroflexi (15.3% and Acidobacteria (12.6%; the medium dominant phyla were Bacterioidetes (5.3%, Planctomycetes (4.8%, Gemmatimonadetes (4.5%, Firmicutes (3.4%, Cyanobacteria (2.1%, Nitrospirae (1.8%, and candidate division TM7 (1

Fertilization Shapes Bacterial Community Structure by Alteration of Soil pH.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yuting; Shen, Hong; He, Xinhua; Thomas, Ben W; Lupwayi, Newton Z; Hao, Xiying; Thomas, Matthew C; Shi, Xiaojun

2017-01-01

Application of chemical fertilizer or manure can affect soil microorganisms directly by supplying nutrients and indirectly by altering soil pH. However, it remains uncertain which effect mostly shapes microbial community structure. We determined soil bacterial diversity and community structure by 454 pyrosequencing the V1-V3 regions of 16S rRNA genes after 7-years (2007-2014) of applying chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) fertilizers, composted manure or their combination to acidic (pH 5.8), near-neutral (pH 6.8) or alkaline (pH 8.4) Eutric Regosol soil in a maize-vegetable rotation in southwest China. In alkaline soil, nutrient sources did not affect bacterial Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) richness or Shannon diversity index, despite higher available N, P, K, and soil organic carbon in fertilized than in unfertilized soil. In contrast, bacterial OTU richness and Shannon diversity index were significantly lower in acidic and near-neutral soils under NPK than under manure or their combination, which corresponded with changes in soil pH. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance showed that bacterial community structure was significantly affected across these three soils, but the PCoA ordination patterns indicated the effect was less distinct among nutrient sources in alkaline than in acidic and near-neural soils. Distance-based redundancy analysis showed that bacterial community structures were significantly altered by soil pH in acidic and near-neutral soils, but not by any soil chemical properties in alkaline soil. The relative abundance (%) of most bacterial phyla was higher in near-neutral than in acidic or alkaline soils. The most dominant phyla were Proteobacteria (24.6%), Actinobacteria (19.7%), Chloroflexi (15.3%) and Acidobacteria (12.6%); the medium dominant phyla were Bacterioidetes (5.3%), Planctomycetes (4.8%), Gemmatimonadetes (4.5%), Firmicutes (3.4%), Cyanobacteria (2.1%), Nitrospirae (1.8%), and candidate division TM7 (1

Mineral and organic growing media have distinct community structure, stability and functionality in soilless culture systems.

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Grunert, Oliver; Hernandez-Sanabria, Emma; Vilchez-Vargas, Ramiro; Jauregui, Ruy; Pieper, Dietmar H; Perneel, Maaike; Van Labeke, Marie-Christine; Reheul, Dirk; Boon, Nico

2016-01-05

The choice of soilless growing medium for plant nutrition, growth and support is crucial for improving the eco-sustainability of the production in horticultural systems. As our current understanding of the functional microbial communities inhabiting this ecosystem is still limited, we examined the microbial community development of the two most important growing media (organic and mineral) used in open soilless horticultural systems. We aimed to identify factors that influence community composition over time, and to compare the distribution of individual taxa across growing media, and their potential functionality. High throughput sequencing analysis revealed a distinctive and stable microbial community in the organic growing medium. Humidity, pH, nitrate-N, ammonium-N and conductivity were uncovered as the main factors associated with the resident bacterial communities. Ammonium-N was correlated with Rhizobiaceae abundance, while potential competitive interactions among both Methylophilaceae and Actinobacteridae with Rhizobiaceae were suggested. Our results revealed that soilless growing media are unique niches for diverse bacterial communities with temporal functional stability, which may possibly impact the resistance to external forces. These differences in communities can be used to develop strategies to move towards a sustainable horticulture with increased productivity and quality.

Diazotrophic Bacterial Community of Degraded Pastures

OpenAIRE

João Tiago Correia Oliveira; Everthon Fernandes Figueredo; Williane Patrícia da Silva Diniz; Lucianne Ferreira Paes de Oliveira; Pedro Avelino Maia de Andrade; Fernando Dini Andreote; Júlia Kuklinsky-Sobral; Danúbia Ramos de Lima; Fernando José Freire

2017-01-01

Pasture degradation can cause changes in diazotrophic bacterial communities. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the culturable and total diazotrophic bacterial community, associated with regions of the rhizosphere and roots of Brachiaria decumbens Stapf. pastures in different stages of degradation. Samples of roots and rhizospheric soil were collected from slightly, partially, and highly degraded pastures. McCrady’s table was used to obtain the Most Probable Number (MPN) of bacteria per gram ...

Riverine Bacterial Communities Reveal Environmental Disturbance Signatures within the Betaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia.

Science.gov (United States)

Balmonte, John Paul; Arnosti, Carol; Underwood, Sarah; McKee, Brent A; Teske, Andreas

2016-01-01

Riverine bacterial communities play an essential role in the biogeochemical coupling of terrestrial and marine environments, transforming elements and organic matter in their journey from land to sea. However, precisely due to the fact that rivers receive significant terrestrial input, the distinction between resident freshwater taxa vs. land-derived microbes can often become ambiguous. Furthermore, ecosystem perturbations could introduce allochthonous microbial groups and reshape riverine bacterial communities. Using full- and partial-length 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, we analyzed the composition of bacterial communities in the Tar River of North Carolina from November 2010 to November 2011, during which a natural perturbation occurred: the inundation of the lower reaches of an otherwise drought-stricken river associated with Hurricane Irene, which passed over eastern North Carolina in late August 2011. This event provided the opportunity to examine the microbiological, hydrological, and geochemical impacts of a disturbance, defined here as the large freshwater influx into the Tar River, superimposed on seasonal changes or other ecosystem variability independent of the hurricane. Our findings demonstrate that downstream communities are more taxonomically diverse and temporally variable than their upstream counterparts. More importantly, pre- vs. post-disturbance taxonomic comparison of the freshwater-dominant Betaproteobacteria class and the phylum Verrucomicrobia reveal a disturbance signature of previously undetected taxa of diverse origins. We use known traits of closely-related taxa to interpret the ecological function of disturbance-associated bacteria, and hypothesize that carbon cycling was enhanced post-disturbance in the Tar River, likely due to the flux of organic carbon into the system associated with the large freshwater pulse. Our analyses demonstrate the importance of geochemical and hydrological alterations in structuring bacterial communities

Riverine bacterial communities reveal environmental disturbance signatures within the Betaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Paul Balmonte

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Riverine bacterial communities play an essential role in the biogeochemical coupling of terrestrial and marine environments, transforming elements and organic matter in their journey from land to sea. However, precisely due to the fact that rivers receive significant terrestrial input, the distinction between resident freshwater taxa versus land-derived microbes can often become ambiguous. Furthermore, ecosystem perturbations could introduce allochthonous microbial groups and reshape riverine bacterial communities. Using full- and partial-length 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, we analyzed the composition of bacterial communities in the Tar River of North Carolina from November 2010 to November 2010, during which a natural perturbation occurred: the inundation of the lower reaches of an otherwise drought-stricken river associated with Hurricane Irene, which passed over eastern North Carolina in late August 2011. This event provided the opportunity to examine the microbiological, hydrological and geochemical impacts of a disturbance, defined here as the large freshwater influx into the Tar River, superimposed on seasonal changes or other ecosystem variability independent of the hurricane. Our findings demonstrate that downstream communities are more taxonomically diverse and temporally variable than their upstream counterparts. More importantly, pre- versus post-disturbance taxonomic comparison of the freshwater-dominant Betaproteobacteria class and the phylum Verrucomicrobia reveal a disturbance signature of previously undetected taxa of diverse origins. We use known traits of closely-related taxa to interpret the ecological function of disturbance-associated bacteria, and hypothesize that carbon cycling was enhanced post-disturbance in the Tar River, likely due to the flux of organic carbon into the system associated with the large freshwater pulse. Our analyses demonstrate the importance of geochemical and hydrological alterations in

Determination and Variation of Core Bacterial Community in a Two-Stage Full-Scale Anaerobic Reactor Treating High-Strength Pharmaceutical Wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Haijun; Ye, Lin; Hu, Haidong; Zhang, Lulu; Ding, Lili; Ren, Hongqiang

2017-10-28

Knowledge on the functional characteristics and temporal variation of anaerobic bacterial populations is important for better understanding of the microbial process of two-stage anaerobic reactors. However, owing to the high diversity of anaerobic bacteria, close attention should be prioritized to the frequently abundant bacteria that were defined as core bacteria and putatively functionally important. In this study, using MiSeq sequencing technology, the core bacterial community of 98 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was determined in a two-stage upflow blanket filter reactor treating pharmaceutical wastewater. The core bacterial community accounted for 61.66% of the total sequences and accurately predicted the sample location in the principal coordinates analysis scatter plot as the total bacterial OTUs did. The core bacterial community in the first-stage (FS) and second-stage (SS) reactors were generally distinct, in that the FS core bacterial community was indicated to be more related to a higher-level fermentation process, and the SS core bacterial community contained more microbes in syntrophic cooperation with methanogens. Moreover, the different responses of the FS and SS core bacterial communities to the temperature shock and influent disturbance caused by solid contamination were fully investigated. Co-occurring analysis at the Order level implied that Bacteroidales, Selenomonadales, Anaerolineales, Syneristales, and Thermotogales might play key roles in anaerobic digestion due to their high abundance and tight correlation with other microbes. These findings advance our knowledge about the core bacterial community and its temporal variability for future comparative research and improvement of the two-stage anaerobic system operation.

Bacterial community changes in an industrial algae production system.

Science.gov (United States)

Fulbright, Scott P; Robbins-Pianka, Adam; Berg-Lyons, Donna; Knight, Rob; Reardon, Kenneth F; Chisholm, Stephen T

2018-04-01

While microalgae are a promising feedstock for production of fuels and other chemicals, a challenge for the algal bioproducts industry is obtaining consistent, robust algae growth. Algal cultures include complex bacterial communities and can be difficult to manage because specific bacteria can promote or reduce algae growth. To overcome bacterial contamination, algae growers may use closed photobioreactors designed to reduce the number of contaminant organisms. Even with closed systems, bacteria are known to enter and cohabitate, but little is known about these communities. Therefore, the richness, structure, and composition of bacterial communities were characterized in closed photobioreactor cultivations of Nannochloropsis salina in F/2 medium at different scales, across nine months spanning late summer-early spring, and during a sequence of serially inoculated cultivations. Using 16S rRNA sequence data from 275 samples, bacterial communities in small, medium, and large cultures were shown to be significantly different. Larger systems contained richer bacterial communities compared to smaller systems. Relationships between bacterial communities and algae growth were complex. On one hand, blooms of a specific bacterial type were observed in three abnormal, poorly performing replicate cultivations, while on the other, notable changes in the bacterial community structures were observed in a series of serial large-scale batch cultivations that had similar growth rates. Bacteria common to the majority of samples were identified, including a single OTU within the class Saprospirae that was found in all samples. This study contributes important information for crop protection in algae systems, and demonstrates the complex ecosystems that need to be understood for consistent, successful industrial algae cultivation. This is the first study to profile bacterial communities during the scale-up process of industrial algae systems.

Functional Potential of Bacterial Communities using Gene Context Information

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Anwesha Mohapatra

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Estimation of the functional potential of a bacterial genome can be determined by accurate annotation of its metabolic pathways. Existing homology based methods for pathway annotation fail to account for homologous genes that participate in multiple pathways, causing overestimation of gene copy number. Mere presence of constituent genes of a candidate pathway which are dispersed on a genome often results in incorrect annotation, thereby leading to erroneous gene abundance and pathway estimation. Clusters of evolutionarily conserved coregulated genes are characteristic features in bacterial genomes and their spatial arrangement in the genome is constrained by the pathway encoded by them. Thus, in order to improve the accuracy of pathway prediction, it is important to augment homology based annotation with gene organization information. In this communication, we present a methodology considering prioritization of gene context for improved pathway annotation. Extensive literature mining was performed to confirm conserved juxtaposed arrangement of gene components of various pathways. Our method was utilized to identify and analyse the functional potential of all available completely sequenced bacterial genomes. The accuracy of the predicted gene clusters and their importance in metabolic pathways will be demonstrated using a few case studies. One of such case study corresponds to butyrate production pathways in gut bacteria where it was observed that gut pathogens and commensals possess a distinct set of pathway components. In another example, we will demonstrate how our methodology improves the prediction accuracy of carbohydrate metabolic potential in human microbial communities. Applicability of our method for estimation of functional potential in bacterial communities present in diverse environments will also be illustrated.

Soil bacterial community shifts associated with sugarcane straw removal

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Pimentel, Laisa; Gumiere, Thiago; Andreote, Fernando; Cerri, Carlos

2017-04-01

In Brazil, the adoption of the mechanical unburned sugarcane harvest potentially increase the quantity of residue left in the field after harvesting. Economically, this material has a high potential for second generation ethanol (2G) production. However, crop residues have an essential role in diverse properties and processes in the soil. The greater part of the uncertainties about straw removal for 2G ethanol production is based on its effects in soil microbial community. In this sense, it is important to identify the main impacts of sugarcane straw removal on soil microbial community. Therefore, we conducted a field study, during one year, in Valparaíso (São Paulo state - Brazil) to evaluate the effects of straw decomposition on soil bacterial community. Specifically, we wanted: i) to compare the rates of straw removal and ii) to evaluate the effects of straw decomposition on soil bacterial groups over one year. The experiment was in a randomized block design with treatments arranged in strip plot. The treatments are different rates of sugarcane straw removal, namely: no removal, 50, 75 and 100% of straw removal. Soil sampling was carried out at 0, 4, 8 and 12 months after the sugarcane harvest (August 2015). Total DNA was extracted from soil using the PowersoilTM DNA Isolation kit. And the abundance of bacterial in each soil sample was estimated via quantification of 16S rRNA gene. The composition of the bacterial communities was estimated via terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis, and the T-RF sizes were performed on a 3500 Genetic Analyzer. Finally, the results were examined with GeneMapper 4.1 software. There was bacterial community shifts through the time and among the rates of sugarcane straw removal. Bacterial community was firstly determined by the time scale, which explained 29.16% of total variation. Rates of straw removal explained 11.55% of shifts on bacterial community. Distribution through the time is an important

Mineral phosphate solubilizing bacterial community in agro-ecosystem

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mineral phosphate solubilizing bacterial community in agro-ecosystem. N Saha, S Biswas. Abstract. The present communication deals with the assessment of phosphate solubilizing bacterial community structure across artificially created fertility gradient with regards to N, P and K status of soil in the experimental site.

Soil bacterial and fungal community responses to nitrogen addition across soil depth and microhabitat in an arid shrubland

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Mueller, Rebecca C.; Belnap, Jayne; Kuske, Cheryl R.

2015-01-01

Arid shrublands are stressful environments, typified by alkaline soils low in organic matter, with biologically-limiting extremes in water availability, temperature, and UV radiation. The widely-spaced plants and interspace biological soil crusts in these regions provide soil nutrients in a localized fashion, creating a mosaic pattern of plant- or crust-associated microhabitats with distinct nutrient composition. With sporadic and limited rainfall, nutrients are primarily retained in the shallow surface soil, patterning biological activity. We examined soil bacterial and fungal community responses to simulated nitrogen (N) deposition in an arid Larrea tridentata-Ambrosia dumosa field experiment in southern Nevada, USA, using high-throughput sequencing of ribosomal RNA genes. To examine potential interactions among the N application, microhabitat and soil depth, we sampled soils associated with shrub canopies and interspace biological crusts at two soil depths (0–0.5 or 0–10 cm) across the N-amendment gradient (0, 7, and 15 kg ha−1 yr−1). We hypothesized that localized compositional differences in soil microbiota would constrain the impacts of N addition to a microhabitat distribution that would reflect highly localized geochemical conditions and microbial community composition. The richness and community composition of both bacterial and fungal communities differed significantly by microhabitat and with soil depth in each microhabitat. Only bacterial communities exhibited significant responses to the N addition. Community composition correlated with microhabitat and depth differences in soil geochemical features. Given the distinct roles of soil bacteria and fungi in major nutrient cycles, the resilience of fungi and sensitivity of bacteria to N amendments suggests that increased N input predicted for many arid ecosystems could shift nutrient cycling toward pathways driven primarily by fungal communities.

Bacterial community structure in the Cerasus sachalinensis Kom ...

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Jane

2011-07-21

Jul 21, 2011 ... The bacterial community structures of the Cerasus sachalinensis Kom. rhizosphere in wild and cultivated soil were studied and the community changes in different growth stages were analyzed by the PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) method. The results showed that the bacterial ...

Distinct Bacterial Communities Associated with Massive and Branching Scleractinian Corals and Potential Linkages to Coral Susceptibility to Thermal or Cold Stress

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Jiayuan Liang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available It is well known that different coral species have different tolerances to thermal or cold stress, which is presumed to be related to the density of Symbiodinium. However, the intrinsic factors between stress-tolerant characteristics and coral-associated bacteria are rarely studied. In this study, 16 massive coral and 9 branching coral colonies from 6 families, 10 genera, and 18 species were collected at the same time and location (Xinyi Reef in the South China Sea to investigate the bacterial communities. The results of an alpha diversity analysis showed that bacterial diversities associated with massive corals were generally higher than those with branching corals at different taxonomic levels (phylum, class, order, and so on. In addition, hierarchical clustering tree and PCoA analyses showed that coral species were clustered into two large groups according to the similarity of bacterial communities. Group I consisted of massive Goniastrea, Plesiastrea, Leptastrea, Platygyra, Echinopora, Porites, and Leptoria, and group II consisted of branching Acropora and Pocillopora. These findings suggested that both massive corals and branching corals have their own preference for the choice of associated bacteria, which may be involved in observed differences in thermal/cold tolerances. Further analysis found that 55 bacterial phyla, including 43 formally described phyla and 12 candidate phyla, were detected in these coral species. Among them, 52 phyla were recovered from the massive coral group, and 46 phyla were recovered from the branching coral group. Formally described coral pathogens have not been detected in these coral species, suggesting that they are less likely to be threatened by disease in this geographic area. This study highlights a clear relationship between the high complexity of bacterial community associated with coral, skeletal morphology of coral and potentially tolerances to thermal or cold stress.

Meta-scale mountain grassland observatories uncover commonalities as well as specific interactions among plant and non-rhizosphere soil bacterial communities.

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Yashiro, Erika; Pinto-Figueroa, Eric; Buri, Aline; Spangenberg, Jorge E; Adatte, Thierry; Niculita-Hirzel, Helene; Guisan, Antoine; van der Meer, Jan Roelof

2018-04-10

Interactions between plants and bacteria in the non-rhizosphere soil are rarely assessed, because they are less direct and easily masked by confounding environmental factors. By studying plant vegetation alliances and soil bacterial community co-patterning in grassland soils in 100 sites across a heterogeneous mountain landscape in the western Swiss Alps, we obtained sufficient statistical power to disentangle common co-occurrences and weaker specific interactions. Plant alliances and soil bacterial communities tended to be synchronized in community turnover across the landscape, largely driven by common underlying environmental factors, such as soil pH or elevation. Certain alliances occurring in distinct, local, environmental conditions were characterized by co-occurring specialist plant and bacterial species, such as the Nardus stricta and Thermogemmatisporaceae. In contrast, some generalist taxa, like Anthoxanthum odoratum and 19 Acidobacteria species, spanned across multiple vegetation alliances. Meta-scale analyses of soil bacterial community composition and vegetation surveys, complemented with local edaphic measurements, can thus prove useful to identify the various types of plant-bacteria interactions and the environments in which they occur.

Ice formation and growth shape bacterial community structure in Baltic Sea drift ice.

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Eronen-Rasimus, Eeva; Lyra, Christina; Rintala, Janne-Markus; Jürgens, Klaus; Ikonen, Vilma; Kaartokallio, Hermanni

2015-02-01

Drift ice, open water and under-ice water bacterial communities covering several developmental stages from open water to thick ice were studied in the northern Baltic Sea. The bacterial communities were assessed with 16S rRNA gene terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism and cloning, together with bacterial abundance and production measurements. In the early stages, open water and pancake ice were dominated by Alphaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria, which are common bacterial groups in Baltic Sea wintertime surface waters. The pancake ice bacterial communities were similar to the open-water communities, suggesting that the parent water determines the sea-ice bacterial community in the early stages of sea-ice formation. In consolidated young and thick ice, the bacterial communities were significantly different from water bacterial communities as well as from each other, indicating community development in Baltic Sea drift ice along with ice-type changes. The thick ice was dominated by typical sea-ice genera from classes Flavobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, similar to those in polar sea-ice bacterial communities. Since the thick ice bacterial community was remarkably different from that of the parent seawater, results indicate that thick ice bacterial communities were recruited from the rarer members of the seawater bacterial community. © FEMS 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

High wind speeds prevent formation of a distinct bacterioneuston community in the sea-surface microlayer.

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Rahlff, Janina; Stolle, Christian; Giebel, Helge-Ansgar; Brinkhoff, Thorsten; Ribas-Ribas, Mariana; Hodapp, Dorothee; Wurl, Oliver

2017-05-01

The sea-surface microlayer (SML) at the boundary between atmosphere and hydrosphere represents a demanding habitat for bacteria. Wind speed is a crucial but poorly studied factor for its physical integrity. Increasing atmospheric burden of CO2, as suggested for future climate scenarios, may particularly act on this habitat at the air-sea interface. We investigated the effect of increasing wind speeds and different pCO2 levels on SML microbial communities in a wind-wave tunnel, which offered the advantage of low spatial and temporal variability. We found that enrichment of bacteria in the SML occurred solely at a U10 wind speed of ≤5.6 m s-1 in the tunnel and ≤4.1 m s-1 in the Baltic Sea. High pCO2 levels further intensified the bacterial enrichment in the SML during low wind speed. In addition, low wind speed and pCO2 induced the formation of a distinctive bacterial community as revealed by 16S rRNA gene fingerprints and influenced the presence or absence of individual taxonomic units within the SML. We conclude that physical stability of the SML below a system-specific wind speed threshold induces specific bacterial communities in the SML entailing strong implications for ecosystem functioning by wind-driven impacts on habitat properties, gas exchange and matter cycling processes. © FEMS 2017.

Soil bacterial community response to differences in agricultural management along with seasonal changes in a Mediterranean region.

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Bevivino, Annamaria; Paganin, Patrizia; Bacci, Giovanni; Florio, Alessandro; Pellicer, Maite Sampedro; Papaleo, Maria Cristiana; Mengoni, Alessio; Ledda, Luigi; Fani, Renato; Benedetti, Anna; Dalmastri, Claudia

2014-01-01

Land-use change is considered likely to be one of main drivers of biodiversity changes in grassland ecosystems. To gain insight into the impact of land use on the underlying soil bacterial communities, we aimed at determining the effects of agricultural management, along with seasonal variations, on soil bacterial community in a Mediterranean ecosystem where different land-use and plant cover types led to the creation of a soil and vegetation gradient. A set of soils subjected to different anthropogenic impact in a typical Mediterranean landscape, dominated by Quercus suber L., was examined in spring and autumn: a natural cork-oak forest, a pasture, a managed meadow, and two vineyards (ploughed and grass covered). Land uses affected the chemical and structural composition of the most stabilised fractions of soil organic matter and reduced soil C stocks and labile organic matter at both sampling season. A significant effect of land uses on bacterial community structure as well as an interaction effect between land uses and season was revealed by the EP index. Cluster analysis of culture-dependent DGGE patterns showed a different seasonal distribution of soil bacterial populations with subgroups associated to different land uses, in agreement with culture-independent T-RFLP results. Soils subjected to low human inputs (cork-oak forest and pasture) showed a more stable bacterial community than those with high human input (vineyards and managed meadow). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the predominance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes phyla with differences in class composition across the site, suggesting that the microbial composition changes in response to land uses. Taken altogether, our data suggest that soil bacterial communities were seasonally distinct and exhibited compositional shifts that tracked with changes in land use and soil management. These findings may contribute to future searches for bacterial bio-indicators of soil

Soil bacterial community response to differences in agricultural management along with seasonal changes in a Mediterranean region.

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Annamaria Bevivino

Full Text Available Land-use change is considered likely to be one of main drivers of biodiversity changes in grassland ecosystems. To gain insight into the impact of land use on the underlying soil bacterial communities, we aimed at determining the effects of agricultural management, along with seasonal variations, on soil bacterial community in a Mediterranean ecosystem where different land-use and plant cover types led to the creation of a soil and vegetation gradient. A set of soils subjected to different anthropogenic impact in a typical Mediterranean landscape, dominated by Quercus suber L., was examined in spring and autumn: a natural cork-oak forest, a pasture, a managed meadow, and two vineyards (ploughed and grass covered. Land uses affected the chemical and structural composition of the most stabilised fractions of soil organic matter and reduced soil C stocks and labile organic matter at both sampling season. A significant effect of land uses on bacterial community structure as well as an interaction effect between land uses and season was revealed by the EP index. Cluster analysis of culture-dependent DGGE patterns showed a different seasonal distribution of soil bacterial populations with subgroups associated to different land uses, in agreement with culture-independent T-RFLP results. Soils subjected to low human inputs (cork-oak forest and pasture showed a more stable bacterial community than those with high human input (vineyards and managed meadow. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the predominance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes phyla with differences in class composition across the site, suggesting that the microbial composition changes in response to land uses. Taken altogether, our data suggest that soil bacterial communities were seasonally distinct and exhibited compositional shifts that tracked with changes in land use and soil management. These findings may contribute to future searches for bacterial bio

Profiling bacterial communities associated with sediment-based aquaculture bioremediation systems under contrasting redox regimes

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Robinson, Georgina; Caldwell, Gary S.; Wade, Matthew J.; Free, Andrew; Jones, Clifford L. W.; Stead, Selina M.

2016-12-01

Deposit-feeding invertebrates are proposed bioremediators in microbial-driven sediment-based aquaculture effluent treatment systems. We elucidate the role of the sediment reduction-oxidation (redox) regime in structuring benthic bacterial communities, having direct implications for bioremediation potential and deposit-feeder nutrition. The sea cucumber Holothuria scabra was cultured on sediments under contrasting redox regimes; fully oxygenated (oxic) and redox stratified (oxic-anoxic). Taxonomically, metabolically and functionally distinct bacterial communities developed between the redox treatments with the oxic treatment supporting the greater diversity; redox regime and dissolved oxygen levels were the main environmental drivers. Oxic sediments were colonised by nitrifying bacteria with the potential to remediate nitrogenous wastes. Percolation of oxygenated water prevented the proliferation of anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacteria, which were prevalent in the oxic-anoxic sediments. At the predictive functional level, bacteria within the oxic treatment were enriched with genes associated with xenobiotics metabolism. Oxic sediments showed the greater bioremediation potential; however, the oxic-anoxic sediments supported a greater sea cucumber biomass. Overall, the results indicate that bacterial communities present in fully oxic sediments may enhance the metabolic capacity and bioremediation potential of deposit-feeder microbial systems. This study highlights the benefits of incorporating deposit-feeding invertebrates into effluent treatment systems, particularly when the sediment is oxygenated.

Centralized Drinking Water Treatment Operations Shape Bacterial and Fungal Community Structure.

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Ma, Xiao; Vikram, Amit; Casson, Leonard; Bibby, Kyle

2017-07-05

Drinking water microbial communities impact opportunistic pathogen colonization and corrosion of water distribution systems, and centralized drinking water treatment represents a potential control for microbial community structure in finished drinking water. In this article, we examine bacterial and fungal abundance and diversity, as well as the microbial community taxonomic structure following each unit operation in a conventional surface water treatment plant. Treatment operations drove the microbial composition more strongly than sampling time. Both bacterial and fungal abundance and diversity decreased following sedimentation and filtration; however, only bacterial abundance and diversity was significantly impacted by free chlorine disinfection. Similarly, each treatment step was found to shift bacterial and fungal community beta-diversity, with the exception of disinfection on the fungal community structure. We observed the enrichment of bacterial and fungal taxa commonly found in drinking water distribution systems through the treatment process, for example, Sphingomonas following filtration and Leptospirillium and Penicillium following disinfection. Study results suggest that centralized drinking water treatment processes shape the final drinking water microbial community via selection of community members and that the bacterial community is primarily driven by disinfection while the eukaryotic community is primarily controlled by physical treatment processes.

Contrasting responses of bacterial and fungal communities to aggregate-size fractions and long-term fertilizations in soils of northeastern China.

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Liao, Hao; Zhang, Yuchen; Zuo, Qinyan; Du, Binbin; Chen, Wenli; Wei, Dan; Huang, Qiaoyun

2018-04-20

Soils, with non-uniform distribution of nutrients across different aggregate-size fractions, provide spatially heterogeneous microhabitats for microorganisms. However, very limited information is available on microbial distributions and their response to fertilizations across aggregate-size fractions in agricultural soils. Here, we examined the structures of bacterial and fungal communities across different aggregate-size fractions (2000-250 μm, 250-53 μm and fractions (>53 μm), especially 250-53 μm aggregates, which contain more soil C and N, are associated with greater microbial biomass and higher fungi/bacteria ratio. We firstly reported the fungal community composition in different aggregate-size fractions by HTS technology and found more Ascomycota but less Zygomycota in larger fractions with higher C content across all fertilization regimes. Fertilization and aggregate-size fractions significantly affect the compositions of bacterial and fungal communities although their effects are different. The bacterial community is mainly driven by fertilization, especially chemical fertilizers, and is closely related to the shifts of soil P (phosphorus). The fungal community is preferentially impacted by different aggregate-size fractions and is more associated with the changes of soil C and N. The distinct responses of microbial communities suggest different mechanisms controlling the assembly of soil bacterial and fungal communities at aggregate scale. The investigations of both bacterial and fungal communities could provide a better understanding on nutrient cycling across aggregate-size fractions. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Soil bacterial and fungal community responses to nitrogen addition across soil depths and microhabitat in an arid shrubland

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Rebecca C Mueller

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Arid shrublands are stressful environments, typified by alkaline soils low in organic matter, with biologically-limiting extremes in water availability, temperature and UV radiation. The widely-spaced plants and interspace biological soil crusts in these regions provide soil nutrients in a localized fashion, creating a mosaic pattern of plant- or crust-associated microhabitats with distinct nutrient composition. With sporadic and limited rainfall, nutrients are primarily retained in the shallow surface soil, patterning biological activity. We examined soil bacterial and fungal community responses to simulated nitrogen (N deposition in an arid Larrea tridentata-Ambrosia dumosa field experiment in southern Nevada, USA, using high-throughput sequencing of ribosomal RNA genes. To examine potential interactions among the N application, microhabitat and soil depth, we sampled soils associated with shrub canopies and interspace biological crusts at two soil depths (0-0.5 cm or 0-10 cm across the N-amendment gradient (0, 7 and 15 kg ha-1 yr-1. We hypothesized that localized compositional differences in soil microbiota would constrain the impacts of N addition to a microhabitat distribution that would reflect highly localized geochemical conditions and microbial community composition. The richness and community composition of both bacterial and fungal communities differed significantly by microhabitat and with soil depth in each microhabitat. Only bacterial communities exhibited significant responses to the N addition. Community composition correlated with microhabitat and depth differences in soil geochemical features. Given the distinct roles of soil bacteria and fungi in major nutrient cycles, the resilience of fungi and sensitivity of bacteria to N amendments suggests that increased N input predicted for many arid ecosystems could shift nutrient cycling toward pathways driven primarily by fungal communities.

Supplementing Blends of Sugars, Amino Acids, and Secondary Metabolites to the Diet of Termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) Drive Distinct Gut Bacterial Communities.

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Huang, Xing-Feng; Chaparro, Jacqueline M; Reardon, Kenneth F; Judd, Timothy M; Vivanco, Jorge M

2016-10-01

Although it is well known that diet is one of the major modulators of the gut microbiome, how the major components of diet shape the gut microbial community is not well understood. Here, we developed a simple system that allows the investigation of the impact of given compounds as supplements of the diet on the termite gut microbiome. The 16S rRNA pyrosequencing analysis revealed that feeding termites different blends of sugars and amino acids did not majorly impact gut community composition; however, ingestion of blends of secondary metabolites caused shifts in gut bacterial community composition. The supplementation of sugars and amino acids reduced the richness significantly, and sugars alone increased the evenness of the gut bacterial community significantly. Secondary metabolites created the most dramatic effects on the microbial community, potentially overriding the effect of other types of compounds. Furthermore, some microbial groups were stimulated specifically by particular groups of compounds. For instance, termites fed with secondary metabolites contained more Firmicutes and Spirochaetes compared to the other treatments. In conclusion, our results suggest that the termite (Reticulitermes flavipes) can be used as a simple and effective system to test the effects of particular chemical compounds in modulating the gut microbiome.

Insights into the Regulation of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities by Application of Bio-organic Fertilizer in Pseudostellaria heterophylla Monoculture Regime

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Linkun Wu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The biomass and quality of Pseudostellariae heterophylla suffers a significant decline under monoculture. Since rhizosphere microbiome plays crucial roles in soil health, deep pyrosequencing combined with qPCR was applied to characterize the composition and structure of soil bacterial community under monoculture and different amendments. The results showed compared with the first-year planted (FP, second-year monoculture of P. heterophylla (SP led to a significant decline in yield and resulted in a significant increase in Fusarium oxysporum but a decline in Burkholderia spp. Bio-organic fertilizer (MT formulated by combining antagonistic bacteria with organic matter could significantly promote the yield by regulating rhizosphere bacterial community. However, organic fertilizer (MO without antagonistic bacteria could not suppress Fusarium wilt. Multivariate statistics analysis showed a distinct separation between the healthy samples (FP and MT and the unhealthy samples (SP and MO, suggesting a strong relationship between soil microbial community and plant performance. Furthermore, we found the application of bio-organic fertilizer MT could significantly increase the bacterial community diversity and restructure microbial community with relatively fewer pathogenic F. oxysporum and more beneficial Burkholderia spp. In conclusion, the application of novel bio-organic fertilizer could effectively suppress Fusarium wilt by enriching the antagonistic bacteria and enhancing the bacterial diversity.

Tree phyllosphere bacterial communities: exploring the magnitude of intra- and inter-individual variation among host species

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Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background The diversity and composition of the microbial community of tree leaves (the phyllosphere varies among trees and host species and along spatial, temporal, and environmental gradients. Phyllosphere community variation within the canopy of an individual tree exists but the importance of this variation relative to among-tree and among-species variation is poorly understood. Sampling techniques employed for phyllosphere studies include picking leaves from one canopy location to mixing randomly selected leaves from throughout the canopy. In this context, our goal was to characterize the relative importance of intra-individual variation in phyllosphere communities across multiple species, and compare this variation to inter-individual and interspecific variation of phyllosphere epiphytic bacterial communities in a natural temperate forest in Quebec, Canada. Methods We targeted five dominant temperate forest tree species including angiosperms and gymnosperms: Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula papyrifera, Abies balsamea and Picea glauca. For one randomly selected tree of each species, we sampled microbial communities at six distinct canopy locations: bottom-canopy (1–2 m height, the four cardinal points of mid-canopy (2–4 m height, and the top-canopy (4–6 m height. We also collected bottom-canopy leaves from five additional trees from each species. Results Based on an analysis of bacterial community structure measured via Illumina sequencing of the bacterial 16S gene, we demonstrate that 65% of the intra-individual variation in leaf bacterial community structure could be attributed to the effect of inter-individual and inter-specific differences while the effect of canopy location was not significant. In comparison, host species identity explains 47% of inter-individual and inter-specific variation in leaf bacterial community structure followed by individual identity (32% and canopy location (6%. Discussion Our results suggest that

Bacterial community diversity of the deep-sea octocoral Paramuricea placomus

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Christina A. Kellogg

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Compared to tropical corals, much less is known about deep-sea coral biology and ecology. Although the microbial communities of some deep-sea corals have been described, this is the first study to characterize the bacterial community associated with the deep-sea octocoral, Paramuricea placomus. Samples from five colonies of P. placomus were collected from Baltimore Canyon (379–382 m depth in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the United States of America. DNA was extracted from the coral samples and 16S rRNA gene amplicons were pyrosequenced using V4-V5 primers. Three samples sequenced deeply (>4,000 sequences each and were further analyzed. The dominant microbial phylum was Proteobacteria, but other major phyla included Firmicutes and Planctomycetes. A conserved community of bacterial taxa held in common across the three P. placomus colonies was identified, comprising 68–90% of the total bacterial community depending on the coral individual. The bacterial community of P. placomus does not appear to include the genus Endozoicomonas, which has been found previously to be the dominant bacterial associate in several temperate and tropical gorgonians. Inferred functionality suggests the possibility of nitrogen cycling by the core bacterial community.

Effects of triclosan on bacterial community composition and 'Vibrio' populations in natural seawater microcosms

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Keri Ann Lydon

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Pharmaceuticals and personal care products, including antimicrobials, can be found at trace levels in treated wastewater effluent. Impacts of chemical contaminants on coastal aquatic microbial community structure and pathogen abundance are unknown despite the potential for selection through antimicrobial resistance. In particular, 'Vibrio', a marine bacterial genus that includes several human pathogens, displays resistance to the ubiquitous antimicrobial compound triclosan. Here we demonstrated through use of natural seawater microcosms that triclosan (at a concentration of ~5 ppm can induce a significant 'Vibrio' growth response (68–1,700 fold increases in comparison with no treatment controls for three distinct coastal ecosystems: Looe Key Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Doctors Arm Canal (Big Pine Key, FL, and Clam Bank Landing (North Inlet Estuary, Georgetown, SC. Additionally, microbial community analysis by 16 S rRNA gene sequencing for Looe Key Reef showed distinct changes in microbial community structure with exposure to 5 ppm triclosan, with increases observed in the relative abundance of 'Vibrio'naceae (17-fold, Pseudoalteromonadaceae (65-fold, Alteromonadaceae (108-fold, Colwelliaceae (430-fold, and Oceanospirillaceae (1,494-fold. While the triclosan doses tested were above concentrations typically observed in coastal surface waters, results identify bacterial families that are potentially resistant to triclosan and/or adapted to use triclosan as a carbon source. The results further suggest the potential for selection of 'Vibrio' in coastal environments, especially sediments, where triclosan may accumulate at high levels.

Liming in the sugarcane burnt system and the green harvest practice affect soil bacterial community in northeastern São Paulo, Brazil.

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Val-Moraes, Silvana Pompeia; de Macedo, Helena Suleiman; Kishi, Luciano Takeshi; Pereira, Rodrigo Matheus; Navarrete, Acacio Aparecido; Mendes, Lucas William; de Figueiredo, Eduardo Barretto; La Scala, Newton; Tsai, Siu Mui; de Macedo Lemos, Eliana Gertrudes; Alves, Lúcia Maria Carareto

2016-12-01

Here we show that both liming the burnt sugarcane and the green harvest practice alter bacterial community structure, diversity and composition in sugarcane fields in northeastern São Paulo state, Brazil. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene cloning and sequencing were used to analyze changes in soil bacterial communities. The field experiment consisted of sugarcane-cultivated soils under different regimes: green sugarcane (GS), burnt sugarcane (BS), BS in soil amended with lime applied to increase soil pH (BSL), and native forest (NF) as control soil. The bacterial community structures revealed disparate patterns in sugarcane-cultivated soils and forest soil (R = 0.786, P = 0.002), and overlapping patterns were shown for the bacterial community structure among the different management regimes applied to sugarcane (R = 0.194, P = 0.002). The numbers of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) found in the libraries were 117, 185, 173 and 166 for NF, BS, BSL and GS, respectively. Sugarcane-cultivated soils revealed higher bacterial diversity than NF soil, with BS soil accounting for a higher richness of unique OTUs (101 unique OTUs) than NF soil (23 unique OTUs). Cluster analysis based on OTUs revealed similar bacterial communities in NF and GS soils, while the bacterial community from BS soil was most distinct from the others. Acidobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were the most abundant bacterial phyla across the different soils with Acidobacteria Gp1 accounting for a higher abundance in NF and GS soils than burnt sugarcane-cultivated soils (BS and BSL). In turn, Acidobacteria Gp4 abundance was higher in BS soils than in other soils. These differential responses in soil bacterial community structure, diversity and composition can be associated with the agricultural management, mainly liming practices, and harvest methods in the sugarcane-cultivated soils, and they can be detected shortly after harvest.

Bacterial community composition of size-fractioned aggregates within the phycosphere of cyanobacterial blooms in a eutrophic freshwater lake.

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Haiyuan Cai

Full Text Available Bacterial community composition of different sized aggregates within the Microcystis cyanobacterial phycosphere were determined during summer and fall in Lake Taihu, a eutrophic lake in eastern China. Bloom samples taken in August and September represent healthy bloom biomass, whereas samples from October represent decomposing bloom biomass. To improve our understanding of the complex interior structure in the phycosphere, bloom samples were separated into large (>100 µm, medium (10-100 µm and small (0.2-10 µm size aggregates. Species richness and library coverage indicated that pyrosequencing recovered a large bacterial diversity. The community of each size aggregate was highly organized, indicating highly specific conditions within the Microcystis phycosphere. While the communities of medium and small-size aggregates clustered together in August and September samples, large- and medium-size aggregate communities in the October sample were grouped together and distinct from small-size aggregate community. Pronounced changes in the absolute and relative percentages of the dominant genus from the two most important phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were observed among the various size aggregates. Bacterial species on large and small-size aggregates likely have the ability to degrade high and low molecular weight compounds, respectively. Thus, there exists a spatial differentiation of bacterial taxa within the phycosphere, possibly operating in sequence and synergy to catalyze the turnover of complex organic matters.

Do Honeybees Shape the Bacterial Community Composition in Floral Nectar?

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Aizenberg-Gershtein, Yana; Izhaki, Ido; Halpern, Malka

2013-01-01

Floral nectar is considered the most important reward animal-pollinated plants offer to attract pollinators. Here we explore whether honeybees, which act as pollinators, affect the composition of bacterial communities in the nectar. Nectar and honeybees were sampled from two plant species: Amygdalus communis and Citrus paradisi. To prevent the contact of nectar with pollinators, C. paradisi flowers were covered with net bags before blooming (covered flowers). Comparative analysis of bacterial communities in the nectar and on the honeybees was performed by the 454-pyrosequencing technique. No significant differences were found among bacterial communities in honeybees captured on the two different plant species. This resemblance may be due to the presence of dominant bacterial OTUs, closely related to the Arsenophonus genus. The bacterial communities of the nectar from the covered and uncovered C. paradisi flowers differed significantly; the bacterial communities on the honeybees differed significantly from those in the covered flowers’ nectar, but not from those in the uncovered flowers’ nectar. We conclude that the honeybees may introduce bacteria into the nectar and/or may be contaminated by bacteria introduced into the nectar by other sources such as other pollinators and nectar thieves. PMID:23844027

Bacterial community profiles in low microbial abundance sponges

KAUST Repository

Giles, Emily

2012-09-04

It has long been recognized that sponges differ in the abundance of associated microorganisms, and they are therefore termed either \\'low microbial abundance\\' (LMA) or \\'high microbial abundance\\' (HMA) sponges. Many previous studies concentrated on the dense microbial communities in HMA sponges, whereas little is known about microorganisms in LMA sponges. Here, two LMA sponges from the Red Sea, two from the Caribbean and one from the South Pacific were investigated. With up to only five bacterial phyla per sponge, all LMA sponges showed lower phylum-level diversity than typical HMA sponges. Interestingly, each LMA sponge was dominated by a large clade within either Cyanobacteria or different classes of Proteobacteria. The overall similarity of bacterial communities among LMA sponges determined by operational taxonomic unit and UniFrac analysis was low. Also the number of sponge-specific clusters, which indicate bacteria specifically associated with sponges and which are numerous in HMA sponges, was low. A biogeographical or host-dependent distribution pattern was not observed. In conclusion, bacterial community profiles of LMA sponges are clearly different from profiles of HMA sponges and, remarkably, each LMA sponge seems to harbour its own unique bacterial community. © 2012 Federation of European Microbiological Societies.

Impact of disinfection on drinking water biofilm bacterial community.

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Mi, Zilong; Dai, Yu; Xie, Shuguang; Chen, Chao; Zhang, Xiaojian

2015-11-01

Disinfectants are commonly applied to control the growth of microorganisms in drinking water distribution systems. However, the effect of disinfection on drinking water microbial community remains poorly understood. The present study investigated the impacts of different disinfectants (chlorine and chloramine) and dosages on biofilm bacterial community in bench-scale pipe section reactors. Illumina MiSeq sequencing illustrated that disinfection strategy could affect both bacterial diversity and community structure of drinking water biofilm. Proteobacteria tended to predominate in chloraminated drinking water biofilms, while Firmicutes in chlorinated and unchlorinated biofilms. The major proteobacterial groups were influenced by both disinfectant type and dosage. In addition, chloramination had a more profound impact on bacterial community than chlorination. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Bacterial Communities in the Groundwater of Xikuangshan Antimony Mine, China

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Wu, M.; Wang, H.; Wang, N.; Wang, M.

2017-12-01

Xikuangshan (XKS) is the biggest antimony (Sb) mine around the word, which causes serious environmental contamination due to the mining actives. To fully understand the bacterial compositions in the groundwater around the mining area in XKS and their correlation with environmental factors, groundwater samples were collected and subject to 16S rDNA high throughput sequencing. Results indicated that Proteobacteria (especially Gamma-Proteobacteria) dominated bacterial communities in high-Sb groundwater samples, whereas Bacteroidetes predominated in low-Sb groundwater. Furthermore, antimony concentration was found to be the most significant factor shaping bacterial communities (P=0.002) with an explanation of 9.16% of the variation. Other factors such as pH, contents of Mg, Ca and orthophosphate were also observed to significantly correlate with bacterial communities. This was the first report to show the important impact of Sb concentration on bacterial community structure in the groundwater in the mining area. Our results will enhance the understanding of subsurface biogeochemical processes mediated by microbes.

Significant relationship between soil bacterial community structure and incidence of bacterial wilt disease under continuous cropping system.

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She, Siyuan; Niu, Jiaojiao; Zhang, Chao; Xiao, Yunhua; Chen, Wu; Dai, Linjian; Liu, Xueduan; Yin, Huaqun

2017-03-01

Soil bacteria are very important in biogeochemical cycles and play significant role in soil-borne disease suppression. Although continuous cropping is responsible for soil-borne disease enrichment, its effect on tobacco plant health and how soil bacterial communities change are yet to be elucidated. In this study, soil bacterial communities across tobacco continuous cropping time-series fields were investigated through high-throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA genes. The results showed that long-term continuous cropping could significantly alter soil microbial communities. Bacterial diversity indices and evenness indices decreased over the monoculture span and obvious variations for community structures across the three time-scale tobacco fields were detected. Compared with the first year, the abundances of Arthrobacter and Lysobacter showed a significant decrease. Besides, the abundance of the pathogen Ralstonia spp. accumulated over the monoculture span and was significantly correlated with tobacco bacterial wilt disease rate. Moreover, Pearson's correlation demonstrated that the abundance of Arthrobacter and Lysobacter, which are considered to be beneficial bacteria had significant negative correlation with tobacco bacterial wilt disease. Therefore, after long-term continuous cropping, tobacco bacterial wilt disease could be ascribed to the alteration of the composition as well as the structure of the soil microbial community.

Distinct Bacterial Communities Associated with the Coral Model Aiptasia in Aposymbiotic and Symbiotic States with Symbiodinium

KAUST Repository

Röthig, Till

2016-11-18

Coral reefs are in decline. The basic functional unit of coral reefs is the coral metaorganism or holobiont consisting of the cnidarian host animal, symbiotic algae of the genus Symbiodinium, and a specific consortium of bacteria (among others), but research is slow due to the difficulty of working with corals. Aiptasia has proven to be a tractable model system to elucidate the intricacies of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbioses, but characterization of the associated bacterial microbiome is required to provide a complete and integrated understanding of holobiont function. In this work, we characterize and analyze the microbiome of aposymbiotic and symbiotic Aiptasia and show that bacterial associates are distinct in both conditions. We further show that key microbial associates can be cultured without their cnidarian host. Our results suggest that bacteria play an important role in the symbiosis of Aiptasia with Symbiodinium, a finding that underlines the power of the Aiptasia model system where cnidarian hosts can be analyzed in aposymbiotic and symbiotic states. The characterization of the native microbiome and the ability to retrieve culturable isolates contributes to the resources available for the Aiptasia model system. This provides an opportunity to comparatively analyze cnidarian metaorganisms as collective functional holobionts and as separated member species. We hope that this will accelerate research into understanding the intricacies of coral biology, which is urgently needed to develop strategies to mitigate the effects of environmental change.

Strategies for managing rival bacterial communities: Lessons from burying beetles.

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Duarte, Ana; Welch, Martin; Swannack, Chris; Wagner, Josef; Kilner, Rebecca M

2018-03-01

The role of bacteria in animal development, ecology and evolution is increasingly well understood, yet little is known of how animal behaviour affects bacterial communities. Animals that benefit from defending a key resource from microbial competitors are likely to evolve behaviours to control or manipulate the animal's associated external microbiota. We describe four possible mechanisms by which animals could gain a competitive edge by disrupting a rival bacterial community: "weeding," "seeding," "replanting" and "preserving." By combining detailed behavioural observations with molecular and bioinformatic analyses, we then test which of these mechanisms best explains how burying beetles, Nicrophorus vespilloides, manipulate the bacterial communities on their carcass breeding resource. Burying beetles are a suitable species to study how animals manage external microbiota because reproduction revolves around a small vertebrate carcass. Parents shave a carcass and apply antimicrobial exudates on its surface, shaping it into an edible nest for their offspring. We compared bacterial communities in mice carcasses that were either fresh, prepared by beetles or unprepared but buried underground for the same length of time. We also analysed bacterial communities in the burying beetle's gut, during and after breeding, to understand whether beetles could be "seeding" the carcass with particular microbes. We show that burying beetles do not "preserve" the carcass by reducing bacterial load, as is commonly supposed. Instead, our results suggest they "seed" the carcass with bacterial groups which are part of the Nicrophorus core microbiome. They may also "replant" other bacteria from the carcass gut onto the surface of their carrion nest. Both these processes may lead to the observed increase in bacterial load on the carcass surface in the presence of beetles. Beetles may also "weed" the bacterial community by eliminating some groups of bacteria on the carcass, perhaps through

Bacterial communities associated with white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei larvae at early developmental stages

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ANTONIUS SUWANTO

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Bacterial communities associated with white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei larvae at early developmental stages. Biodiversitas 11 (2: 65-68.Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP was used to monitor the dynamics of the bacterial communities associated with early developmental stages of white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei larvae. Samples for analysis were egg, hatching nauplii, 24 hours old nauplii, and 48 hours old nauplii which were collected from one cycle of production at commercial hatchery. T-RFLP results indicated that the bacterial community associated with early stages of shrimp development might be transferred vertically from broodstock via egg. There was no significant difference between bacterial communities investigated, except the bacterial community of 48 hours old nauplii. Diversity analyses showed that the bacterial community of egg had the highest diversity and evenness, meanwhile the bacterial community of 48 hours old nauplii had the lowest diversity. Nine phylotypes were found at all stages with high abundance. Those TRFs were identified as γ- proteobacteria, α-proteobacteria, and bacteroidetes group.

Microbial Community and Functional Structure Significantly Varied among Distinct Types of Paddy Soils But Responded Differently along Gradients of Soil Depth Layers

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Ren Bai

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Paddy rice fields occupy broad agricultural area in China and cover diverse soil types. Microbial community in paddy soils is of great interest since many microorganisms are involved in soil functional processes. In the present study, Illumina Mi-Seq sequencing and functional gene array (GeoChip 4.2 techniques were combined to investigate soil microbial communities and functional gene patterns across the three soil types including an Inceptisol (Binhai, an Oxisol (Leizhou, and an Ultisol (Taoyuan along four profile depths (up to 70 cm in depth in mesocosm incubation columns. Detrended correspondence analysis revealed that distinctly differentiation in microbial community existed among soil types and profile depths, while the manifest variance in functional structure was only observed among soil types and two rice growth stages, but not across profile depths. Along the profile depth within each soil type, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes increased whereas Cyanobacteria, β-proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia declined, suggesting their specific ecophysiological properties. Compared to bacterial community, the archaeal community showed a more contrasting pattern with the predominant groups within phyla Euryarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota, and Crenarchaeota largely varying among soil types and depths. Phylogenetic molecular ecological network (pMEN analysis further indicated that the pattern of bacterial and archaeal communities interactions changed with soil depth and the highest modularity of microbial community occurred in top soils, implying a relatively higher system resistance to environmental change compared to communities in deeper soil layers. Meanwhile, microbial communities had higher connectivity in deeper soils in comparison with upper soils, suggesting less microbial interaction in surface soils. Structure equation models were developed and the models indicated that pH was the most representative characteristics of soil type and

Microbial Community and Functional Structure Significantly Varied among Distinct Types of Paddy Soils But Responded Differently along Gradients of Soil Depth Layers.

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Bai, Ren; Wang, Jun-Tao; Deng, Ye; He, Ji-Zheng; Feng, Kai; Zhang, Li-Mei

2017-01-01

Paddy rice fields occupy broad agricultural area in China and cover diverse soil types. Microbial community in paddy soils is of great interest since many microorganisms are involved in soil functional processes. In the present study, Illumina Mi-Seq sequencing and functional gene array (GeoChip 4.2) techniques were combined to investigate soil microbial communities and functional gene patterns across the three soil types including an Inceptisol (Binhai), an Oxisol (Leizhou), and an Ultisol (Taoyuan) along four profile depths (up to 70 cm in depth) in mesocosm incubation columns. Detrended correspondence analysis revealed that distinctly differentiation in microbial community existed among soil types and profile depths, while the manifest variance in functional structure was only observed among soil types and two rice growth stages, but not across profile depths. Along the profile depth within each soil type, Acidobacteria , Chloroflexi , and Firmicutes increased whereas Cyanobacteria , β -proteobacteria , and Verrucomicrobia declined, suggesting their specific ecophysiological properties. Compared to bacterial community, the archaeal community showed a more contrasting pattern with the predominant groups within phyla Euryarchaeota , Thaumarchaeota , and Crenarchaeota largely varying among soil types and depths. Phylogenetic molecular ecological network (pMEN) analysis further indicated that the pattern of bacterial and archaeal communities interactions changed with soil depth and the highest modularity of microbial community occurred in top soils, implying a relatively higher system resistance to environmental change compared to communities in deeper soil layers. Meanwhile, microbial communities had higher connectivity in deeper soils in comparison with upper soils, suggesting less microbial interaction in surface soils. Structure equation models were developed and the models indicated that pH was the most representative characteristics of soil type and

Structure of hydrocarbonoclastic nitrate-reducing bacterial communities in bioturbated coastal marine sediments.

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Stauffert, Magalie; Cravo-Laureau, Cristiana; Duran, Robert

2014-09-01

The organisation of denitrifying microorganisms in oil-polluted bioturbated sediments was investigated in mesocosms under conditions as closer as possible to that observed in the environment. Molecular and culture-dependent approaches revealed that denitrifying Gammaproteobacteria were abundant in oil-polluted and bioturbated sediments suggesting that they may play a key role in hydrocarbon degradation in the environment. T-RFLP and gene libraries analyses targeting nirS gene showed that denitrifying microbial communities structure was slightly affected by either the addition of Hediste diversicolor or crude oil revealing the metabolic versatility of denitrifying microorganisms. From oil-polluted sediments, distinct denitrifying hydrocarbonoclastic bacterial consortia were obtained by enrichment cultures on high molecular weight polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (dibenzothiophene, fluoranthene, pyrene and chrysene) under nitrate-reducing conditions. Interestingly, molecular characterisation of the consortia showed that the denitrifying communities obtained from oiled microcosms with addition of H. diversicolor were different to that observed without H. diversicolor addition, especially with fluoranthene and chrysene revealing the bacterial diversity involved in the degradation of these PAHs. © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the bovine rumen bacterial community from birth to adulthood.

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Jami, Elie; Israel, Adi; Kotser, Assaf; Mizrahi, Itzhak

2013-06-01

The mammalian gut microbiota is essential in shaping many of its host's functional attributes. One such microbiota resides in the bovine digestive tract in a compartment termed as the rumen. The rumen microbiota is necessary for the proper physiological development of the rumen and for the animal's ability to digest and convert plant mass into food products, making it highly significant to humans. The establishment of this microbial population and the changes occurring with the host's age are important for understanding this key microbial community. Despite its importance, little information about colonization of the microbial populations in newborn animals, and the gradual changes occurring thereafter, exists. Here, we characterized the overall bovine ruminal bacterial populations of five age groups, from 1-day-old calves to 2-year-old cows. We describe the changes occurring in the rumen ecosystem after birth, reflected by a decline in aerobic and facultative anaerobic taxa and an increase in anaerobic ones. Some rumen bacteria that are essential for mature rumen function could be detected as early as 1 day after birth, long before the rumen is active or even before ingestion of plant material occurs. The diversity and within-group similarity increased with age, suggesting a more diverse but homogeneous and specific mature community, compared with the more heterogeneous and less diverse primary community. In addition, a convergence toward a mature bacterial arrangement with age was observed. These findings have also been reported for human gut microbiota, suggesting that similar forces drive the establishment of gut microbiotas in these two distinct mammalian digestive systems.

Characterization of Bioaerosol Bacterial Communities During Hazy and Foggy Weather in Qingdao, China

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Qi, Jianhua; Li, Mengzhe; Zhen, Yu; Wu, Lijing

2018-06-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of hazy and foggy weather on the bacterial communities in bioaerosols, for which samples were collected from the Qingdao coastal region on sunny, foggy, and hazy days in January and March 2013. Bacterial community compositions were determined using polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCRDGGE). The bacterial community diversity was found to be high on foggy and hazy days, and the dominant species differed during hazy weather. The Shannon-Wiener index revealed that the bacterial community diversity of coarse particles was higher than that of fine particles in the bioaerosols. The bacterial community diversity of fine particles significantly correlated with relative humidity (RH; r 2 = 0.986). The cluster analysis results indicated that the bacterial communities on sunny days differed from those on hazy and foggy days. Compared with sunny days, the bacterial communities in the fine particles during hazy weather exhibited greater changes than those in the coarse particles. Most of the sequenced bacteria were found to be closely affiliated with uncultured bacteria. During hazy weather, members of the classes Bacilli and Gammaproteobacteria ( Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter) were dominant. The DGGE analysis revealed that Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the predominant phyla, and their relative percentages to all the measured species changed significantly on hazy days, particularly in the fine particles. Haze and fog had a significant impact on the bacterial communities in bioaerosols, and the bacterial community diversity varied on different hazy days.

Hydrocarbon pollutants shape bacterial community assembly of harbor sediments

KAUST Repository

Barbato, Marta

2016-02-02

Petroleum pollution results in co-contamination by different classes of molecules, entailing the occurrence of marine sediments difficult to remediate, as in the case of the Ancona harbor (Mediterranean Sea, Italy). Autochthonous bioaugmentation (ABA), by exploiting the indigenous microbes of the environment to be treated, could represent a successful bioremediation strategy. In this perspective we aimed to i) identify the main drivers of the bacterial communities\\' richness in the sediments, ii) establish enrichment cultures with different hydrocarbon pollutants evaluating their effects on the bacterial communities\\' composition, and iii) obtain a collection of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria potentially exploitable in ABA. The correlation between the selection of different specialized bacterial populations and the type of pollutants was demonstrated by culture-independent analyses, and by establishing a collection of bacteria with different hydrocarbon degradation traits. Our observations indicate that pollution dictates the diversity of sediment bacterial communities and shapes the ABA potential in harbor sediments.

Panamanian frog species host unique skin bacterial communities

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Lisa K. Belden

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Vertebrates, including amphibians, host diverse symbiotic microbes that contribute to host disease resistance. Globally, and especially in montane tropical systems, many amphibian species are threatened by a chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd, that causes a lethal skin disease. Bd therefore may be a strong selective agent on the diversity and function of the microbial communities inhabiting amphibian skin. In Panamá, amphibian population declines and the spread of Bd have been tracked. In 2012, we completed a field survey in Panamá to examine frog skin microbiota in the context of Bd infection. We focused on three frog species and collected two skin swabs per frog from a total of 136 frogs across four sites that varied from west to east in the time since Bd arrival. One swab was used to assess bacterial community structure using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and to determine Bd infection status, and one was used to assess metabolite diversity, as the bacterial production of anti-fungal metabolites is an important disease resistance function. The skin microbiota of the three Panamanian frog species differed in OTU (operational taxonomic unit, ~bacterial species community composition and metabolite profiles, although the pattern was less strong for the metabolites. Comparisons between frog skin bacterial communities from Panamá and the US suggest broad similarities at the phylum level, but key differences at lower taxonomic levels. In our field survey in Panamá, across all four sites, only 35 individuals (~26% were Bd infected. There was no clustering of OTUs or metabolite profiles based on Bd infection status and no clear pattern of west-east changes in OTUs or metabolite profiles across the four sites. Overall, our field survey data suggest that different bacterial communities might be producing broadly similar sets of metabolites across frog hosts and sites. Community structure and function may not be as tightly coupled in

Highly Heterogeneous Soil Bacterial Communities around Terra Nova Bay of Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

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Lim, Hyoun Soo; Hong, Soon Gyu; Kim, Ji Hee; Lee, Joohan; Choi, Taejin; Ahn, Tae Seok; Kim, Ok-Sun

2015-01-01

Given the diminished role of biotic interactions in soils of continental Antarctica, abiotic factors are believed to play a dominant role in structuring of microbial communities. However, many ice-free regions remain unexplored, and it is unclear which environmental gradients are primarily responsible for the variations among bacterial communities. In this study, we investigated the soil bacterial community around Terra Nova Bay of Victoria Land by pyrosequencing and determined which environmental variables govern the bacterial community structure at the local scale. Six bacterial phyla, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, were dominant, but their relative abundance varied greatly across locations. Bacterial community structures were affected little by spatial distance, but structured more strongly by site, which was in accordance with the soil physicochemical compositions. At both the phylum and species levels, bacterial community structure was explained primarily by pH and water content, while certain earth elements and trace metals also played important roles in shaping community variation. The higher heterogeneity of the bacterial community structure found at this site indicates how soil bacterial communities have adapted to different compositions of edaphic variables under extreme environmental conditions. Taken together, these findings greatly advance our understanding of the adaption of soil bacterial populations to this harsh environment. PMID:25799273

Relationships between phyllosphere bacterial communities and plant functional traits in a neotropical forest

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Kembel, Steven W.; O’Connor, Timothy K.; Arnold, Holly K.; Hubbell, Stephen P.; Wright, S. Joseph; Green, Jessica L.

2014-01-01

The phyllosphere—the aerial surfaces of plants, including leaves—is a ubiquitous global habitat that harbors diverse bacterial communities. Phyllosphere bacterial communities have the potential to influence plant biogeography and ecosystem function through their influence on the fitness and function of their hosts, but the host attributes that drive community assembly in the phyllosphere are poorly understood. In this study we used high-throughput sequencing to quantify bacterial community structure on the leaves of 57 tree species in a neotropical forest in Panama. We tested for relationships between bacterial communities on tree leaves and the functional traits, taxonomy, and phylogeny of their plant hosts. Bacterial communities on tropical tree leaves were diverse; leaves from individual trees were host to more than 400 bacterial taxa. Bacterial communities in the phyllosphere were dominated by a core microbiome of taxa including Actinobacteria, Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria, and Sphingobacteria. Host attributes including plant taxonomic identity, phylogeny, growth and mortality rates, wood density, leaf mass per area, and leaf nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations were correlated with bacterial community structure on leaves. The relative abundances of several bacterial taxa were correlated with suites of host plant traits related to major axes of plant trait variation, including the leaf economics spectrum and the wood density–growth/mortality tradeoff. These correlations between phyllosphere bacterial diversity and host growth, mortality, and function suggest that incorporating information on plant–microbe associations will improve our ability to understand plant functional biogeography and the drivers of variation in plant and ecosystem function. PMID:25225376

Bacterial Community Dynamics in Dichloromethane-Contaminated Groundwater Undergoing Natural Attenuation

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Justin Wright

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The uncontrolled release of the industrial solvent methylene chloride, also known as dichloromethane (DCM, has resulted in widespread groundwater contamination in the United States. Here we investigate the role of groundwater bacterial communities in the natural attenuation of DCM at an undisclosed manufacturing site in New Jersey. This study investigates the bacterial community structure of groundwater samples differentially contaminated with DCM to better understand the biodegradation potential of these autochthonous bacterial communities. Bacterial community analysis was completed using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of groundwater samples (n = 26 with DCM contamination ranging from 0.89 to 9,800,000 μg/L. Significant DCM concentration-driven shifts in overall bacterial community structure were identified between samples, including an increase in the abundance of Firmicutes within the most contaminated samples. Across all samples, a total of 6,134 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs were identified, with 16 taxa having strong correlations with increased DCM concentration. Putative DCM degraders such as Pseudomonas, Dehalobacterium and Desulfovibrio were present within groundwater across all levels of DCM contamination. Interestingly, each of these taxa dominated specific DCM contamination ranges respectively. Potential DCM degrading lineages yet to be cited specifically as a DCM degrading organisms, such as the Desulfosporosinus, thrived within the most heavily contaminated groundwater samples. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed aerobic and anaerobic bacterial taxa with DCM-degrading potential were present at the study site. Our 16S rRNA gene survey serves as the first in situ bacterial community assessment of contaminated groundwater harboring DCM concentrations ranging over seven orders of magnitude. Diversity analyses revealed known as well as potentially novel DCM degrading taxa within defined DCM concentration

Bacterial community structure associated with white band disease in the elkhorn coral Acropora palmata determined using culture-independent 16S rRNA techniques.

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Pantos, Olga; Bythell, John C

2006-03-23

Culture-independent molecular (16S ribosomal RNA) techniques showed distinct differences in bacterial communities associated with white band disease (WBD) Type I and healthy elkhorn coral Acropora palmata. Differences were apparent at all levels, with a greater diversity present in tissues of diseased colonies. The bacterial community associated with remote, non-diseased coral was distinct from the apparently healthy tissues of infected corals several cm from the disease lesion. This demonstrates a whole-organism effect from what appears to be a localised disease lesion, an effect that has also been recently demonstrated in white plague-like disease in star coral Montastraea annularis. The pattern of bacterial community structure changes was similar to that recently demonstrated for white plague-like disease and black band disease. Some of the changes are likely to be explained by the colonisation of dead and degrading tissues by a micro-heterotroph community adapted to the decomposition of coral tissues. However, specific ribosomal types that are absent from healthy tissues appear consistently in all samples of each of the diseases. These ribotypes are closely related members of a group of alpha-proteobacteria that cause disease, notably juvenile oyster disease, in other marine organisms. It is clearly important that members of this group are isolated for challenge experiments to determine their role in the diseases.

Effects of forest management practices in temperate beech forests on bacterial and fungal communities involved in leaf litter degradation.

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Purahong, Witoon; Kapturska, Danuta; Pecyna, Marek J; Jariyavidyanont, Katalee; Kaunzner, Jennifer; Juncheed, Kantida; Uengwetwanit, Tanaporn; Rudloff, Renate; Schulz, Elke; Hofrichter, Martin; Schloter, Michael; Krüger, Dirk; Buscot, François

2015-05-01

Forest management practices (FMPs) significantly influence important ecological processes and services in Central European forests, such as leaf litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Changes in leaf litter diversity, and thus, its quality as well as microbial community structure and function induced by different FMPs were hypothesized to be the main drivers causing shifts in decomposition rates and nutrient release in managed forests. In a litterbag experiment lasting 473 days, we aimed to investigate the effects of FMPs (even-aged timber management, selective logging and unmanaged) on bacterial and fungal communities involved in leaf litter degradation over time. Our results showed that microbial communities in leaf litter were strongly influenced by both FMPs and sampling date. The results from nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination revealed distinct patterns of bacterial and fungal successions over time in leaf litter. We demonstrated that FMPs and sampling dates can influence a range of factors, including leaf litter quality, microbial macronutrients, and pH, which significantly correlate with microbial community successions.

Characterisation of the gill mucosal bacterial communities of four butterflyfish species: a reservoir of bacterial diversity in coral reef ecosystems.

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Reverter, Miriam; Sasal, Pierre; Tapissier-Bontemps, N; Lecchini, D; Suzuki, M

2017-06-01

While recent studies have suggested that fish mucus microbiota play an important role in homeostasis and prevention of infections, very few studies have investigated the bacterial communities of gill mucus. We characterised the gill mucus bacterial communities of four butterflyfish species and although the bacterial diversity of gill mucus varied significantly between species, Shannon diversities were high (H = 3.7-5.7) in all species. Microbiota composition differed between butterflyfishes, with Chaetodon lunulatus and C. ornatissimus having the most similar bacterial communities, which differed significantly from C. vagabundus and C. reticulatus. The core bacterial community of all species consisted of mainly Proteobacteria followed by Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Chaetodonlunulatus and C. ornatissimus bacterial communities were mostly dominated by Gammaproteobacteria with Vibrio as the most abundant genus. Chaetodonvagabundus and C. reticulatus presented similar abundances of Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, which were well represented by Acinetobacter and Paracoccus, respectively. In conclusion, our results indicate that different fish species present specific bacterial assemblages. Finally, as mucus layers are nutrient hotspots for heterotrophic bacteria living in oligotrophic environments, such as coral reef waters, the high bacterial diversity found in butterflyfish gill mucus might indicate external fish mucus surfaces act as a reservoir of coral reef bacterial diversity. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Skin and fur bacterial diversity and community structure on American southwestern bats: effects of habitat, geography and bat traits

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Ara S. Winter

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Microorganisms that reside on and in mammals, such as bats, have the potential to influence their host’s health and to provide defenses against invading pathogens. However, we have little understanding of the skin and fur bacterial microbiota on bats, or factors that influence the structure of these communities. The southwestern United States offers excellent sites for the study of external bat bacterial microbiota due to the diversity of bat species, the variety of abiotic and biotic factors that may govern bat bacterial microbiota communities, and the lack of the newly emergent fungal disease in bats, white-nose syndrome (WNS, in the southwest. To test these variables, we used 16S rRNA gene 454 pyrosequencing from swabs of external skin and fur surfaces from 163 bats from 13 species sampled from southeastern New Mexico to northwestern Arizona. Community similarity patterns, random forest models, and generalized linear mixed-effects models show that factors such as location (e.g., cave-caught versus surface-netted and ecoregion are major contributors to the structure of bacterial communities on bats. Bats caught in caves had a distinct microbial community compared to those that were netted on the surface. Our results provide a first insight into the distribution of skin and fur bat bacteria in the WNS-free environment of New Mexico and Arizona. More importantly, it provides a baseline of bat external microbiota that can be explored for potential natural defenses against pathogens.

Skin and fur bacterial diversity and community structure on American southwestern bats: effects of habitat, geography and bat traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, Ara S; Hathaway, Jennifer J M; Kimble, Jason C; Buecher, Debbie C; Valdez, Ernest W; Porras-Alfaro, Andrea; Young, Jesse M; Read, Kaitlyn J H; Northup, Diana E

2017-01-01

Microorganisms that reside on and in mammals, such as bats, have the potential to influence their host's health and to provide defenses against invading pathogens. However, we have little understanding of the skin and fur bacterial microbiota on bats, or factors that influence the structure of these communities. The southwestern United States offers excellent sites for the study of external bat bacterial microbiota due to the diversity of bat species, the variety of abiotic and biotic factors that may govern bat bacterial microbiota communities, and the lack of the newly emergent fungal disease in bats, white-nose syndrome (WNS), in the southwest. To test these variables, we used 16S rRNA gene 454 pyrosequencing from swabs of external skin and fur surfaces from 163 bats from 13 species sampled from southeastern New Mexico to northwestern Arizona. Community similarity patterns, random forest models, and generalized linear mixed-effects models show that factors such as location (e.g., cave-caught versus surface-netted) and ecoregion are major contributors to the structure of bacterial communities on bats. Bats caught in caves had a distinct microbial community compared to those that were netted on the surface. Our results provide a first insight into the distribution of skin and fur bat bacteria in the WNS-free environment of New Mexico and Arizona. More importantly, it provides a baseline of bat external microbiota that can be explored for potential natural defenses against pathogens.

Characterisation of the bacterial community structures in the intestine of Lampetra morii.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yingying; Xie, Wenfang; Li, Qingwei

2016-07-01

The metagenomic analysis and 16S rDNA sequencing method were used to investigate the bacterial community in the intestines of Lampetra morii. The bacterial community structure in L. morii intestine was relatively simple. Eight different operational taxonomic units were observed. Chitinophagaceae_unclassified (26.5 %) and Aeromonas spp. (69.6 %) were detected as dominant members at the genus level. The non-dominant genera were as follows: Acinetobacter spp. (1.4 %), Candidatus Bacilloplasma (2.5 %), Enterobacteria spp. (1.5 %), Shewanella spp. (0.04 %), Vibrio spp. (0.09 %), and Yersinia spp. (1.8 %). The Shannon-Wiener (H) and Simpson (1-D) indexes were 0.782339 and 0.5546, respectively. The rarefaction curve representing the bacterial community richness and Shannon-Wiener curve representing the bacterial community diversity reached asymptote, which indicated that the sequence depth were sufficient to represent the majority of species richness and bacterial community diversity. The number of Aeromonas in lamprey intestine was two times higher after stimulation by lipopolysaccharide than PBS. This study provides data for understanding the bacterial community harboured in lamprey intestines and exploring potential key intestinal symbiotic bacteria essential for the L. morii immune response.

Native arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis alters foliar bacterial community composition.

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Poosakkannu, Anbu; Nissinen, Riitta; Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit

2017-11-01

The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on plant-associated microbes are poorly known. We tested the hypothesis that colonization by an AM fungus affects microbial species richness and microbial community composition of host plant tissues. We grew the grass, Deschampsia flexuosa in a greenhouse with or without the native AM fungus, Claroideoglomus etunicatum. We divided clonally produced tillers into two parts: one inoculated with AM fungus spores and one without AM fungus inoculation (non-mycorrhizal, NM). We characterized bacterial (16S rRNA gene) and fungal communities (internal transcribed spacer region) in surface-sterilized leaf and root plant compartments. AM fungus inoculation did not affect microbial species richness or diversity indices in leaves or roots, but the AM fungus inoculation significantly affected bacterial community composition in leaves. A total of three OTUs in leaves belonging to the phylum Firmicutes positively responded to the presence of the AM fungus in roots. Another six OTUs belonging to the Proteobacteria (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma) and Bacteroidetes were significantly more abundant in NM plants when compared to AM fungus-inoculated plants. Further, there was a significant correlation between plant dry weight and leaf microbial community compositional shift. Also, there was a significant correlation between leaf bacterial community compositional shift and foliar nitrogen content changes due to AM fungus inoculation. The results suggest that AM fungus colonization in roots has a profound effect on plant physiology that is reflected in leaf bacterial community composition.

Plants of the fynbos biome harbour host species-specific bacterial communities.

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Miyambo, Tsakani; Makhalanyane, Thulani P; Cowan, Don A; Valverde, Angel

2016-08-01

The fynbos biome in South Africa is globally recognised as a plant biodiversity hotspot. However, very little is known about the bacterial communities associated with fynbos plants, despite interactions between primary producers and bacteria having an impact on the physiology of both partners and shaping ecosystem diversity. This study reports on the structure, phylogenetic composition and potential roles of the endophytic bacterial communities located in the stems of three fynbos plants (Erepsia anceps, Phaenocoma prolifera and Leucadendron laureolum). Using Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA sequencing we found that different subpopulations of Deinococcus-Thermus, Alphaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Firmicutes dominated the endophytic bacterial communities. Alphaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria were prevalent in P. prolifera, whereas Deinococcus-Thermus dominated in L. laureolum, revealing species-specific host-bacteria associations. Although a high degree of variability in the endophytic bacterial communities within hosts was observed, we also detected a core microbiome across the stems of the three plant species, which accounted for 72% of the sequences. Altogether, it seems that both deterministic and stochastic processes shaped microbial communities. Endophytic bacterial communities harboured putative plant growth-promoting bacteria, thus having the potential to influence host health and growth. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Parental material and cultivation determine soil bacterial community structure and fertility.

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Sun, Li; Gao, Jusheng; Huang, Ting; Kendall, Joshua R A; Shen, Qirong; Zhang, Ruifu

2015-01-01

Microbes are the key components of the soil environment, playing important roles during soil development. Soil parent material provides the foundation elements that comprise the basic nutritional environment for the development of microbial community. After 30 years artificial maturation of cultivation, the soil developments of three different parental materials were evaluated and bacterial community compositions were investigated using the high-throughput sequencing approach. Thirty years of cultivation increased the soil fertility and soil microbial biomass, richness and diversity, greatly changed the soil bacterial communities, the proportion of phylum Actinobacteria decreased significantly, while the relative abundances of the phyla Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Armatimonadetes and Nitrospira were significantly increased. Soil bacterial communities of parental materials were separated with the cultivated ones, and comparisons of different soil types, granite soil and quaternary red clay soil were similar and different with purple sandy shale soil in both parental materials and cultivated treatments. Bacterial community variations in the three soil types were affected by different factors, and their alteration patterns in the soil development also varied with soil type. Soil properties (except total potassium) had a significant effect on the soil bacterial communities in all three soil types and a close relationship with abundant bacterial phyla. The amounts of nitrogen-fixing bacteria as well as the abundances of the nifH gene in all cultivated soils were higher than those in the parental materials; Burkholderia and Rhizobacte were enriched significantly with long-term cultivation. The results suggested that crop system would not deplete the nutrients of soil parental materials in early stage of soil maturation, instead it increased soil fertility and changed bacterial community, specially enriched the nitrogen-fixing bacteria to accumulate

Impact of Oil on Bacterial Community Structure in Bioturbated Sediments

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Stauffert, Magalie; Cravo-Laureau, Cristiana; Jézéquel, Ronan; Barantal, Sandra; Cuny, Philippe; Gilbert, Franck; Cagnon, Christine; Militon, Cécile; Amouroux, David; Mahdaoui, Fatima; Bouyssiere, Brice; Stora, Georges; Merlin, François-Xavier; Duran, Robert

2013-01-01

Oil spills threaten coastlines where biological processes supply essential ecosystem services. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how oil influences the microbial communities in sediments that play key roles in ecosystem functioning. Ecosystems such as sediments are characterized by intensive bioturbation due to burrowing macrofauna that may modify the microbial metabolisms. It is thus essential to consider the bioturbation when determining the impact of oil on microbial communities. In this study, an experimental laboratory device maintaining pristine collected mudflat sediments in microcosms closer to true environmental conditions – with tidal cycles and natural seawater – was used to simulate an oil spill under bioturbation conditions. Different conditions were applied to the microcosms including an addition of: standardized oil (Blend Arabian Light crude oil, 25.6 mg.g−1 wet sediment), the common burrowing organism Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor and both the oil and H. diversicolor. The addition of H. diversicolor and its associated bioturbation did not affect the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons. After 270 days, 60% of hydrocarbons had been removed in all microcosms irrespective of the H. diversicolor addition. However, 16S-rRNA gene and 16S-cDNA T-RFLP and RT-PCR-amplicon libraries analysis showed an effect of the condition on the bacterial community structure, composition, and dynamics, supported by PerMANOVA analysis. The 16S-cDNA libraries from microcosms where H. diversicolor was added (oiled and un-oiled) showed a marked dominance of sequences related to Gammaproteobacteria. However, in the oiled-library sequences associated to Deltaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were also highly represented. The 16S-cDNA libraries from oiled-microcosms (with and without H. diversicolor addition) revealed two distinct microbial communities characterized by different phylotypes associated to known hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and dominated by

Impact of oil on bacterial community structure in bioturbated sediments.

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Magalie Stauffert

Full Text Available Oil spills threaten coastlines where biological processes supply essential ecosystem services. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how oil influences the microbial communities in sediments that play key roles in ecosystem functioning. Ecosystems such as sediments are characterized by intensive bioturbation due to burrowing macrofauna that may modify the microbial metabolisms. It is thus essential to consider the bioturbation when determining the impact of oil on microbial communities. In this study, an experimental laboratory device maintaining pristine collected mudflat sediments in microcosms closer to true environmental conditions--with tidal cycles and natural seawater--was used to simulate an oil spill under bioturbation conditions. Different conditions were applied to the microcosms including an addition of: standardized oil (Blend Arabian Light crude oil, 25.6 mg.g⁻¹ wet sediment, the common burrowing organism Hediste (Nereis diversicolor and both the oil and H. diversicolor. The addition of H. diversicolor and its associated bioturbation did not affect the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons. After 270 days, 60% of hydrocarbons had been removed in all microcosms irrespective of the H. diversicolor addition. However, 16S-rRNA gene and 16S-cDNA T-RFLP and RT-PCR-amplicon libraries analysis showed an effect of the condition on the bacterial community structure, composition, and dynamics, supported by PerMANOVA analysis. The 16S-cDNA libraries from microcosms where H. diversicolor was added (oiled and un-oiled showed a marked dominance of sequences related to Gammaproteobacteria. However, in the oiled-library sequences associated to Deltaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were also highly represented. The 16S-cDNA libraries from oiled-microcosms (with and without H. diversicolor addition revealed two distinct microbial communities characterized by different phylotypes associated to known hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and dominated by

Changes in the Bacterial Community Structure of Remediated Anthracene-Contaminated Soils

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Delgado-Balbuena, Laura; Bello-López, Juan M.; Navarro-Noya, Yendi E.; Rodríguez-Valentín, Analine; Luna-Guido, Marco L.; Dendooven, Luc

2016-01-01

Mixing soil or adding earthworms (Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826)) accelerated the removal of anthracene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, from a pasture and an arable soil, while a non-ionic surfactant (Surfynol® 485) inhibited the removal of the contaminant compared to the untreated soil. It was unclear if the treatments affected the soil bacterial community and consequently the removal of anthracene. Therefore, the bacterial community structure was monitored by means of 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene in the pasture and arable soil mixed weekly, amended with Surfynol® 485, E. fetida or organic material that served as food for the earthworms for 56 days. In both soils, the removal of anthracene was in the order: mixing soil weekly (100%) > earthworms applied (92%) > organic material applied (77%) > untreated soil (57%) > surfactant applied (34%) after 56 days. There was no clear link between removal of anthracene from soil and changes in the bacterial community structure. On the one hand, application of earthworms removed most of the contaminant from the arable soil and had a strong effect on the bacterial community structure, i.e. a decrease in the relative abundance of the Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi and Gemmatimonadetes, and an increase in that of the Proteobacteria compared to the unamended soil. Mixing the soil weekly removed all anthracene from the arable soil, but had little or no effect on the bacterial community structure. On the other hand, application of the surfactant inhibited the removal of anthracene from the arable soil compared to the untreated soil, but had a strong effect on the bacterial community structure, i.e. a decrease in the relative abundance of Cytophagia (Bacteroidetes), Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes and Planctomycetes and an increase in that of the Flavobacteria (Bacteroidetes) and Proteobacteria. Additionally, the removal of anthracene was similar in the different treatments of both the arable and pasture soil, but the

Changes in the Bacterial Community Structure of Remediated Anthracene-Contaminated Soils.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Delgado-Balbuena

Full Text Available Mixing soil or adding earthworms (Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826 accelerated the removal of anthracene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, from a pasture and an arable soil, while a non-ionic surfactant (Surfynol® 485 inhibited the removal of the contaminant compared to the untreated soil. It was unclear if the treatments affected the soil bacterial community and consequently the removal of anthracene. Therefore, the bacterial community structure was monitored by means of 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene in the pasture and arable soil mixed weekly, amended with Surfynol® 485, E. fetida or organic material that served as food for the earthworms for 56 days. In both soils, the removal of anthracene was in the order: mixing soil weekly (100% > earthworms applied (92% > organic material applied (77% > untreated soil (57% > surfactant applied (34% after 56 days. There was no clear link between removal of anthracene from soil and changes in the bacterial community structure. On the one hand, application of earthworms removed most of the contaminant from the arable soil and had a strong effect on the bacterial community structure, i.e. a decrease in the relative abundance of the Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi and Gemmatimonadetes, and an increase in that of the Proteobacteria compared to the unamended soil. Mixing the soil weekly removed all anthracene from the arable soil, but had little or no effect on the bacterial community structure. On the other hand, application of the surfactant inhibited the removal of anthracene from the arable soil compared to the untreated soil, but had a strong effect on the bacterial community structure, i.e. a decrease in the relative abundance of Cytophagia (Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes and Planctomycetes and an increase in that of the Flavobacteria (Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. Additionally, the removal of anthracene was similar in the different treatments of both the arable and pasture soil

Biogeographic Comparison of Lophelia-Associated Bacterial Communities in the Western Atlantic Reveals Conserved Core Microbiome

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Christina A. Kellogg

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Over the last decade, publications on deep-sea corals have tripled. Most attention has been paid to Lophelia pertusa, a globally distributed scleractinian coral that creates critical three-dimensional habitat in the deep ocean. The bacterial community associated with L. pertusa has been previously described by a number of studies at sites in the Mediterranean Sea, Norwegian fjords, off Great Britain, and in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM. However, use of different methodologies prevents direct comparisons in most cases. Our objectives were to address intra-regional variation and to identify any conserved bacterial core community. We collected samples from three distinct colonies of L. pertusa at each of four locations within the western Atlantic: three sites within the GOM and one off the east coast of the United States. Amplicon libraries of 16S rRNA genes were generated using primers targeting the V4–V5 hypervariable region and 454 pyrosequencing. The dominant phylum was Proteobacteria (75–96%. At the family level, 80–95% of each sample was comprised of five groups: Pirellulaceae, Pseudonocardiaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae, and unclassified Oceanospirillales. Principal coordinate analysis based on weighted UniFrac distances showed a clear distinction between the GOM and Atlantic samples. Interestingly, the replicate samples from each location did not always cluster together, indicating there is not a strong site-specific influence. The core bacterial community, conserved in 100% of the samples, was dominated by the operational taxonomic units of genera Novosphingobium and Pseudonocardia, both known degraders of aromatic hydrocarbons. The sequence of another core member, Propionibacterium, was also found in prior studies of L. pertusa from Norway and Great Britain, suggesting a role as a conserved symbiont. By examining more than 40,000 sequences per sample, we found that GOM samples were dominated by the identified conserved core

Changes in the bacterial community of soybean rhizospheres during growth in the field.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugiyama, Akifumi; Ueda, Yoshikatsu; Zushi, Takahiro; Takase, Hisabumi; Yazaki, Kazufumi

2014-01-01

Highly diverse communities of bacteria inhabiting soybean rhizospheres play pivotal roles in plant growth and crop production; however, little is known about the changes that occur in these communities during growth. We used both culture-dependent physiological profiling and culture independent DNA-based approaches to characterize the bacterial communities of the soybean rhizosphere during growth in the field. The physiological properties of the bacterial communities were analyzed by a community-level substrate utilization assay with BioLog Eco plates, and the composition of the communities was assessed by gene pyrosequencing. Higher metabolic capabilities were found in rhizosphere soil than in bulk soil during all stages of the BioLog assay. Pyrosequencing analysis revealed that differences between the bacterial communities of rhizosphere and bulk soils at the phylum level; i.e., Proteobacteria were increased, while Acidobacteria and Firmicutes were decreased in rhizosphere soil during growth. Analysis of operational taxonomic units showed that the bacterial communities of the rhizosphere changed significantly during growth, with a higher abundance of potential plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, including Bacillus, Bradyrhizobium, and Rhizobium, in a stage-specific manner. These findings demonstrated that rhizosphere bacterial communities were changed during soybean growth in the field.

Analysis of bacterial communities and bacterial pathogens in a biogas plant by the combination of ethidium monoazide, PCR and Ion Torrent sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Gang; Angelidaki, Irini

2014-09-01

The present study investigated the changes of bacterial community composition including bacterial pathogens along a biogas plant, i.e. from the influent, to the biogas reactor and to the post-digester. The effects of post-digestion temperature and time on the changes of bacterial community composition and bacterial pathogens were also studied. Microbial analysis was made by Ion Torrent sequencing of the PCR amplicons from ethidium monoazide treated samples, and ethidium monoazide was used to cleave DNA from dead cells and exclude it from PCR amplification. Both similarity and taxonomic analysis showed that the bacterial community composition in the influent was changed after anaerobic digestion. Firmicutes were dominant in all the samples, while Proteobacteria decreased in the biogas reactor compared with the influent. Variations of bacterial community composition in the biogas reactor with time were also observed. This could be attributed to varying composition of the influent. Batch experiments showed that the methane recovery from the digested residues (obtained from biogas reactor) was mainly related with post-digestion temperature. However, post-digestion time rather than temperature had a significant effect on the changes of bacterial community composition. The changes of bacterial community composition were also reflected in the changes of relative abundance of bacterial pathogens. The richness and relative abundance of bacterial pathogens were reduced after anaerobic digestion in the biogas reactor. It was found in batch experiments that bacterial pathogens showed the highest relative abundance and richness after 30 days' post-digestion. Streptococcus bovis was found in all the samples. Our results showed that special attention should be paid to the post-digestion since the increase in relative abundance of bacterial pathogens after post-digestion might reflect regrowth of bacterial pathogens and limit biosolids disposal vectors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier

Autogenic succession and deterministic recovery following disturbance in soil bacterial communities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jurburg, Stephanie D.; Nunes, Ines Marques; Stegen, James C.

2017-01-01

The response of bacterial communities to environmental change may affect local to global nutrient cycles. However the dynamics of these communities following disturbance are poorly understood, given that they are often evaluated over macro-ecological time scales and end-point measurements. In ord...... diversity and functional redundancy, respond to disturbances like many macro-ecological systems and exhibit path-dependent, autogenic dynamics during secondary succession. These results highlight the role of autogenic factors and successional dynamics in microbial recovery....... to understand the successional trajectory of soil bacterial communities following disturbances and the mechanisms controlling these dynamics at a scale relevant for these organisms, we subjected soil microcosms to a heat disturbance and followed the community composition of active bacteria over 50 days...... slowed down, and a stability phase (after 29 days), during which the community tended towards its original composition. Phylogenetic turnover patterns indicated that the community experienced stronger deterministic selection during recovery. Thus, soil bacterial communities, despite their extreme...

Molecular characterization of soil bacterial community in a perhumid, low mountain forest.

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Lin, Yu-Te; Whitman, William B; Coleman, David C; Chih-Yu, Chiu

2011-01-01

Forest disturbance often results in changes in soil properties and microbial communities. In the present study, we characterized a soil bacterial community subjected to disturbance using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. The community was from a disturbed broad-leaved, low mountain forest ecosystem at Huoshaoliao (HSL) located in northern Taiwan. This locality receives more than 4,000 mm annual precipitation, one of the highest precipitations in Taiwan. Based on the Shannon diversity index, Chao1 estimator, richness and rarefaction curve analysis, the bacterial community in HSL forest soils was more diverse than those previously investigated in natural and disturbed forest soils with colder or less humid weather conditions. Analysis of molecular variance also revealed that the bacterial community in disturbed soils significantly differed from natural forest soils. Most of the abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the disturbed soil community at HSL were less abundant or absent in other soils. The disturbances influenced the composition of bacterial communities in natural and disturbed forests and increased the diversity of the disturbed forest soil community. Furthermore, the warmer and humid weather conditions could also increase community diversity in HSL soils.

Assessing the impact of fungicide enostroburin application on bacterial community in wheat phyllosphere.

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Gu, Likun; Bai, Zhihui; Jin, Bo; Hu, Qing; Wang, Huili; Zhuang, Guoqiang; Zhang, Hongxun

2010-01-01

Fungicides have been used extensively for controlling fungal pathogens of plants. However, little is known regarding the effects that fungicides upon the indigenous bacterial communities within the plant phyllosphere. The aims of this study were to assess the impact of fungicide enostroburin upon bacterial communities in wheat phyllosphere. Culture-independent methodologies of 16S rDNA clone library and 16S rDNA directed polymerase chain reaction with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) were used for monitoring the change of bacterial community. The 16S rDNA clone library and PCR-DGGE analysis both confirmed the microbial community of wheat plant phyllosphere were predominantly of the gamma-Proteobacteria phyla. Results from PCR-DGGE analysis indicated a significant change in bacterial community structure within the phyllosphere following fungicide enostroburin application. Bands sequenced within control cultures were predominantly of Pseudomonas genus, but those bands sequenced in the treated samples were predominantly strains of Pantoea genus and Pseudomonas genus. Of interest was the appearance of two DGGE bands following fungicide treatment, one of which had sequence similarities (98%) to Pantoea sp. which might be a competitor of plant pathogens. This study revealed the wheat phyllosphere bacterial community composition and a shift in the bacterial community following fungicide enostroburin application.

Patterning bacterial communities on epithelial cells.

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Mohammed Dwidar

Full Text Available Micropatterning of bacteria using aqueous two phase system (ATPS enables the localized culture and formation of physically separated bacterial communities on human epithelial cell sheets. This method was used to compare the effects of Escherichia coli strain MG1655 and an isogenic invasive counterpart that expresses the invasin (inv gene from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis on the underlying epithelial cell layer. Large portions of the cell layer beneath the invasive strain were killed or detached while the non-invasive E. coli had no apparent effect on the epithelial cell layer over a 24 h observation period. In addition, simultaneous testing of the localized effects of three different bacterial species; E. coli MG1655, Shigella boydii KACC 10792 and Pseudomonas sp DSM 50906 on an epithelial cell layer is also demonstrated. The paper further shows the ability to use a bacterial predator, Bdellovibriobacteriovorus HD 100, to selectively remove the E. coli, S. boydii and P. sp communities from this bacteria-patterned epithelial cell layer. Importantly, predation and removal of the P. Sp was critical for maintaining viability of the underlying epithelial cells. Although this paper focuses on a few specific cell types, the technique should be broadly applicable to understand a variety of bacteria-epithelial cell interactions.

Spatial variation of bacterial community composition near the Luzon ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Spatial variation of bacterial community composition near the Luzon strait assessed by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis ... chain reaction (PCR)-amplified bacterial 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) gene fragments and interpreted the results; its relationship with physical and ...

Temperature adaptation of bacterial communities in experimentally warmed forest soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Rousk, Johannes; Frey, Serita D; Bååth, Erland

2012-10-01

A detailed understanding of the influence of temperature on soil microbial activity is critical to predict future atmospheric CO 2 concentrations and feedbacks to anthropogenic warming. We investigated soils exposed to 3-4 years of continuous 5 °C-warming in a field experiment in a temperate forest. We found that an index for the temperature adaptation of the microbial community, T min for bacterial growth, increased by 0.19 °C per 1 °C rise in temperature, showing a community shift towards one adapted to higher temperature with a higher temperature sensitivity (Q 10(5-15 °C) increased by 0.08 units per 1 °C). Using continuously measured temperature data from the field experiment we modelled in situ bacterial growth. Assuming that warming did not affect resource availability, bacterial growth was modelled to become 60% higher in warmed compared to the control plots, with the effect of temperature adaptation of the community only having a small effect on overall bacterial growth (bacterial growth, most likely due to substrate depletion because of the initially higher growth in warmed plots. When this was factored in, the result was similar rates of modelled in situ bacterial growth in warmed and control plots after 3 years, despite the temperature difference. We conclude that although temperature adaptation for bacterial growth to higher temperatures was detectable, its influence on annual bacterial growth was minor, and overshadowed by the direct temperature effect on growth rates. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Plant-plant competition outcomes are modulated by plant effects on the soil bacterial community.

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Hortal, S; Lozano, Y M; Bastida, F; Armas, C; Moreno, J L; Garcia, C; Pugnaire, F I

2017-12-19

Competition is a key process that determines plant community structure and dynamics, often mediated by nutrients and water availability. However, the role of soil microorganisms on plant competition, and the links between above- and belowground processes, are not well understood. Here we show that the effects of interspecific plant competition on plant performance are mediated by feedbacks between plants and soil bacterial communities. Each plant species selects a singular community of soil microorganisms in its rhizosphere with a specific species composition, abundance and activity. When two plant species interact, the resulting soil bacterial community matches that of the most competitive plant species, suggesting strong competitive interactions between soil bacterial communities as well. We propose a novel mechanism by which changes in belowground bacterial communities promoted by the most competitive plant species influence plant performance and competition outcome. These findings emphasise the strong links between plant and soil communities, paving the way to a better understanding of plant community dynamics and the effects of soil bacterial communities on ecosystem functioning and services.

Restructuring of the Aquatic Bacterial Community by Hydric Dynamics Associated with Superstorm Sandy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulrich, Nikea; Rosenberger, Abigail; Brislawn, Colin; Wright, Justin; Kessler, Collin; Toole, David; Solomon, Caroline; Strutt, Steven; McClure, Erin; Lamendella, Regina

2016-06-15

Bacterial community composition and longitudinal fluctuations were monitored in a riverine system during and after Superstorm Sandy to better characterize inter- and intracommunity responses associated with the disturbance associated with a 100-year storm event. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used to assess microbial community structure within water samples from Muddy Creek Run, a second-order stream in Huntingdon, PA, at 12 different time points during the storm event (29 October to 3 November 2012) and under seasonally matched baseline conditions. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used to track changes in bacterial community structure and divergence during and after Superstorm Sandy. Bacterial community dynamics were correlated to measured physicochemical parameters and fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) concentrations. Bioinformatics analyses of 2.1 million 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed a significant increase in bacterial diversity in samples taken during peak discharge of the storm. Beta-diversity analyses revealed longitudinal shifts in the bacterial community structure. Successional changes were observed, in which Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria decreased in 16S rRNA gene relative abundance, while the relative abundance of members of the Firmicutes increased. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequences matching pathogenic bacteria, including strains of Legionella, Campylobacter, Arcobacter, and Helicobacter, as well as bacteria of fecal origin (e.g., Bacteroides), exhibited an increase in abundance after peak discharge of the storm. This study revealed a significant restructuring of in-stream bacterial community structure associated with hydric dynamics of a storm event. In order to better understand the microbial risks associated with freshwater environments during a storm event, a more comprehensive understanding of the variations in aquatic bacterial diversity is warranted. This study investigated the bacterial

Analysis of bacterial communities and bacterial pathogens in a biogas plant by the combination of ethidium monoazide, PCR and Ion Torrent sequencing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Luo, Gang; Angelidaki, Irini

2014-01-01

with time were also observed. This could be attributed to varying composition of the influent. Batch experiments showed that the methane recovery from the digested residues (obtained from biogas reactor) was mainly related with post-digestion temperature. However, post-digestion time rather than temperature......The present study investigated the changes of bacterial community composition including bacterial pathogens along a biogas plant, i.e. from the influent, to the biogas reactor and to the post-digester. The effects of post-digestion temperature and time on the changes of bacterial community...... showed that the bacterial community composition in the influent was changed after anaerobic digestion. Firmicutes were dominant in all the samples, while Proteobacteria decreased in the biogas reactor compared with the influent. Variations of bacterial community composition in the biogas reactor...

Bacterial community composition of a wastewater treatment system reliant on N{sub 2} fixation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reid, N.M.; Bowers, T.H.; Lloyd-Jones, G. [Scion, Rotorua (New Zealand)

2008-05-15

The temporal stability and change of the dominant phylogenetic groups of the domain bacteria were studied in a model plant-based industrial wastewater treatment system showing high levels of organic carbon removal supported by high levels of N{sub 2} fixation. Community profiles were obtained through terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and cloning of 16S rRNA amplicons followed by sequencing. Bacterial community profiles showed that ten common terminal restriction fragments made up approximately 50% of the measured bacterial community. As much as 42% of the measured bacterial community could be monitored by using quantitative PCR and primers that targeted three dominant operational taxonomic units. Despite changes in wastewater composition and dissolved oxygen levels, the bacterial community composition appeared stable and was dominated by {alpha}-Proteobacteria and {beta}-Proteobacteria, with a lesser amount of the highly diverse bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes. A short period of considerable change in the bacterial community composition did not appear to affect treatment performance indicating functional redundancy in this treatment system. (orig.)

Meteorological factors had more impact on airborne bacterial communities than air pollutants.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhen, Quan; Deng, Ye; Wang, Yaqing; Wang, Xiaoke; Zhang, Hongxing; Sun, Xu; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2017-12-01

Airborne bacteria have gained increasing attention because they affect ecological balance and pose potential risks on human health. Recently, some studies have focused on the abundance and composition of airborne bacteria under heavy, hazy polluted weather in China, but they reached different conclusions about the comparisons with non-polluted days. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that meteorological factors could have a higher impact on shaping airborne bacterial communities than air pollutants by systematically monitoring the communities for 1year. Total suspended particles in Beijing were sampled for 20 consecutive days in each season of 2015. Bacterial abundance varied from 8.71×10 3 to 2.14×10 7 ribosomal operons per cubic meter according to the quantitative PCR analysis. There were relatively higher bacterial counts in spring and in autumn than in winter and summer. Airborne bacterial communities displayed a strong seasonality, according to the hierarchical cluster analysis. Only two exceptions overtook the seasonal trend, and both occurred in or after violent meteorological changes (sandstorm or rain). Aggregated boosted tree analysis performed on bacterial abundance showed that the dominant factors shaping bacterial communities were meteorological. They were air pressure in winter, air temperature and relative humidity in spring, RH in summer, and vapor pressure in autumn. Variation partition analysis on community structure showed that meteorological factors explained more variations than air pollutants. Therefore, both of the two models verified our hypothesis that the differences in airborne bacterial communities in polluted days or non-polluted days were mainly driven by the discrepancies of meteorological factors rather than by the presence of air pollutants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Safe-site effects on rhizosphere bacterial communities in a high-altitude alpine environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciccazzo, Sonia; Esposito, Alfonso; Rolli, Eleonora; Zerbe, Stefan; Daffonchio, Daniele; Brusetti, Lorenzo

2014-01-01

The rhizosphere effect on bacterial communities associated with three floristic communities (RW, FI, and M sites) which differed for the developmental stages was studied in a high-altitude alpine ecosystem. RW site was an early developmental stage, FI was an intermediate stage, M was a later more matured stage. The N and C contents in the soils confirmed a different developmental stage with a kind of gradient from the unvegetated bare soil (BS) site through RW, FI up to M site. The floristic communities were composed of 21 pioneer plants belonging to 14 species. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis showed different bacterial genetic structures per each floristic consortium which differed also from the BS site. When plants of the same species occurred within the same site, almost all their bacterial communities clustered together exhibiting a plant species effect. Unifrac significance value (P floristic communities rhizospheres on their soil bacterial communities.

Bacterial community from gut of white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei, cultured in earthen ponds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Supamattaya, K.

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH technique and conventional method were used to analyse the bacterial community in the gut of white shrimp cultured in earthen ponds. Samples were collectedfrom three parts, hepatopancreas, anterior intestine and posterior intestine. Gut bacterial community was enumerated by 15 probes in FISH and 3 bacterial culture technique media. The results showed that bacteriaspecific probes determined bacterial community and Eubacteria as the dominant group of microbial community in the studied gut portions. β-Proteobacteria group (29.53±5.39% and γ-Proteobacteria group (26.18±6.88% were major groups of bacterial flora in the hepatopancreas. In contrast, low G+C gram positive bacteria group (LGC was the most abundant group detected in anterior intestine (36.40±3.53% andposterior intestine (30.32±4.63%. Vibrio spp. were detected very less in hepatopancreas (0.25±0.43% and were present in 3 of 9 samples. In the case of bacterial detection using cultivation method, the number ofbacterial groups verified by TSA, TCBS and MRS showed high variation in every part of the studied digestive tract portions; however, no vibrio or lactic acid bacteria were present in the hepatopancreas ofhealthy shrimp. This study reveals the proportion of bacterial community in the digestive tract of white shrimp which can be used as important database for studying the change of the bacterial community in an abnormal condition including the efficiency of probiotics in the gut (in vivo of white shrimp.

Structure of the bacterial community in a biofilter during dimethyl sulfide (DMS) removal processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Ying-Chien; Cheng, Chiu-Yu; Chen, Tzu-Yu; Hsu, Jo-Shan; Kui, Chun-Chi

2010-09-01

We report here both the successful treatment of DMS in a biofilter and the dynamic changes that occur in the composition of the bacterial community of the biofilter during this process. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of eubacterial 16S rDNA samples taken from packing material at different DMS removal stages revealed 11 distinct bands. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the sequences of these bands were closest to sequences of species of the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. The specific occurrence of these bacterial species varied mainly with DMS load, but it was also affected by the addition of glucose and by ambient temperature. Based on the characteristics of the identified species, the system is conducive for such processes as sulfur oxidation, sulfate reduction, carbon oxidation, and fermentation. The strains identified in this study are potential candidates for purifying waste gas effluents containing DMS gas. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bacterial communities of disease vectors sampled across time, space, and species.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Ryan T; Knight, Rob; Martin, Andrew P

2010-02-01

A common strategy of pathogenic bacteria is to form close associations with parasitic insects that feed on animals and to use these insects as vectors for their own transmission. Pathogens interact closely with other coexisting bacteria within the insect, and interactions between co-occurring bacteria may influence the vector competency of the parasite. Interactions between particular lineages can be explored through measures of alpha-diversity. Furthermore, general patterns of bacterial community assembly can be explored through measures of beta-diversity. Here, we use pyrosequencing (n=115,924 16S rRNA gene sequences) to describe the bacterial communities of 230 prairie dog fleas sampled across space and time. We use these communinty characterizations to assess interactions between dominant community members and to explore general patterns of bacterial community assembly in fleas. An analysis of co-occurrence patterns suggests non-neutral negative interactions between dominant community members (Pspace (phylotype-based: R=0.418, Pspace and time.

Coral transcriptome and bacterial community profiles reveal distinct Yellow Band Disease states in Orbicella faveolata

KAUST Repository

Closek, Collin J.; Sunagawa, Shinichi; DeSalvo, Michael K.; Piceno, Yvette M.; Desantis, Todd Z.; Brodie, Eoin L.; Weber, Michele X.; Voolstra, Christian R.; Andersen, Gary L.; Medina, Mó nica M.

2014-01-01

marked each health state. Diseased samples were associated with two to three times more bacterial diversity. HD samples had the highest bacterial richness, which included components associated with HH and DD, as well as additional unique families

Bacterial and fungal communities and contribution of physicochemical factors during cattle farm waste composting.

Science.gov (United States)

Huhe; Jiang, Chao; Wu, Yanpei; Cheng, Yunxiang

2017-12-01

During composting, the composition of microbial communities is subject to constant change owing to interactions with fluctuating physicochemical parameters. This study explored the changes in bacterial and fungal communities during cattle farm waste composting and aimed to identify and prioritize the contributing physicochemical factors. Microbial community compositions were determined by high-throughput sequencing. While the predominant phyla in the bacterial and fungal communities were largely consistent during the composting, differences in relative abundances were observed. Bacterial and fungal community diversity and relative abundance varied significantly, and inversely, over time. Relationships between physicochemical factors and microbial community compositions were evaluated by redundancy analysis. The variation in bacterial community composition was significantly related to water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and pile temperature and moisture (p composts. © 2017 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of remediation on the bacterial community of an acid mine drainage impacted stream.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Suchismita; Moitra, Moumita; Woolverton, Christopher J; Leff, Laura G

2012-11-01

Acid mine drainage (AMD) represents a global threat to water resources, and as such, remediation of AMD-impacted streams is a common practice. During this study, we examined bacterial community structure and environmental conditions in a low-order AMD-impacted stream before, during, and after remediation. Bacterial community structure was examined via polymerase chain reaction amplification of 16S rRNA genes followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Also, bacterial abundance and physicochemical data (including metal concentrations) were collected and relationships to bacterial community structure were determined using BIO-ENV analysis. Remediation of the study stream altered environmental conditions, including pH and concentrations of some metals, and consequently, the bacterial community changed. However, remediation did not necessarily restore the stream to conditions found in the unimpacted reference stream; for example, bacterial abundances and concentrations of some elements, such as sulfur, magnesium, and manganese, were different in the remediated stream than in the reference stream. BIO-ENV analysis revealed that changes in pH and iron concentration, associated with remediation, primarily explained temporal alterations in bacterial community structure. Although the sites sampled in the remediated stream were in relatively close proximity to each other, spatial variation in community composition suggests that differences in local environmental conditions may have large impacts on the microbial assemblage.

Grazing of leaf-associated Cercomonads (Protists: Rhizaria: Cercozoa) structures bacterial community composition and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Flues, Sebastian; Bass, David; Bonkowski, Michael

2017-08-01

Preferential food selection in protists is well documented, but we still lack basic understanding on how protist predation modifies the taxonomic and functional composition of bacterial communities. We conducted feeding trials using leaf-associated cercomonad Cercozoa by incubating them on a standardized, diverse bacterial community washed from plant leaves. We used a shotgun metagenomics approach to investigate the taxonomic and functional changes of the bacterial community after five days protist predation on bacteria. Predation-induced shifts in bacterial community composition could be linked to phenotypic protist traits. Protist reproduction rate, morphological plasticity and cell speed were most important in determining bacterial community composition. Analyses of co-occurrence patterns showed less complex correlations between bacterial taxa in the protist-grazed treatments with a higher proportion of positive correlations than in non-grazed controls, suggesting that predation reduced the influence of strong competitors. Protist predation influenced 14 metabolic core functions including membrane transport from which type VI secretion systems were in particular upregulated. In view of the functional importance of bacterial communities in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of plants, a more detailed understanding of predator-prey interactions, changes in microbial composition and function, and subsequent repercussions on plant performance are clearly required. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Upstream Freshwater and Terrestrial Sources Are Differentially Reflected in the Bacterial Community Structure along a Small Arctic River and Its Estuary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauptmann, Aviaja Zenia Edna Lyberth; Markussen, Thor N; Stibal, Marek

2016-01-01

of different water sources on the microbial communities in Arctic rivers and estuaries remains unknown. In this study we used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess a small river and its estuary on the Disko Island, West Greenland (69°N). Samples were taken in August when there is maximum precipitation...... and temperatures are high in the Disko Bay area. We describe the bacterial community through a river into the estuary, including communities originating in a glacier and a proglacial lake. Our results show that water from the glacier and lake transports distinct communities into the river in terms of diversity...

Bacterial communities in the fruit bodies of ground basidiomycetes

Science.gov (United States)

Zagryadskaya, Yu. A.; Lysak, L. V.; Chernov, I. Yu.

2015-06-01

Fruit bodies of basidiomycetes at different stages of decomposition serve as specific habitats in forest biocenoses for bacteria and differ significantly with respect to the total bacterial population and abundance of particular bacterial genera. A significant increase in the total bacterial population estimated by the direct microscopic method with acridine orange staining and in the population of saprotrophic bacteria (inoculation of glucose peptone yeast agar) in fruit bodies of basidiomycetes Armillaria mellea and Coprinus comatus was recorded at the final stage of their decomposition in comparison with the initial stage. Gramnegative bacteria predominated in the tissues of fruit bodies at all the stages of decomposition and were represented at the final stage by the Aeromonas, Vibrio, and Pseudomonas genera (for fruit bodies of A. mellea) the Pseudomonas genus (for fruit bodies of C. comatus). The potential influence of bacterial communities in the fruit bodies of soil basidiomycetes on the formation of bacterial communities in the upper soil horizons in forest biocenoses is discussed. The loci connected with the development and decomposition of fruit bodies of basidiomycetes on the soil surface are promising for targeted search of Gram-negative bacteria, the important objects of biotechnology.

Bacterial communities associated with three Brazilian endemic reef corals (Mussismilia spp.) in a coastal reef of the Abrolhos shelf

Science.gov (United States)

de Castro, Alinne Pereira; Araújo, Samuel Dias; Reis, Alessandra M. M.; Pompeu, Maira; Hatay, Mark; de Moura, Rodrigo Leão; Francini-Filho, Ronaldo B.; Thompson, Fabiano L.; Krüger, Ricardo H.

2013-11-01

The diversity of bacterial communities associated with three Brazilian endemic reef corals from genus Mussismilia (M. hispida, M. braziliensis, and M. harttii) at a single site was assessed using 16S rRNA clone libraries. The study site, Pedra do Leste, is a coastal reef within the largest and richest South Atlantic coralline reef complex (Abrolhos Bank) and is subject to high fishing pressure, high sedimentation loads, and other land-based stressors. The three coral species are Neogene relicts with unique biological and morphological traits that enable them to survive relatively high sedimentation levels. Our results show that sequences affiliated with γ-Proteobacteria predominated, accounting for more than 60% of the examined sequences. Indeed, the most frequent species were related to Alteromonas, Marinomonas, Neptuniibacter, and Vibrio, which are copiotrophic microorganisms common in environments highly affected by anthropogenic stress. Principal component analysis revealed that bacterial communities of M. braziliensis and M. hispida were more similar to each other than to M. harttii-associated bacteria. Such pattern is likely related to distinct morphological properties of M. harttii, such as the existence of phaceloid colonies, in which polyps are not connected by soft tissue. This is the first investigation assessing the bacterial communities of the three Brazilian endemic Mussismilia species at the same location.

Submerged macrophytes modify bacterial community composition in sediments in a large, shallow, freshwater lake.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Da-Yong; Liu, Peng; Fang, Chao; Sun, Yi-Meng; Zeng, Jin; Wang, Jian-Qun; Ma, Ting; Xiao, Yi-Hong; Wu, Qinglong L

2013-04-01

Submerged aquatic macrophytes are an important part of the lacustrine ecosystem. In this study, the bacterial community compositions in the rhizosphere sediments from three kinds of submerged macrophytes (Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton crispus, and Vallisneria natans) were investigated to determine whether submerged macrophytes could drive the variation of bacterial community in the eutrophic Taihu Lake, China. Molecular techniques, including terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene and clone libraries, were employed to analyze the bacterial community compositions. Remarkable differences of the T-RFLP patterns were observed among the different samples, and the results of LIBSHUFF analysis also confirmed that the bacterial community compositions in the rhizosphere sediments of three kinds of submerged macrophytes were statistically different from that of the unvegetated sediment. Acidobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria were the dominant bacterial groups in the rhizosphere sediments of Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton crispus, and Vallisneria natans, respectively, accounting for 15.38%, 29.03%, and 18.00% of the total bacterial abundances. Our study demonstrated that submerged macrophytes could influence the bacterial community compositions in their rhizosphere sediments, suggesting that macrophytes have an effect on the cycling and transportation of nutrients in the freshwater lake ecosystem.

Storm-scale dynamics of bacterial community composition in throughfall and stemflow

Science.gov (United States)

Van Stan, J. T., II; Teachey, M. E.; Pound, P.; Ottesen, E. A.

2017-12-01

Transport of bacteria between ecosystem spheres can significantly affect microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes. During rainfall, there is a large, temporally-concentrated exchange of bacteria between the forest phyllosphere and the pedosphere by rain dripping from canopy surfaces, as throughfall (TF), and draining to the stem, as stemflow (SF). Many phyllosphere bacteria possibly transported by TF and SF have been linked to important litter and soil processes (like cyanobacteria and actinobacteria). Despite this, no work has applied high throughput DNA sequencing to assess the community composition of bacteria transported by TF and SF. We characterized bacterial community composition for TF and SF from an epiphyte-laden (Tillandsia usneoides L., Spanish moss) southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) forest in southeastern Georgia (USA) to address two hypotheses: that bacterial community composition will differ between (1) TF and SF, and (2) TF sampled beneath bare and epiphyte-laden canopy. Variability in family-level bacterial abundance, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, and Shannon diversity index was greater between storms than between net rainfall fluxes. In fact, TF and SF bacterial communities were relatively similar for individual storms and may be driven by pre-storm atmospheric deposition rather than the communities affixed to leaves, bark, and epiphyte surfaces.

Structure of the Bacterial Community in Different Stages of Early Childhood Caries.

Science.gov (United States)

Ximenes, Marcos; Armas, Rafael Dutra de; Triches, Thaisa Cezária; Cardoso, Mariane; Vieira, Ricardo de Souza

2018-01-15

To characterise in vivo the structure of bacterial communities in decayed and sound primary teeth. Samples of biofilms were collected from three groups of patients with complete and exclusively primary dentition (n = 45): G1: sound teeth (n = 15); G2: enamel lesion (n = 15); G3: dentin lesion (n = 15). DNA was extracted (CTAB 2%) from the biofilm, the partial 16S rRNA gene was amplified with Bacteria Universal Primers (BA338fGC - UN518r) and subjected to DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). Multidimensional scaling and ANOSIM (analysis of similarity) were employed to determine the structure of the bacterial communities. The amplicon richness was determined by averaging amplicons, with the differences between treatments determined with ANOVA, while means were compared using Tukey's test (p < 0.05). Compared to sound teeth, a greater variety of bacterial communities was found in decayed teeth. Despite the differences between the bacterial communities of sound teeth and decayed teeth, the Venn diagram showed that the samples had 38 amplicons in common. Greater amplicon richness was observed in samples of decayed teeth (enamel: 20.5 ± 2.7; dentin: 20.1 ± 2.8) compared with the sound samples (12.0 ± 4.3) (p <0.05), indicating enhanced growth for specific groups of bacteria on decayed teeth. Although there is less bacterial diversity on sound than ECC-decayed teeth, the bacterial communities are very similar.

Bacterial Communities in Polluted Seabed Sediments: A Molecular Biology Assay in Leghorn Harbor

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Carolina Chiellini

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Seabed sediments of commercial ports are often characterized by high pollution levels. Differences in number and distribution of bacteria in such areas can be related to distribution of pollutants in the port and to sediment conditions. In this study, the bacterial communities of five sites from Leghorn Harbor seabed were characterized, and the main bacterial groups were identified. T-RFLP was used for all samples; two 16S rRNA libraries and in silico digestion of clones were used to identify fingerprint profiles. Library data, phylogenetic analysis, and T-RFLP coupled with in silico digestion of the obtained sequences evidenced the dominance of Proteobacteria and the high percentage of Bacteroidetes in all sites. The approach highlighted similar bacterial communities between samples coming from the five sites, suggesting a modest differentiation among bacterial communities of different harbor seabed sediments and hence the capacity of bacterial communities to adapt to different levels and types of pollution.

Host-Specificity and Dynamics in Bacterial Communities Associated with Bloom-Forming Freshwater Phytoplankton

Science.gov (United States)

Bagatini, Inessa Lacativa; Eiler, Alexander; Bertilsson, Stefan; Klaveness, Dag; Tessarolli, Letícia Piton; Vieira, Armando Augusto Henriques

2014-01-01

Many freshwater phytoplankton species have the potential to form transient nuisance blooms that affect water quality and other aquatic biota. Heterotrophic bacteria can influence such blooms via nutrient regeneration but also via antagonism and other biotic interactions. We studied the composition of bacterial communities associated with three bloom-forming freshwater phytoplankton species, the diatom Aulacoseira granulata and the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. Experimental cultures incubated with and without lake bacteria were sampled in three different growth phases and bacterial community composition was assessed by 454-Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Betaproteobacteria were dominant in all cultures inoculated with lake bacteria, but decreased during the experiment. In contrast, Alphaproteobacteria, which made up the second most abundant class of bacteria, increased overall during the course of the experiment. Other bacterial classes responded in contrasting ways to the experimental incubations causing significantly different bacterial communities to develop in response to host phytoplankton species, growth phase and between attached and free-living fractions. Differences in bacterial community composition between cyanobacteria and diatom cultures were greater than between the two cyanobacteria. Despite the significance, major differences between phytoplankton cultures were in the proportion of the OTUs rather than in the absence or presence of specific taxa. Different phytoplankton species favoring different bacterial communities may have important consequences for the fate of organic matter in systems where these bloom forming species occur. The dynamics and development of transient blooms may also be affected as bacterial communities seem to influence phytoplankton species growth in contrasting ways. PMID:24465807

Phylogenetic and Functional Diversity of Total (DNA) and Expressed (RNA) Bacterial Communities in Urban Green Infrastructure Bioswale Soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Aman S; Lee, Angela; McGuire, Krista L

2017-08-15

New York City (NYC) is pioneering green infrastructure with the use of bioswales and other engineered soil-based habitats to provide stormwater infiltration and other ecosystem functions. In addition to avoiding the environmental and financial costs of expanding traditional built infrastructure, green infrastructure is thought to generate cobenefits in the form of diverse ecological processes performed by its plant and microbial communities. Yet, although plant communities in these habitats are closely managed, we lack basic knowledge about how engineered ecosystems impact the distribution and functioning of soil bacteria. We sequenced amplicons of the 16S ribosomal subunit, as well as seven genes associated with functional pathways, generated from both total (DNA-based) and expressed (RNA) soil communities in the Bronx, NYC, NY, in order to test whether bioswale soils host characteristic bacterial communities with evidence for enriched microbial functioning, compared to nonengineered soils in park lawns and tree pits. Bioswales had distinct, phylogenetically diverse bacterial communities, including taxa associated with nutrient cycling and metabolism of hydrocarbons and other pollutants. Bioswale soils also had a significantly greater diversity of genes involved in several functional pathways, including carbon fixation ( cbbL-R [ cbbL gene, red-like subunit] and apsA ), nitrogen cycling ( noxZ and amoA ), and contaminant degradation ( bphA ); conversely, no functional genes were significantly more abundant in nonengineered soils. These results provide preliminary evidence that urban land management can shape the diversity and activity of soil communities, with positive consequences for genetic resources underlying valuable ecological functions, including biogeochemical cycling and degradation of common urban pollutants. IMPORTANCE Management of urban soil biodiversity by favoring taxa associated with decontamination or other microbial metabolic processes is a

Identification of the Bacterial Community Responsible for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Identification of bacteria community responsible for decontaminating Eleme petrochemical industrial effluent using 16S PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was determined. Gene profiles were determined by extracting DNA from bacterial isolates and amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using ...

Temporal dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities in a genetically modified (GM) rice ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung-Hoon; Kim, Chang-Gi; Kang, Hojeong

2011-04-01

We assessed the temporal dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities in a soil ecosystem supporting genetically modified (GM) rice (Oryza sativa L., ABC-TPSP; fusion of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase and phosphatase). Using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and real-time quantitative PCR, we compared bacterial and fungal communities in the soils underlying GM rice (ABC-TPSP), and its host cultivar (Nakdong) during growing seasons and non-growing seasons. Overall, the soils supporting GM and non-GM rice did not differ significantly in diversity indices, including ribotype numbers, for either bacteria or fungi. The diversity index (H) in both the bacterial and fungal communities was correlated with water content, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and ammonium nitrogen, and the correlation was stronger in fungi than in bacteria. Multivariate analysis showed no differences in microbial community structures between the two crop genotypes, but such differences did appear in time, with significant changes observed after harvest. Gene copy number was estimated as 10(8)~10(11) and 10(5)~10(7) per gram of soil for bacteria and fungi, respectively. As observed for community structure, the rice genotypes did not differ significantly in either bacterial- or fungal-specific gene copy numbers, although we observed a seasonal change in number. We summarize the results of this study as follows. (1) GM rice did not influence soil bacterial and fungal community structures as compared to non-GM rice in our system, (2) both bacterial and fungal communities changed with the growth stage of either rice genotype, (3) fungal communities were less variable than bacterial communities, and (4) although several environmental factors, including ammonium nitrogen and DOC correlated with shifts in microbial community structure, no single factor stood out.

Influence of technological treatments on bacterial communities in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Influence of technological treatments on bacterial communities in tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) as determined by 16S rDNA fingerprinting using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE)

Distinct Bacterial Microbiomes Associate with the Deep-Sea Coral Eguchipsammia fistula from the Red Sea and from Aquaria Settings

KAUST Repository

Röthig, Till

2017-08-10

Microbial communities associated with deep-sea corals are beginning to be studied in earnest and the contribution of the microbiome to host organismal function remains to be investigated. In this regard, the ability of the microbiome to adjust to prevailing environmental conditions might provide clues to its functional importance. In this study, we characterized bacterial community composition associated with the deep-sea coral Eguchipsammia fistula under natural (in situ) and aquaria (ex situ) settings using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We compared freshly collected Red Sea coral specimens with those reared for >1 year at conditions that partially differed from the natural environment, in particular regarding increased oxygen and food availability under ex situ conditions. We found substantial differences between the microbiomes associated with corals under both environmental settings. The core microbiome comprised only six bacterial taxa consistently present in all corals, whereas the majority of bacteria were exclusively associated either with freshly collected corals or corals under long-term reared aquaria settings. Putative functional profiling of microbial communities showed that corals in their natural habitat were enriched for processes indicative of a carbon- and nitrogen-limited environment, which might be reflective of differences in diet under in situ and ex situ conditions. The ability of E. fistula to harbor distinct microbiomes under different environmental settings might contribute to the flexibility and phenotypic plasticity of this cosmopolitan coral. Future efforts should further assess the role of these different bacteria in holobiont function, in particular since E. fistula is naturally present in markedly different environments.

Distinct Bacterial Microbiomes Associate with the Deep-Sea Coral Eguchipsammia fistula from the Red Sea and from Aquaria Settings

KAUST Repository

Rö thig, Till; Roik, Anna Krystyna; Yum, Lauren; Voolstra, Christian R.

2017-01-01

Microbial communities associated with deep-sea corals are beginning to be studied in earnest and the contribution of the microbiome to host organismal function remains to be investigated. In this regard, the ability of the microbiome to adjust to prevailing environmental conditions might provide clues to its functional importance. In this study, we characterized bacterial community composition associated with the deep-sea coral Eguchipsammia fistula under natural (in situ) and aquaria (ex situ) settings using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We compared freshly collected Red Sea coral specimens with those reared for >1 year at conditions that partially differed from the natural environment, in particular regarding increased oxygen and food availability under ex situ conditions. We found substantial differences between the microbiomes associated with corals under both environmental settings. The core microbiome comprised only six bacterial taxa consistently present in all corals, whereas the majority of bacteria were exclusively associated either with freshly collected corals or corals under long-term reared aquaria settings. Putative functional profiling of microbial communities showed that corals in their natural habitat were enriched for processes indicative of a carbon- and nitrogen-limited environment, which might be reflective of differences in diet under in situ and ex situ conditions. The ability of E. fistula to harbor distinct microbiomes under different environmental settings might contribute to the flexibility and phenotypic plasticity of this cosmopolitan coral. Future efforts should further assess the role of these different bacteria in holobiont function, in particular since E. fistula is naturally present in markedly different environments.

Composition and variation of sediment bacterial and nirS-harboring bacterial communities at representative sites of the Bohai Gulf coastal zone, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Xiangyu; Zhu, Lingling; Li, Youxun; Xie, Yuxuan; Zhao, Mingzhang; Luo, Ximing

2014-04-01

With rapid urbanization, anthropogenic activities are increasingly influencing the natural environment of the Bohai Bay. In this study, the composition and variation of bacterial and nirS-harboring bacterial communities in the coastal zone sediments of the Bohai Gulf were analyzed using PCR-based clone libraries. A total of 95 genera were detected in the bacterial communities, with Proteobacteria (72.1 %), Acidobacteria (10.5 %), Firmicutes (1.7 %), Bacteroidetes (1.4 %), Chloroflexi (0.7 %) and Planctomycetes (0.7 %) being the dominated phyla. The NirS sequences were divided into nine Clusters (A-I). Canonical correlation analysis showed that the bacterial or denitrifying communities were correlated with different environmental factors, such as total organic carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium, sulfate, etc. Furthermore, bacterial communities' composition and diversity are influenced by oil exploration, sewage discharge and other anthropogenic activities in the coastal area of the Bohai Sea. Thus, this study provided useful information on further research on regional or global environmental control and restore.

Spatial and vertical distribution of bacterial community in the northern South China Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fu-Lin; Wang, You-Shao; Wu, Mei-Lin; Sun, Cui-Ci; Cheng, Hao

2015-10-01

Microbial communities are highly diverse in coastal oceans and response rapidly with changing environments. Learning about this will help us understand the ecology of microbial populations in marine ecosystems. This study aimed to assess the spatial and vertical distributions of the bacterial community in the northern South China Sea. Multi-dimensional scaling analyses revealed structural differences of the bacterial community among sampling sites and vertical depth. Result also indicated that bacterial community in most sites had higher diversity in 0-75 m depths than those in 100-200 m depths. Bacterial community of samples was positively correlation with salinity and depth, whereas was negatively correlation with temperature. Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were the dominant groups, which accounted for the majority of sequences. The α-Proteobacteria was highly diverse, and sequences belonged to Rhodobacterales bacteria were dominant in all characterized sequences. The current data indicate that the Rhodobacterales bacteria, especially Roseobacter clade are the diverse group in the tropical waters.

Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis of Soil Bacterial Communities under Different Vegetation Types in Subtropical Area.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zeyan Wu

Full Text Available Soil microbes are active players in energy flow and material exchange of the forest ecosystems, but the research on the relationship between the microbial diversity and the vegetation types is less conducted, especially in the subtropical area of China. In this present study, the rhizosphere soils of evergreen broad-leaf forest (EBF, coniferous forest (CF, subalpine dwarf forest (SDF and alpine meadow (AM were chosen as test sites. Terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLP analysis was used to detect the composition and diversity of soil bacterial communities under different vegetation types in the National Natural Reserve of Wuyi Mountains. Our results revealed distinct differences in soil microbial composition under different vegetation types. Total 73 microbes were identified in soil samples of the four vegetation types, and 56, 49, 46 and 36 clones were obtained from the soils of EBF, CF, SDF and AM, respectively, and subsequently sequenced. The Actinobacteria, Fusobacterium, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the most predominant in all soil samples. The order of Shannon-Wiener index (H of all soil samples was in the order of EBF>CF>SDF>AM, whereas bacterial species richness as estimated by four restriction enzymes indicated no significant difference. Principal component analysis (PCA revealed that the soil bacterial communities' structures of EBF, CF, SDF and AM were clearly separated along the first and second principal components, which explained 62.17% and 31.58% of the total variance, respectively. The soil physical-chemical properties such as total organic carbon (TOC, total nitrogen (TN, total phosphorus (TP and total potassium (TK were positively correlated with the diversity of bacterial communities.

Biogeographical distribution and diversity of bacterial communities in surface sediments of the South China Sea.

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Li, Tao; Wang, Peng

2013-05-01

This paper aims at an investigation of the features of bacterial communities in surface sediments of the South China Sea (SCS). In particular, biogeographical distribution patterns and the phylogenetic diversity of bacteria found in sediments collected from a coral reef platform, a continental slope, and a deep-sea basin were determined. Bacterial diversity was measured by an observation of 16S rRNA genes, and 18 phylogenetic groups were identified in the bacterial clone library. Planctomycetes, Deltaproteobacteria, candidate division OP11, and Alphaproteobacteria made up the majority of the bacteria in the samples, with their mean bacterial clones being 16%, 15%, 12%, and 9%, respectively. By comparison, the bacterial communities found in the SCS surface sediments were significantly different from other previously observed deep-sea bacterial communities. This research also emphasizes the fact that geographical factors have an impact on the biogeographical distribution patterns of bacterial communities. For instance, canonical correspondence analyses illustrated that the percentage of sand weight and water depth are important factors affecting the bacterial community composition. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of adequately determining the relationship between geographical factors and the distribution of bacteria in the world's seas and oceans.

Supraglacial bacterial community structures vary across the Greenland ice sheet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cameron, Karen A.; Stibal, Marek; Zarsky, Jakub D.

2016-01-01

The composition and spatial variability of microbial communities that reside within the extensive (>200 000 km(2)) biologically active area encompassing the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) is hypothesized to be variable. We examined bacterial communities from cryoconite debris and surface ice across...... the GrIS, using sequence analysis and quantitative PCR of 16S rRNA genes from co-extracted DNA and RNA. Communities were found to differ across the ice sheet, with 82.8% of the total calculated variation attributed to spatial distribution on a scale of tens of kilometers separation. Amplicons related...... to Sphingobacteriaceae, Pseudanabaenaceae and WPS-2 accounted for the greatest portion of calculated dissimilarities. The bacterial communities of ice and cryoconite were moderately similar (global R = 0.360, P = 0.002) and the sampled surface type (ice versus cryoconite) did not contribute heavily towards community...

Compositional Stability of the Bacterial Community in a Climate-Sensitive Sub-Arctic Peatland.

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Weedon, James T; Kowalchuk, George A; Aerts, Rien; Freriks, Stef; Röling, Wilfred F M; van Bodegom, Peter M

2017-01-01

The climate sensitivity of microbe-mediated soil processes such as carbon and nitrogen cycling offers an interesting case for evaluating the corresponding sensitivity of microbial community composition to environmental change. Better understanding of the degree of linkage between functional and compositional stability would contribute to ongoing efforts to build mechanistic models aiming at predicting rates of microbe-mediated processes. We used an amplicon sequencing approach to test if previously observed large effects of experimental soil warming on C and N cycle fluxes (50-100% increases) in a sub-arctic Sphagnum peatland were reflected in changes in the composition of the soil bacterial community. We found that treatments that previously induced changes to fluxes did not associate with changes in the phylogenetic composition of the soil bacterial community. For both DNA- and RNA-based analyses, variation in bacterial communities could be explained by the hierarchy: spatial variation (12-15% of variance explained) > temporal variation (7-11%) > climate treatment (4-9%). We conclude that the bacterial community in this environment is stable under changing conditions, despite the previously observed sensitivity of process rates-evidence that microbe-mediated soil processes can alter without concomitant changes in bacterial communities. We propose that progress in linking soil microbial communities to ecosystem processes can be advanced by further investigating the relative importance of community composition effects versus physico-chemical factors in controlling biogeochemical process rates in different contexts.

Impervious Surfaces Alter Soil Bacterial Communities in Urban Areas: A Case Study in Beijing, China

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Yinhong Hu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The rapid expansion of urbanization has caused land cover change, especially the increasing area of impervious surfaces. Such alterations have significant effects on the soil ecosystem by impeding the exchange of gasses, water, and materials between soil and the atmosphere. It is unclear whether impervious surfaces have any effects on soil bacterial diversity and community composition. In the present study, we conducted an investigation of bacterial communities across five typical land cover types, including impervious surfaces (concrete, permeable pavement (bricks with round holes, shrub coverage (Buxus megistophylla Levl., lawns (Festuca elata Keng ex E. Alexeev, and roadside trees (Sophora japonica Linn. in Beijing, to explore the response of bacteria to impervious surfaces. The soil bacterial communities were addressed by high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. We found that Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes were the predominant phyla in urban soils. Soil from impervious surfaces presented a lower bacterial diversity, and differed greatly from other types of land cover. Soil bacterial diversity was predominantly affected by Zn, dissolved organic carbon (DOC, and soil moisture content (SMC. The composition of the bacterial community was similar under shrub coverage, roadside trees, and lawns, but different from beneath impervious surfaces and permeable pavement. Variance partitioning analysis showed that edaphic properties contributed to 12% of the bacterial community variation, heavy metal pollution explained 3.6% of the variation, and interaction between the two explained 33% of the variance. Together, our data indicate that impervious surfaces induced changes in bacterial community composition and decrease of bacterial diversity. Interactions between edaphic properties and heavy metals were here found to change the composition of the bacterial community and

Spatial variations of bacterial community and its relationship with water chemistry in Sanya Bay, South China Sea as determined by DGGE fingerprinting and multivariate analysis.

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Ling, Juan; Zhang, Yan-Ying; Dong, Jun-De; Wang, You-Shao; Feng, Jing-Bing; Zhou, Wei-Hua

2015-10-01

Bacteria play important roles in the structure and function of marine food webs by utilizing nutrients and degrading the pollutants, and their distribution are determined by surrounding water chemistry to a certain extent. It is vital to investigate the bacterial community's structure and identifying the significant factors by controlling the bacterial distribution in the paper. Flow cytometry showed that the total bacterial abundance ranged from 5.27 × 10(5) to 3.77 × 10(6) cells/mL. Molecular fingerprinting technique, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) followed by DNA sequencing has been employed to investigate the bacterial community composition. The results were then interpreted through multivariate statistical analysis and tended to explain its relationship to the environmental factors. A total of 270 bands at 83 different positions were detected in DGGE profiles and 29 distinct DGGE bands were sequenced. The predominant bacteria were related to Phyla Protebacteria species (31 %, nine sequences), Cyanobacteria (37.9 %, eleven sequences) and Actinobacteria (17.2 %, five sequences). Other phylogenetic groups identified including Firmicutes (6.9 %, two sequences), Bacteroidetes (3.5 %, one sequences) and Verrucomicrobia (3.5 %, one sequences). Conical correspondence analysis was used to elucidate the relationships between the bacterial community compositions and environmental factors. The results showed that the spatial variations in the bacterial community composition was significantly related to phosphate (P = 0.002, P < 0.01), dissolved organic carbon (P = 0.004, P < 0.01), chemical oxygen demand (P = 0.010, P < 0.05) and nitrite (P = 0.016, P < 0.05). This study revealed the spatial variations of bacterial community and significant environmental factors driving the bacterial composition shift. These results may be valuable for further investigation on the functional microbial structure and expression quantitatively under the polluted

Bacterial community profile of contaminated soils in a typical antimony mining site.

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Wang, Ningning; Zhang, Suhuan; He, Mengchang

2018-01-01

The soils around the world's largest antimony mine have been contaminated by high concentrations of Sb and As, which might influence microbial diversity in the surrounding soils. The ecological effects of bioavailable Sb and As on the composition and diversity of microbial community in soils remain unknown. In this study, the relative abundance, taxonomic diversity and composition of bacterial community in soils from a typical Sb mine area, and the relationship between the bacterial community and bioavailable concentrations as well as environmental factors have been investigated comprehensively using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT). The results indicated that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Cyanobacteria were the dominant bacterial populations at phylum level in all soil samples, accounting for more than 80% of the bacteria sequenced. The abundance and diversity of bacterial community vary along a metal contamination gradient. Redundancy discriminate analysis (RDA) revealed that 74.74% of bacterial community variation in the contaminated soils was explained by six environmental factors (pH, Sb DGT , As DGT , potential ecological risk index (RI), TC, TN), among which pH, Sb DGT , and As DGT were dominant factors influencing the composition and diversity of bacteria. This study contributes to our understanding of microbial diversity in a local ecosystem and introduces the option of studying bioavailable Sb and As using DGT.

Bacterial community composition and structure in an Urban River impacted by different pollutant sources.

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Ibekwe, A Mark; Ma, Jincai; Murinda, Shelton E

2016-10-01

Microbial communities in terrestrial fresh water are diverse and dynamic in composition due to different environmental factors. The goal of this study was to undertake a comprehensive analysis of bacterial composition along different rivers and creeks and correlate these to land-use practices and pollutant sources. Here we used 454 pyrosequencing to determine the total bacterial community composition, and bacterial communities that are potentially of fecal origin, and of relevance to water quality assessment. The results were analyzed using UniFrac coupled with principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) to compare diversity, abundance, and community composition. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to correlate bacterial composition in streams and creeks to different environmental parameters impacting bacterial communities in the sediment and surface water within the watershed. Bacteria were dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria, with Bacteroidetes significantly (PPCoA and DCA showed that bacterial composition in sediment and surface water was significantly different (Pmicrobial community compositions were influenced by several environmental factors, and pH, NO2, and NH4 were the major environmental factors driving FIB in surface water based on CCA analysis, while NO3 was the only factor in sediment. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Bacterial community structure and soil properties of a subarctic tundra soil in Council, Alaska.

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Kim, Hye Min; Jung, Ji Young; Yergeau, Etienne; Hwang, Chung Yeon; Hinzman, Larry; Nam, Sungjin; Hong, Soon Gyu; Kim, Ok-Sun; Chun, Jongsik; Lee, Yoo Kyung

2014-08-01

The subarctic region is highly responsive and vulnerable to climate change. Understanding the structure of subarctic soil microbial communities is essential for predicting the response of the subarctic soil environment to climate change. To determine the composition of the bacterial community and its relationship with soil properties, we investigated the bacterial community structure and properties of surface soil from the moist acidic tussock tundra in Council, Alaska. We collected 70 soil samples with 25-m intervals between sampling points from 0-10 cm to 10-20 cm depths. The bacterial community was analyzed by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes, and the following soil properties were analyzed: soil moisture content (MC), pH, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and inorganic nitrogen (NH4+ and NO3-). The community compositions of the two different depths showed that Alphaproteobacteria decreased with soil depth. Among the soil properties measured, soil pH was the most significant factor correlating with bacterial community in both upper and lower-layer soils. Bacterial community similarity based on jackknifed unweighted unifrac distance showed greater similarity across horizontal layers than through the vertical depth. This study showed that soil depth and pH were the most important soil properties determining bacterial community structure of the subarctic tundra soil in Council, Alaska. © 2014 The Authors. FEMS Microbiology Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.

Bacterial social interactions and the emergence of community-intrinsic properties

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Madsen, Jonas Stenløkke; Sørensen, Søren Johannes; Burmølle, Mette

2018-01-01

Bacterial communities are dominated and shaped by social interactions, which facilitate the emergence of properties observed only in the community setting. Such community-intrinsic properties impact not only the phenotypes of cells in a community, but also community composition and function...... on community composition and interactions in multispecies biofilms. We hereby wish to emphasize the importance of studying social interactions in settings where community-intrinsic properties are likely to emerge....

Pseudomonas chlororaphis Produces Two Distinct R-Tailocins That Contribute to Bacterial Competition in Biofilms and on Roots.

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Dorosky, Robert J; Yu, Jun Myoung; Pierson, Leland S; Pierson, Elizabeth A

2017-08-01

R-type tailocins are high-molecular-weight bacteriocins that resemble bacteriophage tails and are encoded within the genomes of many Pseudomonas species. In this study, analysis of the P. chlororaphis 30-84 R-tailocin gene cluster revealed that it contains the structural components to produce two R-tailocins of different ancestral origins. Two distinct R-tailocin populations differing in length were observed in UV-induced lysates of P. chlororaphis 30-84 via transmission electron microscopy. Mutants defective in the production of one or both R-tailocins demonstrated that the killing spectrum of each tailocin is limited to Pseudomonas species. The spectra of pseudomonads killed by the two R-tailocins differed, although a few Pseudomonas species were either killed by or insusceptible to both tailocins. Tailocin release was disrupted by deletion of the holin gene within the tailocin gene cluster, demonstrating that the lysis cassette is required for the release of both R-tailocins. The loss of functional tailocin production reduced the ability of P. chlororaphis 30-84 to compete with an R-tailocin-sensitive strain within biofilms and rhizosphere communities. Our study demonstrates that Pseudomonas species can produce more than one functional R-tailocin particle sharing the same lysis cassette but differing in their killing spectra. This study provides evidence for the role of R-tailocins as determinants of bacterial competition among plant-associated Pseudomonas in biofilms and the rhizosphere. IMPORTANCE Recent studies have identified R-tailocin gene clusters potentially encoding more than one R-tailocin within the genomes of plant-associated Pseudomonas but have not demonstrated that more than one particle is produced or the ecological significance of the production of multiple R-tailocins. This study demonstrates for the first time that Pseudomonas strains can produce two distinct R-tailocins with different killing spectra, both of which contribute to bacterial

Pyridine-type alkaloid composition affects bacterial community composition of floral nectar.

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Aizenberg-Gershtein, Yana; Izhaki, Ido; Santhanam, Rakesh; Kumar, Pavan; Baldwin, Ian T; Halpern, Malka

2015-06-30

Pyridine-type alkaloids are most common in Nicotiana species. To study the effect of alkaloid composition on bacterial community composition in floral nectar, we compared the nicotine-rich wild type (WT) N. attenuata, the nicotine biosynthesis-silenced N. attenuata that was rich in anatabine and the anabasine-rich WT N. glauca plants. We found that the composition of these secondary metabolites in the floral nectar drastically affected the bacterial community richness, diversity and composition. Significant differences were found between the bacterial community compositions in the nectar of the three plants with a much greater species richness and diversity in the nectar from the transgenic plant. The highest community composition similarity index was detected between the two wild type plants. The different microbiome composition and diversity, caused by the different pyridine-type alkaloid composition, could modify the nutritional content of the nectar and consequently, may contribute to the change in the nectar consumption and visitation. These may indirectly have an effect on plant fitness.

Bacterial density and community structure associated with aggregate size fractions of soil-feeding termite mounds.

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Fall, S; Nazaret, S; Chotte, J L; Brauman, A

2004-08-01

The building and foraging activities of termites are known to modify soil characteristics such as the heterogeneity. In tropical savannas the impact of the activity of soil-feeding termites ( Cubitermes niokoloensis) has been shown to affect the properties of the soil at the aggregate level by creating new soil microenvironments (aggregate size fractions) [13]. These changes were investigated in greater depth by looking at the microbial density (AODC) and the genetic structure (automated rRNA intergenic spacer analysis: ARISA) of the communities in the different aggregate size fractions (i.e., coarse sand, fine sand, coarse silt, fine silt, and dispersible clays) separated from compartments (internal and external wall) of three Cubitermes niokoloensis mounds. The bacterial density of the mounds was significantly higher (1.5 to 3 times) than that of the surrounding soil. Within the aggregate size fractions, the termite building activity resulted in a significant increase in bacterial density within the coarser fractions (>20 mum). Multivariate analysis of the ARISA profiles revealed that the bacterial genetic structures of unfractionated soil and soil aggregate size fractions of the three mounds was noticeably different from the savanna soil used as a reference. Moreover, the microbial community associated with the different microenvironments in the three termite mounds revealed three distinct clusters formed by the aggregate size fractions of each mound. Except for the 2-20 mum fraction, these results suggest that the mound microbial genetic structure is more dependent upon microbial pool affiliation (the termite mound) than on the soil location (aggregate size fraction). The causes of the specificity of the microbial community structure of termite mound aggregate size fractions are discussed.

Bacterial microbiomes of individual ectomycorrhizal Pinus sylvestris roots are shaped by soil horizon and differentially sensitive to nitrogen addition.

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Marupakula, Srisailam; Mahmood, Shahid; Jernberg, Johanna; Nallanchakravarthula, Srivathsa; Fahad, Zaenab A; Finlay, Roger D

2017-11-01

Plant roots select non-random communities of fungi and bacteria from the surrounding soil that have effects on their health and growth, but we know little about the factors influencing their composition. We profiled bacterial microbiomes associated with individual ectomycorrhizal Pinus sylvestris roots colonized by different fungi and analyzed differences in microbiome structure related to soils from distinct podzol horizons and effects of short-term additions of N, a growth-limiting nutrient commonly applied as a fertilizer, but known to influence patterns of carbon allocation to roots. Ectomycorrhizal roots growing in soil from different horizons harboured distinct bacterial communities. The fungi colonizing individual roots had a strong effect on the associated bacterial communities. Even closely related species within the same ectomycorrhizal genus had distinct bacterial microbiomes in unfertilized soil, but fertilization removed this specificity. Effects of N were rapid and context dependent, being influenced by both soil type and the particular ectomycorrhizal fungi involved. Fungal community composition changed in soil from all horizons, but bacteria only responded strongly to N in soil from the B horizon where community structure was different and bacterial diversity was significantly reduced, possibly reflecting changed carbon allocation patterns. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nematode grazing promotes bacterial community dynamics in soil at the aggregate level.

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Jiang, Yuji; Liu, Manqiang; Zhang, Jiabao; Chen, Yan; Chen, Xiaoyun; Chen, Lijun; Li, Huixin; Zhang, Xue-Xian; Sun, Bo

2017-12-01

Nematode predation has important roles in determining bacterial community composition and dynamics, but the extent of the effects remains largely rudimentary, particularly in natural environment settings. Here, we investigated the complex microbial-microfaunal interactions in the rhizosphere of maize grown in red soils, which were derived from four long-term fertilization regimes. Root-free rhizosphere soil samples were separated into three aggregate fractions whereby the abundance and community composition were examined for nematode and total bacterial communities. A functional group of alkaline phosphomonoesterase (ALP) producing bacteria was included to test the hypothesis that nematode grazing may significantly affect specific bacteria-mediated ecological functions, that is, organic phosphate cycling in soil. Results of correlation analysis, structural equation modeling and interaction networks combined with laboratory microcosm experiments consistently indicated that bacterivorous nematodes enhanced bacterial diversity, and the abundance of bacterivores was positively correlated with bacterial biomass, including ALP-producing bacterial abundance. Significantly, such effects were more pronounced in large macroaggregates than in microaggregates. There was a positive correlation between the most dominant bacterivores Protorhabditis and the ALP-producing keystone 'species' Mesorhizobium. Taken together, these findings implicate important roles of nematodes in stimulating bacterial dynamics in a spatially dependent manner.

Changes in bacterial community after application of three different herbicides.

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Moretto, Jéssica Aparecida Silva; Altarugio, Lucas Miguel; Andrade, Pedro Avelino; Fachin, Ana Lúcia; Andreote, Fernando Dini; Stehling, Eliana Guedes

2017-07-06

The native soil microbiota is very important to maintain the quality of that environment, but with the intensive use of agrochemicals, changes in microbial biomass and formation of large quantities of toxic waste were observed in soil, groundwater and surface water. Thereby, the goal of this study was to evaluate if the selective pressure exerted by the presence of the herbicides atrazine, diuron and 2,4-D changes the bacterial community structure of an agricultural soil, using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis technique. According to PERMANOVA analysis, a greater effect of the herbicide persistence time in the soil, the effect of the herbicide class and the effect of interaction between these two factors (persistence time and herbicide class) were observed. In conclusion, the results showed that the selective pressure exerted by the presence of these herbicides altered the composition of the local microbiota, being atrazine and diuron that most significantly affected the bacterial community in soil, and the herbicide 2,4-D was the one that less altered the microbial community and that bacterial community was reestablished first. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Methane Production in Dairy Cows Correlates with Rumen Methanogenic and Bacterial Community Structure.

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Danielsson, Rebecca; Dicksved, Johan; Sun, Li; Gonda, Horacio; Müller, Bettina; Schnürer, Anna; Bertilsson, Jan

2017-01-01

Methane (CH 4 ) is produced as an end product from feed fermentation in the rumen. Yield of CH 4 varies between individuals despite identical feeding conditions. To get a better understanding of factors behind the individual variation, 73 dairy cows given the same feed but differing in CH 4 emissions were investigated with focus on fiber digestion, fermentation end products and bacterial and archaeal composition. In total 21 cows (12 Holstein, 9 Swedish Red) identified as persistent low, medium or high CH 4 emitters over a 3 month period were furthermore chosen for analysis of microbial community structure in rumen fluid. This was assessed by sequencing the V4 region of 16S rRNA gene and by quantitative qPCR of targeted Methanobrevibacter groups. The results showed a positive correlation between low CH 4 emitters and higher abundance of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium clade. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) on operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level of bacteria showed two distinct clusters ( P microbial population or host genetic differences that is reflected in bacterial and archaeal (or methanogens) populations.

Phytoplankton-Associated Bacterial Community Composition and Succession during Toxic Diatom Bloom and Non-Bloom Events.

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Sison-Mangus, Marilou P; Jiang, Sunny; Kudela, Raphael M; Mehic, Sanjin

2016-01-01

Pseudo-nitzschia blooms often occur in coastal and open ocean environments, sometimes leading to the production of the neurotoxin domoic acid that can cause severe negative impacts to higher trophic levels. Increasing evidence suggests a close relationship between phytoplankton bloom and bacterial assemblages, however, the microbial composition and succession during a bloom process is unknown. Here, we investigate the bacterial assemblages before, during and after toxic and non-toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms to determine the patterns of bacterial succession in a natural bloom setting. Opportunistic sampling of bacterial community profiles were determined weekly at Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf by 454 pyrosequencing and analyzed together with domoic acid levels, phytoplankton community and biomass, nutrients and temperature. We asked if the bacterial communities are similar between bloom and non-bloom events and if domoic acid or the presence of toxic algal species acts as a driving force that can significantly structure phytoplankton-associated bacterial communities. We found that bacterial diversity generally increases when Pseudo-nitzschia numbers decline. Furthermore, bacterial diversity is higher when the low-DA producing P. fraudulenta dominates the algal bloom while bacterial diversity is lower when high-DA producing P. australis dominates the algal bloom, suggesting that the presence of algal toxin can structure bacterial community. We also found bloom-related succession patterns among associated bacterial groups; Gamma-proteobacteria, were dominant during low toxic P. fraudulenta blooms comprising mostly of Vibrio spp., which increased in relative abundance (6-65%) as the bloom progresses. On the other hand, Firmicutes bacteria comprising mostly of Planococcus spp. (12-86%) dominate during high toxic P. australis blooms, with the bacterial assemblage showing the same bloom-related successional patterns in three independent bloom events. Other environmental

Phytoplankton-associated bacterial community composition and succession during toxic diatom bloom and non-bloom events

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Marilou P. Sison-Mangus

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Pseudo-nitzschia blooms often occur in coastal and open ocean environments, sometimes leading to the production of the neurotoxin domoic acid that can cause severe negative impacts to higher trophic levels. Increasing evidence suggests a close relationship between phytoplankton bloom and bacterial assemblages, however, the microbial composition and succession during a bloom process is unknown. Here, we investigate the bacterial assemblages before, during and after toxic and non-toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms to determine the patterns of bacterial succession in a natural bloom setting. Opportunistic sampling of bacterial community profiles were determined weekly at Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf by 454 pyrosequencing and analyzed together with domoic acid levels, phytoplankton community and biomass, nutrients and temperature. We asked if the bacterial communities are similar between bloom and non-bloom events and if domoic acid or the presence of toxic algal species acts as a driving force that can significantly structure phytoplankton-associated bacterial communities. We found that bacterial diversity generally increases when Pseudo-nitzschia numbers decline. Furthermore, bacterial diversity is higher when the low-DA producing P. fraudulenta dominates the algal bloom while bacterial diversity is lower when high-DA producing P. australis dominates the algal bloom, suggesting that the presence of algal toxin can structure bacterial community. We also found bloom-related succession patterns among associated bacterial groups; Gamma-proteobacteria, were dominant during low toxic P. fraudulenta blooms comprising mostly of Vibrio spp., which increased in relative abundance (6%-65% as the bloom progresses. On the other hand, Firmicutes bacteria comprising mostly of Planococcus spp. (12%- 86% dominate during high toxic P. australis blooms, with the bacterial assemblage showing the same bloom-related successional patterns in 3 independent bloom events. Other

Bacterial communities hitching a hike - a guide to the river system of the Red river, Disko Island, West Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauptmann, Aviaja Zenia Edna Lyberth; Markussen, Thor N.; Stibal, Marek

of different water sources on the microbial communities in Arctic rivers and estuaries remains unknown. In this study we used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess a small river and its estuary on Disko Island, West Greenland (69°N). We describe the bacterial community through a river into the estuary......Glacier melting and altered precipitation patterns influence Arctic freshwater and coastal ecosystems. Arctic rivers are central to Arctic water ecosystems linking glacier meltwaters and precipitation with the ocean through transport of particulate matter and microorganisms. However, the impact......, including communities originating in a glacier and a proglacial lake. Our results show that water from the glacier and lake transports distinct communities into the river in terms of diversity and community composition. Bacteria of terrestrial origin were among the dominating OTUs in the main river, while...

Investigation of bacterial communities in peat land of the Gahai Lake natural conservation area

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Bai, Yani; Wang, Jinchang; Zhan, Zhigao; Guan, Limei; Jin, Liang; Zheng, Guohua

2017-10-01

Peat is involved in the global carbon cycle and water conservation; therefore, it is implicated in global environmental change. Microorganisms play an important role in the function of peat. To investigate the bacterial communities in peat of Gahai Lake, different locations and depths were sampled and Illumina Miseq sequencing was used to analyze the microbial community. Chemical properties of peat samples were analyzed by China state standard methods (GB methods). The results showed that bacterial communities were affected by depth, with bacterial diversity and community structure at 90 and 120 cm significantly different from that at 10, 30 and 50 cm depth from the peat surface. Chemical properties of peat land including organic matter, total nitrogen and humus content did not significantly influence bacterial community structure in peat, with only one group from genus Rhizomicrobium that was significantly correlated with total nitrogen. A substantial proportion of the bacterial sequences were unclassified (1.4%), which indicates the great application potential of peat in the Gahai Lake natural conservation area in the future.

Bacterial Community Shift Drives Antibiotic Resistance Promotion during Drinking Water Chlorination.

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Jia, Shuyu; Shi, Peng; Hu, Qing; Li, Bing; Zhang, Tong; Zhang, Xu-Xiang

2015-10-20

For comprehensive insights into the effects of chlorination, a widely used disinfection technology, on bacterial community and antibiotic resistome in drinking water, this study applied high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic approaches to investigate the changing patterns of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and bacterial community in a drinking water treatment and distribution system. At genus level, chlorination could effectively remove Methylophilus, Methylotenera, Limnobacter, and Polynucleobacter, while increase the relative abundance of Pseudomonas, Acidovorax, Sphingomonas, Pleomonas, and Undibacterium in the drinking water. A total of 151 ARGs within 15 types were detectable in the drinking water, and chlorination evidently increased their total relative abundance while reduced their diversity in the opportunistic bacteria (p < 0.05). Residual chlorine was identified as the key contributing factor driving the bacterial community shift and resistome alteration. As the dominant persistent ARGs in the treatment and distribution system, multidrug resistance genes (mainly encoding resistance-nodulation-cell division transportation system) and bacitracin resistance gene bacA were mainly carried by chlorine-resistant bacteria Pseudomonas and Acidovorax, which mainly contributed to the ARGs abundance increase. The strong correlation between bacterial community shift and antibiotic resistome alteration observed in this study may shed new light on the mechanism behind the chlorination effects on antibiotic resistance.

Diversity and abundance of the bacterial community of the red Macroalga Porphyra umbilicalis: did bacterial farmers produce macroalgae?

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Lilibeth N Miranda

Full Text Available Macroalgae harbor microbial communities whose bacterial biodiversity remains largely uncharacterized. The goals of this study were 1 to examine the composition of the bacterial community associated with Porphyra umbilicalis Kützing from Schoodic Point, ME, 2 determine whether there are seasonal trends in species diversity but a core group of bacteria that are always present, and 3 to determine how the microbial community associated with a laboratory strain (P.um.1 established in the presence of antibiotics has changed. P. umbilicalis blades (n = 5, fall 2010; n = 5, winter 2011; n = 2, clonal P.um.1 were analyzed by pyrosequencing over two variable regions of the 16 S rDNA (V5-V6 and V8; 147,880 total reads. The bacterial taxa present were classified at an 80% confidence threshold into eight phyla (Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, Firmicutes, and the candidate division TM7. The Bacteroidetes comprised the majority of bacterial sequences on both field and lab blades, but the Proteobacteria (Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria were also abundant. Sphingobacteria (Bacteroidetes and Flavobacteria (Bacteroidetes had inverse abundances on natural versus P.um.1 blades. Bacterial communities were richer and more diverse on blades sampled in fall compared to winter. Significant differences were observed between microbial communities among all three groups of blades examined. Only two OTUs were found on all 12 blades, and only one of these, belonging to the Saprospiraceae (Bacteroidetes, was abundant. Lewinella (as 66 OTUs was found on all field blades and was the most abundant genus. Bacteria from the Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Planctomycetes that are known to digest the galactan sulfates of red algal cell walls were well-represented. Some of these taxa likely provide essential morphogenetic and beneficial nutritive factors to P. umbilicalis and may have had

Bacterial community dynamics and product distribution during pH-adjusted fermentation of vegetable wastes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, N-F; Lü, F; Shao, L-M; Godon, J-J; He, P-J

2007-10-01

To estimate the effect of pH on the structures of bacterial community during fermentation of vegetable wastes and to investigate the relationship between bacterial community dynamics and product distribution. The bacterial communities in five batch tests controlled at different pH values [uncontrolled (about pH 4), 5, 6, 7 and 8] were monitored by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). The two fingerprinting methods provided consistent results and principal component analysis indicated a close similarity of bacterial community at pH 7 and 8 in addition to those at pH 4-6. This clustering also corresponded to dominant metabolic pathway. Thus, pH 7-8 shifted from alcohol-forming to acid-forming, especially butyric acid, whereas both alcohol-forming and acid-forming dominated at pH 5-6, and at pH 4, fermentation was inhibited. Shannon-weaver index was calculated to analyse the DGGE profiles, which revealed that the bacterial diversities at pH 7 and 8 were the highest while those at pH 5 and 4 (uncontrolled) were the lowest. According to sequencing results of the bands excised from DGGE gels, lactic acid bacteria and Clostridium sp. were predominant at all pH values, but varieties in species were observed as pH changed and time prolonged. The bacterial community during fermentation was materially influenced by pH and the diverse product distribution was related to the shift of different bacterial population. The study reveals that the impact of pH on fermentation product distribution is implemented primarily by changes of bacterial community. It also provides information about the comparison of two fingerprinting methods, DGGE and SSCP.

Distinct roles of extracellular polymeric substances in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Liang; Hu, Yifan; Liu, Yang

2011-01-01

Bacteria form surface attached biofilm communities as one of the most important survival strategies in nature. Biofilms consist of water, bacterial cells and a wide range of self‐generated extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Biofilm formation is a dynamic self‐assembly process and several d...... polysaccharide is more important than Pel polysaccharide in P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance. Our study thus suggests that different EPS materials play distinct roles during bacterial biofilm formation.......Bacteria form surface attached biofilm communities as one of the most important survival strategies in nature. Biofilms consist of water, bacterial cells and a wide range of self‐generated extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Biofilm formation is a dynamic self‐assembly process and several...... distinguishable stages are observed during bacterial biofilm development. Biofilm formation is shown to be coordinated by EPS production, cell migration, subpopulation differentiation and interactions. However, the ways these different factors affect each other and contribute to community structural...

Bacterial communities in ancient permafrost profiles of Svalbard, Arctic.

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Singh, Purnima; Singh, Shiv M; Singh, Ram N; Naik, Simantini; Roy, Utpal; Srivastava, Alok; Bölter, Manfred

2017-12-01

Permafrost soils are unique habitats in polar environment and are of great ecological relevance. The present study focuses on the characterization of bacterial communities from permafrost profiles of Svalbard, Arctic. Counts of culturable bacteria range from 1.50 × 10 3 to 2.22 × 10 5 CFU g -1 , total bacterial numbers range from 1.14 × 10 5 to 5.52 × 10 5 cells g -1 soil. Bacterial isolates are identified through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Arthrobacter and Pseudomonas are the most dominant genera, and A. sulfonivorans, A. bergeri, P. mandelii, and P. jessenii as the dominant species. Other species belong to genera Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Nesterenkonia, Psychrobacter, Rhizobium, Rhodococcus, Sphingobacterium, Sphingopyxis, Stenotrophomonas, and Virgibacillus. To the best of our knowledge, genera Acinetobacter, Enterobacter, Nesterenkonia, Psychrobacter, Rhizobium, Sphingobacterium, Sphingopyxis, Stenotrophomonas, and Virgibacillus are the first northernmost records from Arctic permafrost. The present study fills the knowledge gap of culturable bacterial communities and their chronological characterization from permafrost soils of Ny-Ålesund (79°N), Arctic. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Bacterial community survey of sediments at Naracoorte Caves, Australia

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Ball Andrew S.

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Bacterial diversity in sediments at UNESCO World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves was surveyed as part of an investigation carried out in a larger study on assessing microbial communities in caves. Cave selection was based on tourist accessibility; Stick Tomato and Alexandra Cave (> 15000 annual visits and Strawhaven Cave was used as control (no tourist access. Microbial analysis showed that Bacillus was the most commonly detected microbial genus by culture dependent and independent survey of tourist accessible and inaccessible areas of show (tourist accessible and control caves. Other detected sediment bacterial groups were assigned to the Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. The survey also showed differences in bacterial diversity in caves with human access compared to the control cave with the control cave having unique microbial sequences (Acinetobacter, Agromyces, Micrococcus and Streptomyces. The show caves had higher bacterial counts, different 16S rDNA based DGGE cluster patterns and principal component groupings compared to Strawhaven. Different factors such as human access, cave use and configurations could have been responsible for the differences observed in the bacterial community cluster patterns (tourist accessible and inaccessible areas of these caves. Cave sediments can therefore act as reservoirs of microorganisms. This might have some implications on cave conservation activities especially if these sediments harbor rock art degrading microorganisms in caves with rock art.

Biofilm bacterial communities in urban drinking water distribution systems transporting waters with different purification strategies.

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Wu, Huiting; Zhang, Jingxu; Mi, Zilong; Xie, Shuguang; Chen, Chao; Zhang, Xiaojian

2015-02-01

Biofilm formation in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) has many adverse consequences. Knowledge of microbial community structure of DWDS biofilm can aid in the design of an effective control strategy. However, biofilm bacterial community in real DWDS and the impact of drinking water purification strategy remain unclear. The present study investigated the composition and diversity of biofilm bacterial community in real DWDSs transporting waters with different purification strategies (conventional treatment and integrated treatment). High-throughput Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis illustrated a large shift in the diversity and structure of biofilm bacterial community in real DWDS. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Nitrospirae, and Cyanobacteria were the major components of biofilm bacterial community. Proteobacteria (mainly Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria) predominated in each DWDS biofilm, but the compositions of the dominant proteobacterial classes and genera and their proportions varied among biofilm samples. Drinking water purification strategy could shape DWDS biofilm bacterial community. Moreover, Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that Actinobacteria was positively correlated with the levels of total alkalinity and dissolved organic carbon in tap water, while Firmicutes had a significant positive correlation with nitrite nitrogen.

Impact of enzymatic digestion on bacterial community composition in CF airway samples.

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Williamson, Kayla M; Wagner, Brandie D; Robertson, Charles E; Johnson, Emily J; Zemanick, Edith T; Harris, J Kirk

2017-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of DNA extraction methods for molecular detection of Staphylococcus, an important bacterial group in cystic fibrosis (CF). We sought to evaluate the effect of enzymatic digestion (EnzD) prior to DNA extraction on bacterial communities identified in sputum and oropharyngeal swab (OP) samples from patients with CF. DNA from 81 samples (39 sputum and 42 OP) collected from 63 patients with CF was extracted in duplicate with and without EnzD. Bacterial communities were determined by rRNA gene sequencing, and measures of alpha and beta diversity were calculated. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was used to assess differences at the community level and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to compare relative abundance (RA) of individual genera for paired samples with and without EnzD. Shannon Diversity Index (alpha-diversity) decreased in sputum and OP samples with the use of EnzD. Larger shifts in community composition were observed for OP samples (beta-diversity, measured by Morisita-Horn), whereas less change in communities was observed for sputum samples. The use of EnzD with OP swabs resulted in significant increase in RA for the genera Gemella ( p  microbial community composition. We show that the application of EnzD to CF airway samples, particularly OP swabs, results in differences in microbial communities detected by sequencing. Use of EnzD can result in large changes in bacterial community composition, and is particularly useful for detection of Staphylococcus in CF OP samples. The enhanced identification of Staphylococcus aureus is a strong indication to utilize EnzD in studies that use OP swabs to monitor CF airway communities.

Quality of Irrigation Water Affects Soil Functionality and Bacterial Community Stability in Response to Heat Disturbance.

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Frenk, Sammy; Hadar, Yitzhak; Minz, Dror

2018-02-15

Anthropogenic activities alter the structure and function of a bacterial community. Furthermore, bacterial communities structured by the conditions the anthropogenic activities present may consequently reduce their stability in response to an unpredicted acute disturbance. The present mesocosm-scale study exposed soil bacterial communities to different irrigation water types, including freshwater, fertilized freshwater, treated wastewater, and artificial wastewater, and evaluated their response to a disturbance caused by heat. These effectors may be considered deterministic and stochastic forces common in agricultural operations of arid and semiarid regions. Bacterial communities under conditions of high mineral and organic carbon availability (artificial wastewater) differed from the native bacterial community and showed a proteobacterial dominance. These bacterial communities had a lower resistance to the heat treatment disturbance than soils under conditions of low resource availability (high-quality treated wastewater or freshwater). The latter soil bacterial communities showed a higher abundance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) classified as Bacilli These results were elucidated by soil under conditions of high resource availability, which lost higher degrees of functional potential and had a greater bacterial community composition change. However, the functional resilience, after the disturbance ended, was higher under a condition of high resource availability despite the bacterial community composition shift and the decrease in species richness. The functional resilience was directly connected to the high growth rates of certain Bacteroidetes and proteobacterial groups. A high stability was found in samples that supported the coexistence of both resistant OTUs and fast-growing OTUs. IMPORTANCE This report presents the results of a study employing a hypothesis-based experimental approach to reveal the forces involved in determining the stability of a

Bacterial Communities in Malagasy Soils with Differing Levels of Disturbance Affecting Botanical Diversity

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Blasiak, Leah C.; Schmidt, Alex W.; Andriamiarinoro, Honoré; Mulaw, Temesgen; Rasolomampianina, Rado; Applequist, Wendy L.; Birkinshaw, Chris; Rejo-Fienena, Félicitée; Lowry, Porter P.; Schmidt, Thomas M.; Hill, Russell T.

2014-01-01

Madagascar is well-known for the exceptional biodiversity of its macro-flora and fauna, but the biodiversity of Malagasy microbial communities remains relatively unexplored. Understanding patterns of bacterial diversity in soil and their correlations with above-ground botanical diversity could influence conservation planning as well as sampling strategies to maximize access to bacterially derived natural products. We present the first detailed description of Malagasy soil bacterial communities from a targeted 16S rRNA gene survey of greater than 290,000 sequences generated using 454 pyrosequencing. Two sampling plots in each of three forest conservation areas were established to represent different levels of disturbance resulting from human impact through agriculture and selective exploitation of trees, as well as from natural impacts of cyclones. In parallel, we performed an in-depth characterization of the total vascular plant morphospecies richness within each plot. The plots representing different levels of disturbance within each forest did not differ significantly in bacterial diversity or richness. Changes in bacterial community composition were largest between forests rather than between different levels of impact within a forest. The largest difference in bacterial community composition with disturbance was observed at the Vohibe forest conservation area, and this difference was correlated with changes in both vascular plant richness and soil pH. These results provide the first survey of Malagasy soil bacterial diversity and establish a baseline of botanical diversity within important conservation areas. PMID:24465484

High-Resolution Melt Analysis for Rapid Comparison of Bacterial Community Compositions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjelmsø, Mathis Hjort; Hansen, Lars Hestbjerg; Bælum, Jacob

2014-01-01

In the study of bacterial community composition, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing is today among the preferred methods of analysis. The cost of nucleotide sequence analysis, including requisite computational and bioinformatic steps, however, takes up a large part of many research budgets. High......-resolution melt (HRM) analysis is the study of the melt behavior of specific PCR products. Here we describe a novel high-throughput approach in which we used HRM analysis targeting the 16S rRNA gene to rapidly screen multiple complex samples for differences in bacterial community composition. We hypothesized...... that HRM analysis of amplified 16S rRNA genes from a soil ecosystem could be used as a screening tool to identify changes in bacterial community structure. This hypothesis was tested using a soil microcosm setup exposed to a total of six treatments representing different combinations of pesticide...

A Greenhouse Assay on the Effect of Applied Urea Amount on the Rhizospheric Soil Bacterial Communities.

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Shang, Shuanghua; Yi, Yanli

2015-12-01

The rhizospheric bacteria play key role in plant nutrition and growth promotion. The effects of increased nitrogen inputs on plant rhizospheric soils also have impacted on whole soil microbial communities. In this study, we analyzed the effects of applied nitrogen (urea) on rhizospheric bacterial composition and diversity in a greenhouse assay using the high-throughput sequencing technique. To explore the environmental factors driving the abundance, diversity and composition of soil bacterial communities, the relationship between soil variables and the bacterial communities were also analyzed using the mantel test as well as the redundancy analysis. The results revealed significant bacterial diversity changes at different amounts of applied urea, especially between the control treatment and the N fertilized treatments. Mantel tests showed that the bacterial communities were significantly correlated with the soil nitrate nitrogen, available nitrogen, soil pH, ammonium nitrogen and total organic carbon. The present study deepened the understanding about the rhizospheric soil microbial communities under different amounts of applied urea in greenhouse conditions, and our work revealed the environmental factors affecting the abundance, diversity and composition of rhizospheric bacterial communities.

Local Environmental Factors Drive Divergent Grassland Soil Bacterial Communities in the Western Swiss Alps.

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Yashiro, Erika; Pinto-Figueroa, Eric; Buri, Aline; Spangenberg, Jorge E; Adatte, Thierry; Niculita-Hirzel, Hélène; Guisan, Antoine; van der Meer, Jan Roelof

2016-11-01

Mountain ecosystems are characterized by a diverse range of climatic and topographic conditions over short distances and are known to shelter a high biodiversity. Despite important progress, still little is known on bacterial diversity in mountain areas. Here, we investigated soil bacterial biogeography at more than 100 sampling sites randomly stratified across a 700-km 2 area with 2,200-m elevation gradient in the western Swiss Alps. Bacterial grassland communities were highly diverse, with 12,741 total operational taxonomic units (OTUs) across 100 sites and an average of 2,918 OTUs per site. Bacterial community structure was correlated with local climatic, topographic, and soil physicochemical parameters with high statistical significance. We found pH (correlated with % CaO and % mineral carbon), hydrogen index (correlated with bulk gravimetric water content), and annual average number of frost days during the growing season to be among the groups of the most important environmental drivers of bacterial community structure. In contrast, bacterial community structure was only weakly stratified as a function of elevation. Contrasting patterns were discovered for individual bacterial taxa. Acidobacteria responded both positively and negatively to pH extremes. Various families within the Bacteroidetes responded to available phosphorus levels. Different verrucomicrobial groups responded to electrical conductivity, total organic carbon, water content, and mineral carbon contents. Alpine grassland bacterial communities are thus highly diverse, which is likely due to the large variety of different environmental conditions. These results shed new light on the biodiversity of mountain ecosystems, which were already identified as potentially fragile to anthropogenic influences and climate change. This article addresses the question of how microbial communities in alpine regions are dependent on local climatic and soil physicochemical variables. We benefit from a unique 700

Comparison of intestinal bacterial communities in grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, from two different habitats

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Ni, Jiajia; Yu, Yuhe; Zhang, Tanglin; Gao, Lei

2012-09-01

The intestinal bacteria of vertebrates form a close relationship with their host. External and internal conditions of the host, including its habitat, affect the intestinal bacterial community. Similarly, the intestinal bacterial community can, in turn, influence the host, particularly with respect to disease resistance. We compared the intestinal bacterial communities of grass carp that were collected from farm-ponds or a lake. We conducted denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of amplified 16S rRNA genes, from which 66 different operational taxonomic units were identified. Using both the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means clustering and principal component analysis ordination, we found that the intestinal bacterial communities from the two groups of pond fish were clustered together and inset into the clusters of wild fish, except for DF-7, and there was no significant correlation between genetic diversity of grass carp and their intestinal bacterial communities (Mantel one-tailed test, R=0.157, P=0.175). Cetobacterium appeared more frequently in the intestine of grass carp collected from pond. A more thorough understanding of the role played by intestinal microbiota on fish health would be of considerable benefit to the aquaculture industry.

The Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Funneliformis mosseae Alters Bacterial Communities in Subtropical Forest Soils during Litter Decomposition

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Heng Gui

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Bacterial communities and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF co-occur in the soil, however, the interaction between these two groups during litter decomposition remains largely unexplored. In order to investigate the effect of AMF on soil bacterial communities, we designed dual compartment microcosms, where AMF (Funneliformis mosseae was allowed access (AM to, or excluded (NM from, a compartment containing forest soil and litterbags. Soil samples from this compartment were analyzed at 0, 90, 120, 150, and 180 days. For each sample, Illumina sequencing was used to assess any changes in the soil bacterial communities. We found that most of the obtained operational taxonomic units (OTUs from both treatments belonged to the phylum of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria. The community composition of bacteria at phylum and class levels was slightly influenced by both time and AMF. In addition, time and AMF significantly affected bacterial genera (e.g., Candidatus Solibacter, Dyella, Phenylobacterium involved in litter decomposition. Opposite to the bacterial community composition, we found that overall soil bacterial OTU richness and diversity are relatively stable and were not significantly influenced by either time or AMF inoculation. OTU richness at phylum and class levels also showed consistent results with overall bacterial OTU richness. Our study provides new insight into the influence of AMF on soil bacterial communities at the genus level.

Safe-Site Effects on Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities in a High-Altitude Alpine Environment

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Sonia Ciccazzo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The rhizosphere effect on bacterial communities associated with three floristic communities (RW, FI, and M sites which differed for the developmental stages was studied in a high-altitude alpine ecosystem. RW site was an early developmental stage, FI was an intermediate stage, M was a later more matured stage. The N and C contents in the soils confirmed a different developmental stage with a kind of gradient from the unvegetated bare soil (BS site through RW, FI up to M site. The floristic communities were composed of 21 pioneer plants belonging to 14 species. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis showed different bacterial genetic structures per each floristic consortium which differed also from the BS site. When plants of the same species occurred within the same site, almost all their bacterial communities clustered together exhibiting a plant species effect. Unifrac significance value (P<0.05 on 16S rRNA gene diversity revealed significant differences (P<0.05 between BS site and the vegetated sites with a weak similarity to the RW site. The intermediate plant colonization stage FI did not differ significantly from the RW and the M vegetated sites. These results pointed out the effect of different floristic communities rhizospheres on their soil bacterial communities.

Microbial activity and bacterial community structure during degradation of microcystins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, K.; Lyck, Susanne; Winding, A.

2002-01-01

experiments were analysed by polymerase chain reaction-density gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) of 16S rDNA, which showed that the indigenous bacterial community responded quickly to the addition of lysates. Our study confirms that bacteria can efficiently degrade microcystins in natural waters....... It was hypothesised that the bacterial community from a lake with frequent occurrence of toxic cyanobacteria can degrade microcystin along with other organic compounds. The initial dissolved microcystin concentrations ranged between 10 and 136 mug 1(-1) (microcystin-LR equivalents) in the laboratory experiment, using...... experiment to evaluate the effects of organic lysates on bacterial proliferation in the absence of microcystin. An exponential decline of the dissolved toxins was observed in all cases with toxins present, and the degradation rates ranged between 0.5 and 1.0 d(-1). No lag phases were observed but slow...

Phylogenetic Analysis of Bacterial Communities in Different Regions of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Agkistrodon piscivorus, the Cottonmouth Snake.

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Timothy J Colston

Full Text Available Vertebrates are metagenomic organisms in that they are composed not only of their own genes but also those of their associated microbial cells. The majority of these associated microorganisms are found in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT and presumably assist in processes such as energy and nutrient acquisition. Few studies have investigated the associated gut bacterial communities of non-mammalian vertebrates, and most rely on captive animals and/or fecal samples only. Here we investigate the gut bacterial community composition of a squamate reptile, the cottonmouth snake, Agkistrodon piscivorus through pyrosequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. We characterize the bacterial communities present in the small intestine, large intestine and cloaca. Many bacterial lineages present have been reported by other vertebrate gut community studies, but we also recovered unexpected bacteria that may be unique to squamate gut communities. Bacterial communities were not phylogenetically clustered according to GIT region, but there were statistically significant differences in community composition between regions. Additionally we demonstrate the utility of using cloacal swabs as a method for sampling snake gut bacterial communities.

Linking the Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities to Characteristics of Soil and Flora Composition in the Atlantic Rainforest

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Lima-Perim, Julia Elidia; Romagnoli, Emiliana Manesco; Dini-Andreote, Francisco; Durrer, Ademir; Dias, Armando Cavalcante Franco; Andreote, Fernando Dini

2016-01-01

The description of microbiomes as intrinsic fractions of any given ecosystem is an important issue, for instance, by linking their compositions and functions with other biotic and abiotic components of natural systems and hosts. Here we describe the archaeal and bacterial communities from soils of the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. Based on the comparison of three areas located along an altitudinal gradient—namely, Santa Virginia, Picinguaba and Restinga—we detected the most abundant groups of Bacteria (Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria) and Archaea (Thaumarchaeota, Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota). The particular composition of such communities in each of these areas was first evidenced by PCR-DGGE patterns [determined for Bacteria, Archaea and ammonia-oxidizing organisms—ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB)]. Moreover, sequence-based analysis provided a better resolution of communities, which indicated distinct frequencies of archaeal phyla and bacterial OTUs across areas. We found, as indicated by the Mantel test and multivariate analyses, a potential effect of the flora composition that outpaces the effect of soil characteristics (either physical and chemical) influencing the assembly of these microbial communities in soils. Our results indicate a collective role of the ecosystem underlying observed differences in microbial communities in these soils. Particularly, we posit that rainforest preservation also needs to take into account the maintenance of the soil biodiversity, as this is prompted to influence major processes that affect ecosystem functioning. PMID:26752633

Linking the Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities to Characteristics of Soil and Flora Composition in the Atlantic Rainforest.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima-Perim, Julia Elidia; Romagnoli, Emiliana Manesco; Dini-Andreote, Francisco; Durrer, Ademir; Dias, Armando Cavalcante Franco; Andreote, Fernando Dini

2016-01-01

The description of microbiomes as intrinsic fractions of any given ecosystem is an important issue, for instance, by linking their compositions and functions with other biotic and abiotic components of natural systems and hosts. Here we describe the archaeal and bacterial communities from soils of the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. Based on the comparison of three areas located along an altitudinal gradient-namely, Santa Virginia, Picinguaba and Restinga-we detected the most abundant groups of Bacteria (Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria) and Archaea (Thaumarchaeota, Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota). The particular composition of such communities in each of these areas was first evidenced by PCR-DGGE patterns [determined for Bacteria, Archaea and ammonia-oxidizing organisms-ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB)]. Moreover, sequence-based analysis provided a better resolution of communities, which indicated distinct frequencies of archaeal phyla and bacterial OTUs across areas. We found, as indicated by the Mantel test and multivariate analyses, a potential effect of the flora composition that outpaces the effect of soil characteristics (either physical and chemical) influencing the assembly of these microbial communities in soils. Our results indicate a collective role of the ecosystem underlying observed differences in microbial communities in these soils. Particularly, we posit that rainforest preservation also needs to take into account the maintenance of the soil biodiversity, as this is prompted to influence major processes that affect ecosystem functioning.

Hydrocephalus in adults with community-acquired bacterial meningitis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Soemirien Kasanmoentalib, E.; Brouwer, Matthijs C.; van der Ende, Arie; van de Beek, Diederik

2010-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence, treatment, and outcome of hydrocephalus complicating community-acquired bacterial meningitis in adults. Methods: Case series from a prospective nationwide cohort study from Dutch hospitals from 2006 to 2009. Results: Hydrocephalus was diagnosed in 26 of 577

Bacterial community in Haemaphysalis ticks of domesticated animals from the Orang Asli communities in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Khoo, Jing-Jing; Chen, Fezshin; Kho, Kai Ling; Ahmad Shanizza, Azzy Iyzati; Lim, Fang-Shiang; Tan, Kim-Kee; Chang, Li-Yen; AbuBakar, Sazaly

2016-07-01

Ticks are vectors in the transmission of many important infectious diseases in human and animals. Ticks can be readily found in the semi-forested areas such as the settlements of the indigenous people in Malaysia, the Orang Asli. There is still minimal information available on the bacterial agents associated with ticks found in Malaysia. We performed a survey of the bacterial communities associated with ticks collected from domestic animals found in two Orang Asli villages in Malaysia. We collected 62 ticks, microscopically and molecularly identified as related to Haemaphysalis wellingtoni, Haemaphysalis hystricis and Haemaphysalis bispinosa. Bacterial 16s rRNA hypervariable region (V6) amplicon libraries prepared from the tick samples were sequenced on the Ion Torrent PGM platform. We detected a total of 392 possible bacterial genera after pooling and sequencing 20 samples, indicating a diverse bacterial community profile. Dominant taxa include the potential tick endosymbiont, Coxiella. Other dominant taxa include the tick-associated pathogen, Rickettsia, and environmental bacteria such as Bacillus, Mycobacterium, Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas. Other known tick-associated bacteria were also detected, including Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsiella and Wolbachia, albeit at very low abundance. Specific PCR was performed on selected samples to identify Rickettsia and Coxiella. Sequence of Rickettsia felis, which causes spotted fever in human and cats, was identified in one sample. Coxiella endosymbionts were detected in three samples. This study provides the baseline knowledge of the microbiome of ticks in Malaysia, focusing on tick-associated bacteria affecting the Orang Asli communities. The role of the herein found Coxiella and Rickettsia in tick physiology or disease transmission merits further investigation. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.

Bacterial Isolates andAntibiotic Sensitivity in Community Acquired ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The objective of the studywas to determine bacterial causes of community acquired pneumonia and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern amongst patients admitted intomedicalwards inAminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria Methods: The study incorporated patients aged fifteen years and above admitted into ...

Competition and habitat filtering jointly explain phylogenetic structure of soil bacterial communities across elevational gradients.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qian; Goberna, Marta; Liu, Yuguo; Cui, Ming; Yang, Haishui; Sun, Qixiang; Insam, Heribert; Zhou, Jinxing

2018-04-24

The importance of assembly processes in shaping biological communities is poorly understood, especially for microbes. Here we report on the forces that structure soil bacterial communities along a 2000 m elevational gradient. We characterized the relative importance of habitat filtering and competition on phylogenetic structure and turnover in bacterial communities. Bacterial communities exhibited a phylogenetically clustered pattern and were more clustered with increasing elevation. Biotic factors (i.e. relative abundance of dominant bacterial lineages) appeared to be most important to the degree of clustering, evidencing the role of the competitive ability of entire clades in shaping the communities. Phylogenetic turnover showed the greatest correlation to elevation. After controlling for elevation, biotic factors showed greater correlation to phylogenetic turnover than all the habitat variables (i.e. climate, soil and vegetation). Structural equation modelling also identified that elevation and soil organic matter exerted indirect effects on phylogenetic diversity and turnover by determining the dominance of microbial competitors. Our results suggest that competition among bacterial taxa induced by soil carbon contributes to the phylogenetic pattern across elevational gradient in the Tibetan Plateau. This highlights the importance of considering not only abiotic filtering but also biotic interactions in soil bacterial communities across stressful elevational gradients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure in Korean Ginseng Field Soil Are Shifted by Cultivation Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Ngoc-Lan; Kim, Yeon-Ju; Hoang, Van-An; Subramaniyam, Sathiyamoorthy; Kang, Jong-Pyo; Kang, Chang Ho; Yang, Deok-Chun

2016-01-01

Traditional molecular methods have been used to examine bacterial communities in ginseng-cultivated soil samples in a time-dependent manner. Despite these efforts, our understanding of the bacterial community is still inadequate. Therefore, in this study, a high-throughput sequencing approach was employed to investigate bacterial diversity in various ginseng field soil samples over cultivation times of 2, 4, and 6 years in the first and second rounds of cultivation. We used non-cultivated soil samples to perform a comparative study. Moreover, this study assessed changes in the bacterial community associated with soil depth and the health state of the ginseng. Bacterial richness decreased through years of cultivation. This study detected differences in relative abundance of bacterial populations between the first and second rounds of cultivation, years of cultivation, and health states of ginseng. These bacterial populations were mainly distributed in the classes Acidobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Sphingobacteria. In addition, we found that pH, available phosphorus, and exchangeable Ca+ seemed to have high correlations with bacterial class in ginseng cultivated soil.

Carbon nanomaterials alter plant physiology and soil bacterial community composition in a rice-soil-bacterial ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Yi; Ma, Chuanxin; Zhang, Zetian; Song, Youhong; Cao, Weidong; Guo, Jing; Zhou, Guopeng; Rui, Yukui; Liu, Liming; Xing, Baoshan

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare the toxicity effects of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), namely fullerene (C 60 ), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), on a mini-ecosystem of rice grown in a loamy potted soil. We measured plant physiological and biochemical parameters and examined bacterial community composition in the CNMs-treated plant-soil system. After 30 days of exposure, all the three CNMs negatively affected the shoot height and root length of rice, significantly decreased root cortical cells diameter and resulted in shrinkage and deformation of cells, regardless of exposure doses (50 or 500 mg/kg). Additionally, at the high exposure dose of CNM, the concentrations of four phytohormones, including auxin, indoleacetic acid, brassinosteroid and gibberellin acid 4 in rice roots significantly increased as compared to the control. At the high exposure dose of MWCNTs and C 60 , activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) in roots increased significantly. High-throughput sequencing showed that three typical CNMs had little effect on shifting the predominant soil bacterial species, but the presence of CNMs significantly altered the composition of the bacterial community. Our results indicate that different CNMs indeed resulted in environmental toxicity to rice and soil bacterial community in the rhizosphere and suggest that CNMs themselves and their incorporated products should be reasonably used to control their release/discharge into the environment to prevent their toxic effects on living organisms and the potential risks to food safety. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of antibiotics on associated bacterial community of stored product mites.

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Jan Kopecky

Full Text Available Bacteria are associated with the gut, fat bodies and reproductive organs of stored product mites (Acari: Astigmata. The mites are pests due to the production of allergens. Addition of antibiotics to diets can help to characterize the association between mites and bacteria.Ampicillin, neomycin and streptomycin were added to the diets of mites and the effects on mite population growth (Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus putrescentiae and associated bacterial community structure were assessed. Mites were treated by antibiotic supplementation (1 mg g(-1 of diet for 21 days and numbers of mites and bacterial communities were analyzed and compared to the untreated control. Bacterial quantities, determined by real-time PCR, significantly decreased in antibiotic treated specimens from 5 to 30 times in A. siro and T. putrescentiae, while no decline was observed in L. destructor. Streptomycin treatment eliminated Bartonella-like bacteria in the both A. siro and T. putrescentiae and Cardinium in T. putrescentiae. Solitalea-like bacteria proportion increased in the communities of neomycin and streptomycin treated A. siro specimens. Kocuria proportion increased in the bacterial communities of ampicillin and streptomycin treated A. siro and neomycin and streptomycin treated L. destructor.The work demonstrated the changes of mite associated bacterial community under antibiotic pressure in pests of medical importance. Pre-treatment of mites by 1 mg g(-1 antibiotic diets improved mite fitness as indicated accelerated population growth of A. siro pretreated streptomycin and neomycin and L. destructor pretreated by neomycin. All tested antibiotics supplemented to diets caused the decrease of mite growth rate in comparison to the control diet.

Organic carbon and nitrogen availability determine bacterial community composition in paddy fields of the Indo-Gangetic plain.

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Kumar, Arvind; Rai, Lal Chand

2017-07-01

Soil quality is an important factor and maintained by inhabited microorganisms. Soil physicochemical characteristics determine indigenous microbial population and rice provides food security to major population of the world. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of physicochemical variables on bacterial community composition and diversity in conventional paddy fields which could reflect a real picture of the bacterial communities operating in the paddy agro-ecosystem. To fulfill the objective; soil physicochemical characterization, bacterial community composition and diversity analysis was carried out using culture-independent PCR-DGGE method from twenty soils distributed across eight districts. Bacterial communities were grouped into three clusters based on UPGMA cluster analysis of DGGE banding pattern. The linkage of measured physicochemical variables with bacterial community composition was analyzed by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). CCA ordination biplot results were similar to UPGMA cluster analysis. High levels of species-environment correlations (0.989 and 0.959) were observed and the largest proportion of species data variability was explained by total organic carbon (TOC), available nitrogen, total nitrogen and pH. Thus, results suggest that TOC and nitrogen are key regulators of bacterial community composition in the conventional paddy fields. Further, high diversity indices and evenness values demonstrated heterogeneity and co-abundance of the bacterial communities.

Comparison of bacterial and fungal communities between natural and planted pine forests in subtropical China.

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Nie, Ming; Meng, Han; Li, Ke; Wan, Jia-Rong; Quan, Zhe-Xue; Fang, Chang-Ming; Chen, Jia-Kuan; Li, Bo

2012-01-01

To improve our understanding of the changes in bacterial and fungal diversity in natural pine and planted forests in subtropical region of China, we examined bacterial and fungal communities from a native and a nearby planted pine forest of the Mt. Lushan by constructing clone libraries of 16S and 18S rRNA genes. For bacterial communities, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were dominant bacterial taxa in both two types of forest soils. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index, rarefaction curve analysis, and LibShuff analysis suggest that these two forests contained similar diversity of bacterial communities. Low soil acidity (pH ≈ 4) of our study forests might be one of the most important selection factors determining growth of acidophilic Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria. However, the natural forest harbored greater level of fungal diversity than the planted forest according to the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and rarefaction curve analysis. Basidiomycota and Ascomycota were dominant fungal taxa in the soils of natural and planted forests, respectively. Our results suggest that fungal community was more sensitive than the bacterial community in characterizing the differences in plant cover impacts on the microbial flora in the natural and planted forests. The natural and planted forests may function differently due to the differences in soil fungal diversity and relative abundance.

Exploring the plant-associated bacterial communities in Medicago sativa L

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Pini Francesco

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Plant-associated bacterial communities caught the attention of several investigators which study the relationships between plants and soil and the potential application of selected bacterial species in crop improvement and protection. Medicago sativa L. is a legume crop of high economic importance as forage in temperate areas and one of the most popular model plants for investigations on the symbiosis with nitrogen fixing rhizobia (mainly belonging to the alphaproteobacterial species Sinorhizobium meliloti. However, despite its importance, no studies have been carried out looking at the total bacterial community associated with the plant. In this work we explored for the first time the total bacterial community associated with M. sativa plants grown in mesocosms conditions, looking at a wide taxonomic spectrum, from the class to the single species (S. meliloti level. Results Results, obtained by using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP analysis, quantitative PCR and sequencing of 16 S rRNA gene libraries, showed a high taxonomic diversity as well as a dominance by members of the class Alphaproteobacteria in plant tissues. Within Alphaproteobacteria the families Sphingomonadaceae and Methylobacteriaceae were abundant inside plant tissues, while soil Alphaproteobacteria were represented by the families of Hyphomicrobiaceae, Methylocystaceae, Bradyirhizobiaceae and Caulobacteraceae. At the single species level, we were able to detect the presence of S. meliloti populations in aerial tissues, nodules and soil. An analysis of population diversity on nodules and soil showed a relatively low sharing of haplotypes (30-40% between the two environments and between replicate mesocosms, suggesting drift as main force shaping S. meliloti population at least in this system. Conclusions In this work we shed some light on the bacterial communities associated with M. sativa plants, showing that Alphaproteobacteria may

Bacterial, Archaeal, and Eukaryotic Diversity across Distinct Microhabitats in an Acid Mine Drainage

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Mesa, Victoria; Gallego, Jose L. R.; González-Gil, Ricardo; Lauga, Béatrice; Sánchez, Jesús; Méndez-García, Celia; Peláez, Ana I.

2017-01-01

Acid mine drainages are characterized by their low pH and the presence of dissolved toxic metallic species. Microorganisms survive in different microhabitats within the ecosystem, namely water, sediments, and biofilms. In this report, we surveyed the microbial diversity within all domains of life in the different microhabitats at Los Rueldos abandoned mercury underground mine (NW Spain), and predicted bacterial function based on community composition. Sediment samples contained higher proportions of soil bacteria (AD3, Acidobacteria), as well as Crenarchaeota and Methanomassiliicoccaceae archaea. Oxic and hypoxic biofilm samples were enriched in bacterial iron oxidizers from the genus Leptospirillum, order Acidithiobacillales, class Betaproteobacteria, and archaea from the class Thermoplasmata. Water samples were enriched in Cyanobacteria and Thermoplasmata archaea at a 3–98% of the sunlight influence, whilst Betaproteobacteria, Thermoplasmata archaea, and Micrarchaea dominated in acid water collected in total darkness. Stalactites hanging from the Fe-rich mine ceiling were dominated by the neutrophilic iron oxidizer Gallionella and other lineages that were absent in the rest of the microhabitats (e.g., Chlorobi, Chloroflexi). Eukaryotes were detected in biofilms and open-air water samples, and belonged mainly to clades SAR (Alveolata and Stramenopiles), and Opisthokonta (Fungi). Oxic and hypoxic biofilms displayed higher proportions of ciliates (Gonostomum, Oxytricha), whereas water samples were enriched in fungi (Paramicrosporidium and unknown microbial Helotiales). Predicted function through bacterial community composition suggested adaptive evolutive convergence of function in heterogeneous communities. Our study showcases a broad description of the microbial diversity across different microhabitats in the same environment and expands the knowledge on the diversity of microbial eukaryotes in AMD habitats. PMID:28955322

Bacterial, Archaeal, and Eukaryotic Diversity across Distinct Microhabitats in an Acid Mine Drainage

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Victoria Mesa

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Acid mine drainages are characterized by their low pH and the presence of dissolved toxic metallic species. Microorganisms survive in different microhabitats within the ecosystem, namely water, sediments, and biofilms. In this report, we surveyed the microbial diversity within all domains of life in the different microhabitats at Los Rueldos abandoned mercury underground mine (NW Spain, and predicted bacterial function based on community composition. Sediment samples contained higher proportions of soil bacteria (AD3, Acidobacteria, as well as Crenarchaeota and Methanomassiliicoccaceae archaea. Oxic and hypoxic biofilm samples were enriched in bacterial iron oxidizers from the genus Leptospirillum, order Acidithiobacillales, class Betaproteobacteria, and archaea from the class Thermoplasmata. Water samples were enriched in Cyanobacteria and Thermoplasmata archaea at a 3–98% of the sunlight influence, whilst Betaproteobacteria, Thermoplasmata archaea, and Micrarchaea dominated in acid water collected in total darkness. Stalactites hanging from the Fe-rich mine ceiling were dominated by the neutrophilic iron oxidizer Gallionella and other lineages that were absent in the rest of the microhabitats (e.g., Chlorobi, Chloroflexi. Eukaryotes were detected in biofilms and open-air water samples, and belonged mainly to clades SAR (Alveolata and Stramenopiles, and Opisthokonta (Fungi. Oxic and hypoxic biofilms displayed higher proportions of ciliates (Gonostomum, Oxytricha, whereas water samples were enriched in fungi (Paramicrosporidium and unknown microbial Helotiales. Predicted function through bacterial community composition suggested adaptive evolutive convergence of function in heterogeneous communities. Our study showcases a broad description of the microbial diversity across different microhabitats in the same environment and expands the knowledge on the diversity of microbial eukaryotes in AMD habitats.

Bacterial Communities of Diverse Drosophila Species: Ecological Context of a Host–Microbe Model System

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Bhatnagar, Srijak; Eisen, Jonathan A.; Kopp, Artyom

2011-01-01

Drosophila melanogaster is emerging as an important model of non-pathogenic host–microbe interactions. The genetic and experimental tractability of Drosophila has led to significant gains in our understanding of animal–microbial symbiosis. However, the full implications of these results cannot be appreciated without the knowledge of the microbial communities associated with natural Drosophila populations. In particular, it is not clear whether laboratory cultures can serve as an accurate model of host–microbe interactions that occur in the wild, or those that have occurred over evolutionary time. To fill this gap, we characterized natural bacterial communities associated with 14 species of Drosophila and related genera collected from distant geographic locations. To represent the ecological diversity of Drosophilids, examined species included fruit-, flower-, mushroom-, and cactus-feeders. In parallel, wild host populations were compared to laboratory strains, and controlled experiments were performed to assess the importance of host species and diet in shaping bacterial microbiome composition. We find that Drosophilid flies have taxonomically restricted bacterial communities, with 85% of the natural bacterial microbiome composed of only four bacterial families. The dominant bacterial taxa are widespread and found in many different host species despite the taxonomic, ecological, and geographic diversity of their hosts. Both natural surveys and laboratory experiments indicate that host diet plays a major role in shaping the Drosophila bacterial microbiome. Despite this, the internal bacterial microbiome represents only a highly reduced subset of the external bacterial communities, suggesting that the host exercises some level of control over the bacteria that inhabit its digestive tract. Finally, we show that laboratory strains provide only a limited model of natural host–microbe interactions. Bacterial taxa used in experimental studies are rare or absent in

Differentiation of bacterial and non-bacterial community-acquired pneumonia by thin-section computed tomography

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Ito, Isao [Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kurashiki Central Hospital, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki 710-8602 (Japan); Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan)], E-mail: isaoito@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Ishida, Tadashi [Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kurashiki Central Hospital, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki 710-8602 (Japan)], E-mail: ishidat@kchnet.or.jp; Togashi, Kaori [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan)], E-mail: ktogashi@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Niimi, Akio [Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan)], E-mail: niimi@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Koyama, Hiroshi [General Internal Medicine, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, 1-1 Fukakusa-Mukohatacho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-8555 (Japan)], E-mail: hkoyama-kyt@umin.ac.jp; Ishimori, Takayoshi [Department of Radiology, Kurashiki Central Hospital, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki 710-8602 (Japan)], E-mail: ti10794@kchnet.or.jp; Kobayashi, Hisataka [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan); Molecular Imaging Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 1B40, MSC1088, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1088 (United States)], E-mail: kobayash@mail.nih.gov; Mishima, Michiaki [Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-kawaharacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan)], E-mail: mishima@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2009-12-15

Background and objective: The management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) depends, in part, on the identification of the causative agents. The objective of this study was to determine the potential of thin-section computed tomography (CT) in differentiating bacterial and non-bacterial pneumonia. Patients and methods: Thin-section CT studies were prospectively examined in hospitalized CAP patients within 2 days of admission, followed by retrospective assessment by two pulmonary radiologists. Thin-section CT findings on the pneumonias caused by each pathogen were examined, and two types of pneumonias were compared. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were produced. Results: Among 183 CAP episodes (181 patients, 125 men and 56 women, mean age {+-} S.D.: 61.1 {+-} 19.7) examined by thin-section CT, the etiologies of 125 were confirmed (94 bacterial pneumonia and 31 non-bacterial pneumonia). Centrilobular nodules were specific for non-bacterial pneumonia and airspace nodules were specific for bacterial pneumonia (specificities of 89% and 94%, respectively) when located in the outer lung areas. When centrilobular nodules were the principal finding, they were specific but lacked sensitivity for non-bacterial pneumonia (specificity 98% and sensitivity 23%). To distinguish the two types of pneumonias, centrilobular nodules, airspace nodules and lobular shadows were found to be important by multivariate analyses. ROC curve analysis discriminated bacterial pneumonia from non-bacterial pneumonia among patients without underlying lung diseases, yielding an optimal point with sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 79%, respectively, but was less effective when all patients were analyzed together (70% and 84%, respectively). Conclusion: Thin-section CT examination was applied for the differentiation of bacterial and non-bacterial pneumonias. Though showing some potential, this examination at the present time would

Differentiation of bacterial and non-bacterial community-acquired pneumonia by thin-section computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Isao; Ishida, Tadashi; Togashi, Kaori; Niimi, Akio; Koyama, Hiroshi; Ishimori, Takayoshi; Kobayashi, Hisataka; Mishima, Michiaki

2009-01-01

Background and objective: The management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) depends, in part, on the identification of the causative agents. The objective of this study was to determine the potential of thin-section computed tomography (CT) in differentiating bacterial and non-bacterial pneumonia. Patients and methods: Thin-section CT studies were prospectively examined in hospitalized CAP patients within 2 days of admission, followed by retrospective assessment by two pulmonary radiologists. Thin-section CT findings on the pneumonias caused by each pathogen were examined, and two types of pneumonias were compared. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were produced. Results: Among 183 CAP episodes (181 patients, 125 men and 56 women, mean age ± S.D.: 61.1 ± 19.7) examined by thin-section CT, the etiologies of 125 were confirmed (94 bacterial pneumonia and 31 non-bacterial pneumonia). Centrilobular nodules were specific for non-bacterial pneumonia and airspace nodules were specific for bacterial pneumonia (specificities of 89% and 94%, respectively) when located in the outer lung areas. When centrilobular nodules were the principal finding, they were specific but lacked sensitivity for non-bacterial pneumonia (specificity 98% and sensitivity 23%). To distinguish the two types of pneumonias, centrilobular nodules, airspace nodules and lobular shadows were found to be important by multivariate analyses. ROC curve analysis discriminated bacterial pneumonia from non-bacterial pneumonia among patients without underlying lung diseases, yielding an optimal point with sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 79%, respectively, but was less effective when all patients were analyzed together (70% and 84%, respectively). Conclusion: Thin-section CT examination was applied for the differentiation of bacterial and non-bacterial pneumonias. Though showing some potential, this examination at the present time would not

Evolution of bacterial communities in the Gironde Estuary (France) according to a salinity gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Prieur, D.; Troussellier, M.; Romana, A.; Chamroux, S.; Mevel, G.; Baleux, B.

1987-01-01

Three surveys were performed in the Gironde Estuary (France) in August 1981, March 1982 and July 1982. For each campaign, seventy samples were taken by helicopter, in order to follow the tide along the estuary. Of the parameters that were studied, salinity appeared to be the most important and which controls the bacterial communities along the estuary. This paper deals with the evolution of bacterial communities along a salinity gradient. The information obtained from various bacteriological parameters (total bacterial counts, viable counts on salted and unsalted media, functional evenness) were convergent. The bacterial community is dominated by an halotolerant microflora. In the estuary, a continental microflora is followed by a marine microflora. The succession zone between these two microflora is located between 5 and 10‰ areas of salinity.

Inter- and Intraspecific Variations of Bacterial Communities Associated with Marine Sponges from San Juan Island, Washington

KAUST Repository

Lee, O. O.

2009-04-10

This study attempted to assess whether conspecific or congeneric sponges around San Juan Island, Washington, harbor specific bacterial communities. We used a combination of culture-independent DNA fingerprinting techniques (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) and culture-dependent approaches. The results indicated that the bacterial communities in the water column consisted of more diverse bacterial ribotypes than and were drastically different from those associated with the sponges. High levels of similarity in sponge-associated bacterial communities were found only in Myxilla incrustans and Haliclona rufescens, while the bacterial communities in Halichondria panicea varied substantially among sites. Certain terminal restriction fragments or DGGE bands were consistently obtained for different individuals of M. incrustans and H. rufescens collected from different sites, suggesting that there are stable or even specific associations of certain bacteria in these two sponges. However, no specific bacterial associations were found for H. panicea or for any one sponge genus. Sequencing of nine DGGE bands resulted in recovery of seven sequences that best matched the sequences of uncultured Proteobacteria. Three of these sequences fell into the sponge-specific sequence clusters previously suggested. An uncultured alphaproteobacterium and a culturable Bacillus sp. were found exclusively in all M. incrustans sponges, while an uncultured gammaproteobacterium was unique to H. rufescens. In contrast, the cultivation approach indicated that sponges contained a large proportion of Firmicutes, especially Bacillus, and revealed large variations in the culturable bacterial communities associated with congeneric and conspecific sponges. This study revealed sponge species-specific but not genus- or site-specific associations between sponges and bacterial communities and emphasized the importance of using a combination

Archaeal and Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surface Mucus of Caribbean Corals Differ in Their Degree of Host Specificity and Community Turnover Over Reefs.

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Frade, Pedro R; Roll, Katharina; Bergauer, Kristin; Herndl, Gerhard J

2016-01-01

Comparative studies on the distribution of archaeal versus bacterial communities associated with the surface mucus layer of corals have rarely taken place. It has therefore remained enigmatic whether mucus-associated archaeal and bacterial communities exhibit a similar specificity towards coral hosts and whether they vary in the same fashion over spatial gradients and between reef locations. We used microbial community profiling (terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism, T-RFLP) and clone library sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to compare the diversity and community structure of dominant archaeal and bacterial communities associating with the mucus of three common reef-building coral species (Porites astreoides, Siderastrea siderea and Orbicella annularis) over different spatial scales on a Caribbean fringing reef. Sampling locations included three reef sites, three reef patches within each site and two depths. Reference sediment samples and ambient water were also taken for each of the 18 sampling locations resulting in a total of 239 samples. While only 41% of the bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) characterized by T-RFLP were shared between mucus and the ambient water or sediment, for archaeal OTUs this percentage was 2-fold higher (78%). About half of the mucus-associated OTUs (44% and 58% of bacterial and archaeal OTUs, respectively) were shared between the three coral species. Our multivariate statistical analysis (ANOSIM, PERMANOVA and CCA) showed that while the bacterial community composition was determined by habitat (mucus, sediment or seawater), host coral species, location and spatial distance, the archaeal community composition was solely determined by the habitat. This study highlights that mucus-associated archaeal and bacterial communities differ in their degree of community turnover over reefs and in their host-specificity.

Field-based evidence for consistent responses of bacterial communities to copper contamination in two contrasting agricultural soils

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Jing eLi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Copper contamination on China’s arable land could pose severe economic, ecological and healthy consequences in the coming decades. As the drivers in maintaining ecosystem functioning, the responses of soil microorganisms to long-term copper contamination in different soil ecosystems are still debated. This study investigated the impacts of copper gradients on soil bacterial communities in two agricultural fields with contrasting soil properties. Our results revealed consistent reduction in soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC with increasing copper levels in both soils, coupled by significant declines in bacterial abundance in most cases. Despite of contrasting bacterial community structures between the two soils, the bacterial diversity in the copper-contaminated soils showed considerably decreasing patterns when copper levels elevated. High-throughput sequencing revealed copper selection for major bacterial guilds, in particular, Actinobacteria showed tolerance, while Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi were highly sensitive to copper. The thresholds that bacterial communities changed sharply were 800 and 200 added copper mg kg-1 in the fluvo-aquic soil and red soil, respectively, which were similar to the toxicity thresholds (EC50 values characterized by SMBC. Structural equation model (SEM analysis ascertained that the shifts of bacterial community composition and diversity were closely related with the changes of SMBC in both soils. Our results provide field-based evidence that copper contamination exhibits consistently negative impacts on soil bacterial communities, and the shifts of bacterial communities could have largely determined the variations of the microbial biomass.

Temporal distribution of bacterial community structure in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and the adjacent East China Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Min; Huang Huiqin; Bao Shixiang; Xiao Tian; Zhang Wuchang; Wu Ying; Zhou Feng

2012-01-01

Bacterial community structure and the effects of environmental factors on the microbial community distribution were investigated in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and its adjacent area in the East China Sea (ECS) in June, August and October, 2006. Profiles of bacterial communities were generated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA genes followed by DNA sequence analysis. The dominant bacterial groups were affiliated to Gammaproteobacteria, Cytophaga–Flavobacteria–Bacteroides (CFB), Deltaproteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Firmicutes, which were mostly from the marine seawater ecosystem. Effects of environmental factors on the bacterial community distribution were analyzed by the ordination technique of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The environmental factors significantly influencing bacterial community structure were different in the three months; dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and temperature in June and nitrite in August. No environmental variables displayed significant influence on the bacterial community at the 5% level in October. The seasonal environmental heterogeneity in the Changjiang Estuary and the adjacent ECS, such as seasonal hydrodynamic conditions and riverine input of nutrients, might be the reason for the difference in the key environmental factors determining the bacterial community in the three months. (letter)

Temperature-driven adaptation of the bacterial community in peat measured by using thymidine and leucine incorporation

OpenAIRE

Ranneklev, Sissel Brit; Bååth, Erland

2001-01-01

The temperature-driven adaptation of the bacterial community in peat was studied, by altering temperature to simulate self-heating and a subsequent return to mesophilic conditions. The technique used consisted of extracting the bacterial community from peat using homogenization-centrifugation and measuring the rates of thymidine (TdR) or leucine (Leu) incorporation by the extracted bacterial community at different temperatures. Increasing the peat incubation temperature from 25°C to 35, 45, o...

Environmental and Host Effects on Skin Bacterial Community Composition in Panamanian Frogs

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Brandon J. Varela

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Research on the amphibian skin microbiota has focused on identifying bacterial taxa that deter a pathogenic chytrid fungus, and on describing patterns of microbiota variation. However, it remains unclear how environmental variation affects amphibian skin bacterial communities, and whether the overall functional diversity of the amphibian skin microbiota is associated to such variation. We sampled skin microbial communities from one dendrobatoid frog species across an environmental gradient along the Panama Canal, and from three dendrobatoid frog species before and after the onset of the wet season in one site. We found frog skin microbial alpha diversity to be highest in frogs from sites with low soil pH, but no clear effect of the onset of the wet season. However, we found frog skin microbial community structure to be affected by soil pH and the onset of the wet season, which also resulted in a decrease in between-sample variation. Across the sampled frog species, bacterial functional groups changed with the onset of the wet season, with certain bacterial functional groups entirely disappearing and others differing in their relative abundances. In particular, we found the proportion of Bd-inhibitory bacteria to correlate with mean soil pH, and to increase in two of the frog species with the onset of the wet season. Taken together, our results suggest that structure and predicted function of amphibian bacterial skin communities may be influenced by environmental variables such as pH and precipitation, site effects, and host effects.

Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) hosts robust phyllosphere and rhizosphere bacterial communities when grown in soil amended with various organic and synthetic fertilizers.

Science.gov (United States)

Allard, Sarah M; Walsh, Christopher S; Wallis, Anna E; Ottesen, Andrea R; Brown, Eric W; Micallef, Shirley A

2016-12-15

Due to the intimate association between plants and their microbial symbionts, an examination of the influence of agricultural practices on phytobiome structure and diversity could foster a more comprehensive understanding of plant health and produce safety. Indeed, the impact of upstream crop producti006Fn practices cannot be overstated in their role in assuring an abundant and safe food supply. To assess whether fertilizer type impacted rhizosphere and phyllosphere bacterial communities associating with tomato plants, the bacterial microbiome of tomato cv. 'BHN602' grown in soils amended with fresh poultry litter, commercially available sterilized poultry litter pellets, vermicompost or synthetic fertilizer was described. Culture independent DNA was extracted from bulk and rhizosphere soils, and washes of tomato blossoms and ripe fruit. PCR amplicons of hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced and profiled using the QIIME pipeline. Bulk and rhizosphere soil, and blossom and fruit surfaces all supported distinct bacterial communities according to principal coordinate analysis and ANOSIM (R=0.87, p=0.001 in year 1; R=0.93, p=0.001 in year 2). Use of microbiologically diverse organic fertilizers generally did not influence bacterial diversity, community structure or relative abundance of specific taxa on any plant organ surface. However, statistically significant differences in sand and silt contents of soil (pfertilized plants. Plant anatomy, and other factors related to field location, possibly associated with edaphic and air characteristics, were more influential drivers of different tomato organ microbiomes than were diverse soil amendment applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An investigation of total bacterial communities, culturable antibiotic-resistant bacterial communities and integrons in the river water environments of Taipei city.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Chu-Wen; Chang, Yi-Tang; Chao, Wei-Liang; Shiung, Iau-Iun; Lin, Han-Sheng; Chen, Hsuan; Ho, Szu-Han; Lu, Min-Jheng; Lee, Pin-Hsuan; Fan, Shao-Ning

2014-07-30

The intensive use of antibiotics may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). The global geographical distribution of environmental ARB has been indicated by many studies. However, the ARB in the water environments of Taiwan has not been extensively investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the communities of ARB in Huanghsi Stream, which presents a natural acidic (pH 4) water environment. Waishuanghsi Stream provides a neutral (pH 7) water environment and was thus also monitored to allow comparison. The plate counts of culturable bacteria in eight antibiotics indicate that the numbers of culturable carbenicillin- and vancomycin-resistant bacteria in both Huanghsi and Waishuanghsi Streams are greater than the numbers of culturable bacteria resistant to the other antibiotics tested. Using a 16S rDNA sequencing approach, both the antibiotic-resistant bacterial communities (culture-based) and the total bacterial communities (metagenome-based) in Waishuanghsi Stream exhibit a higher diversity than those in Huanghsi Stream were observed. Of the three classes of integron, only class I integrons were identified in Waishuanghsi Stream. Our results suggest that an acidic (pH 4) water environment may not only affect the community composition of antibiotic-resistant bacteria but also the horizontal gene transfer mediated by integrons. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ex situ diet influences the bacterial community associated with the skin of red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas.

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Rachael E Antwis

Full Text Available Amphibians support symbiotic bacterial communities on their skin that protect against a range of infectious pathogens, including the amphibian chytrid fungus. The conditions under which amphibians are maintained in captivity (e.g. diet, substrate, enrichment in ex situ conservation programmes may affect the composition of the bacterial community. In addition, ex situ amphibian populations may support different bacterial communities in comparison to in situ populations of the same species. This could have implications for the suitability of populations intended for reintroduction, as well as the success of probiotic bacterial inoculations intended to provide amphibians with a bacterial community that resists invasion by the chytrid fungus. We aimed to investigate the effect of a carotenoid-enriched diet on the culturable bacterial community associated with captive red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas and make comparisons to bacteria isolated from a wild population from the Chiquibul Rainforest in Belize. We successfully showed carotenoid availability influences the overall community composition, species richness and abundance of the bacterial community associated with the skin of captive frogs, with A. callidryas fed a carotenoid-enriched diet supporting a greater species richness and abundance of bacteria than those fed a carotenoid-free diet. Our results suggest that availability of carotenoids in the diet of captive frogs is likely to be beneficial for the bacterial community associated with the skin. We also found wild A. callidryas hosted more than double the number of different bacterial species than captive frogs with very little commonality between species. This suggests frogs in captivity may support a reduced and diverged bacterial community in comparison to wild populations of the same species, which could have particular relevance for ex situ conservation projects.

Bacterial community structure in aquifers corresponds to stratigraphy

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Beyer, Andrea; Möller, Silke; Neumann, Stefan; Burow, Katja; Gutmann, Falko; Lindner, Julia; Müsse, Steffen; Kothe, Erika; Büchel, Georg

2014-05-01

So far, groundwater microbiology with respect to different host rocks has not been well described in the literature. However, factors influencing the communities would be of interest to provide a tool for mapping groundwater paths. The Thuringian Basin (Germany) studied here, contains formations of the Permian (Zechstein) and also Triassic period of Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk and Keuper, all of which can be found to crop out at the surface in different regions. We analyzed the bacterial community of nine natural springs and sixteen groundwater wells of the respective rock formations as well as core material from the Zechstein salts. For that we sampled in a mine 3 differnet salt rock samples (carnallitite, halite and sylvinitite). To validate the different approaches, similar rock formations were compared and a consistent microbial community for Buntsandstein could be verified. Similary, for Zechstein, the presence of halophiles was seen with cultivation, isolation directly from the rock material and also in groundwater with DNA-dependent approaches. A higher overlap between sandstone- and limestone-derived communities was visible as if compared to the salt formations. Principal component analysis confirmed formation specific patterns for Muschelkalk, Buntsandstein and Zechstein for the bacterial taxa present, with some overlaps. Bacilli and Gammaproteobacteria were the major groups, with the genera Pseudomonas, Marinomonas, Bacillus, Marinobacter and Pseudoalteromonas representing the communities. The bacteria are well adapted to their respective environment with survival strategies including a wide range of salinity which makes them suitable as tracers for fluid movement below the ground. The results indicate the usefulness and robustness of the approach taken here to investigate aquifer community structures in dependence of the stratigraphy of the groundwater reservoir.

Molecular assessment of the bacterial community associated with Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivation in Cameroon.

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Sarr, Papa Saliou; Sugiyama, Akifumi; Begoude, Aime Didier Boyogueno; Yazaki, Kazufumi; Araki, Shigeru; Nawata, Eiji

2017-04-01

Bacterial communities play an important role in nutrient cycles and plant development. Their distribution and activity may depend on location and environmental heterogeneity. This study characterized soil bacterial communities in cassava fields of Eastern (Andom) and Southern (Bityili) Cameroon using molecular tools. In both sites, two improved varieties (TMS-96/1414; TMS-92/0326) and a local variety (Local) were grown in a randomized block design. Composite bulk soils were collected at 10months after planting from cassava plots. The 16S rDNA region was amplified, MiSeq was performed and sequence data analyzed. The same 17 bacterial phyla were present in both Andom and Bityili, while Chlorobi and Deinococcus-Thermus were only specific to Andom. The phyla Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria were dominant. Although both sites shared similar phyla, the principal coordinate analysis revealed significant variations in their composition, suggesting that the functions of the bacteria in nutrients cycling are likely to differ between Andom and Bityili. Cassava yields were generally higher in Andom which also displayed a higher diversity of bacterial communities. This study provides useful information on the composition of bacterial communities in cassava fields in two agro-ecologies of Cameroon. It constitutes to our knowledge the first report describing soil bacterial communities in association with cassava growth in the country, using molecular tools. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of zinc oxide nanoparticles on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) growth and soil bacterial community.

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Xu, Jiangbing; Luo, Xiaosan; Wang, Yanling; Feng, Youzhi

2018-02-01

The wide spread of nanoparticles (NPs) has caused tremendous concerns on agricultural ecosystem. Some metallic NPs, such as zinc oxide (ZnO), can be utilized as a nano-fertilizer when used at optimal doses. However, little is known about the responses of plant development and concomitant soil bacteria community to ZnO NPs. The present pot experiment studied the impacts of different doses of ZnO NPs and bulk ZnO (0, 1, 10, 100 mg ZnO/kg), on the growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and the associated rhizospheric soil bacterial community. Results showed that at a dose of 10 mg/kg, ZnO NPs and bulk ZnO, enhanced the lettuce biomass and the net photosynthetic rate; whereas, the Zn content in plant tissue was higher in NPs treatment than in their bulk counterpart at 10 mg/kg dose or higher. For the underground observations, 10 mg/kg treatment doses (NPs or bulk) significantly changed the soil bacterial community structure, despite the non-significant variations in alpha diversity. Taxonomic distribution revealed that some lineages within Cyanobacteria and other phyla individually demonstrated similar or different responses to ZnO NPs and bulk ZnO. Moreover, some lineages associated with plant growth promotion were also influenced to different extents by ZnO NPs and bulk ZnO, suggesting the distinct microbial processes occurring in soil. Collectively, this study expanded our understanding of the influence of ZnO NPs on plant performance and the associated soil microorganisms.

Balanced Fertilization Decreases Environmental Filtering on Soil Bacterial Community Assemblage in North China

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Youzhi Feng

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Although increasing evidences have emerged for responses of soil microorganisms to fertilizations, the knowledge regarding community assemblages that cause variations in composition is still lacking, as well as the possible feedback to soil fertility. Phylogenetic conservatism of species indicates their similar environmental preferences and/or function traits and phylogenetic signals further can infer community assemblages and influenced ecological processes. Here, we calculated the mean pairwise phylogenetic distance and nearest relative index, characterizing phylogenetic signal and the undergone ecological process to evaluate the community assembly of soil bacterial phylotypes in 20-year fertilized soils. The bacterial community assembly is structured by environmental filtering, regardless of fertilization regime. Soil phosphorous (P availability imposes selection on community assemblage and influences their community turnover among fertilizations. When P nutrient lacks, the effect of environmental filtering becomes stronger, hence bacterial functional traits become more coherent; this process results into increased intraspecific interactions characterized by co-occurrence network analysis. In contrast, when P nutrient becomes abundant, the environmental selection is mitigated; function traits are evened. This process reduces intraspecific interactions and increases carbon sequestration efficiency, which is finally of great favor to the increases in soil fertility. This study has made the first attempt, at the bacterial level, to understand how fertilization affects agroecosystems. When more phylogenetic information on how nutrient cycling-related microbes respond to fertilization becomes available, the systematic knowledge will eventually provide guidance to optimal fertilization strategies.

Archaeal and Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surface Mucus of Caribbean Corals Differ in Their Degree of Host Specificity and Community Turnover Over Reefs.

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Pedro R Frade

Full Text Available Comparative studies on the distribution of archaeal versus bacterial communities associated with the surface mucus layer of corals have rarely taken place. It has therefore remained enigmatic whether mucus-associated archaeal and bacterial communities exhibit a similar specificity towards coral hosts and whether they vary in the same fashion over spatial gradients and between reef locations. We used microbial community profiling (terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism, T-RFLP and clone library sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to compare the diversity and community structure of dominant archaeal and bacterial communities associating with the mucus of three common reef-building coral species (Porites astreoides, Siderastrea siderea and Orbicella annularis over different spatial scales on a Caribbean fringing reef. Sampling locations included three reef sites, three reef patches within each site and two depths. Reference sediment samples and ambient water were also taken for each of the 18 sampling locations resulting in a total of 239 samples. While only 41% of the bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs characterized by T-RFLP were shared between mucus and the ambient water or sediment, for archaeal OTUs this percentage was 2-fold higher (78%. About half of the mucus-associated OTUs (44% and 58% of bacterial and archaeal OTUs, respectively were shared between the three coral species. Our multivariate statistical analysis (ANOSIM, PERMANOVA and CCA showed that while the bacterial community composition was determined by habitat (mucus, sediment or seawater, host coral species, location and spatial distance, the archaeal community composition was solely determined by the habitat. This study highlights that mucus-associated archaeal and bacterial communities differ in their degree of community turnover over reefs and in their host-specificity.

Urban-development-induced Changes in the Diversity and Composition of the Soil Bacterial Community in Beijing

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Yan, Bing; Li, Junsheng; Xiao, Nengwen; Qi, Yue; Fu, Gang; Liu, Gaohui; Qiao, Mengping

2016-12-01

Numerous studies have implicated urbanization as a major cause of loss of biodiversity. Most of them have focused on plants and animals, even though soil microorganisms make up a large proportion of that biodiversity. However, it is unclear how the soil bacterial community is affected by urban development. Here, paired-end Illumina sequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene at V4 region was performed to study the soil microbial community across Beijing’s built-up area. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Verrucomicrobia, Planctomycetes, and Chloroflexi were the dominant phyla in all samples, but the relative abundance of these phyla differed significantly across these concentric zones. The diversity and composition of the soil bacterial community were found to be closely correlated with soil pH. Variance partitioning analysis suggested that urban ring roads contributed 5.95% of the bacterial community variation, and soil environmental factors explained 17.65% of the variation. The results of the current work indicate that urban development can alter the composition and diversity of the soil microbial community, and showed pH to be a key factor in the shaping of the composition of the soil bacterial community. Urban development did have a strong impact on the bacterial community of urban soil in Beijing.

Matrix composition and community structure analysis of a novel bacterial pyrite leaching community.

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Ziegler, Sibylle; Ackermann, Sonia; Majzlan, Juraj; Gescher, Johannes

2009-09-01

Here we describe a novel bacterial community that is embedded in a matrix of carbohydrates and bio/geochemical products of pyrite (FeS(2)) oxidation. This community grows in stalactite-like structures--snottites--on the ceiling of an abandoned pyrite mine at pH values of 2.2-2.6. The aqueous phase in the matrix contains 200 mM of sulfate and total iron concentrations of 60 mM. Micro-X-ray diffraction analysis showed that jarosite [(K,Na,H(3)O)Fe(3)(SO(4))(2)(OH)(6)] is the major mineral embedded in the snottites. X-ray absorption near-edge structure experiments revealed three different sulfur species. The major signal can be ascribed to sulfate, and the other two features may correspond to thiols and sulfoxides. Arabinose was detected as the major sugar component in the extracellular polymeric substance. Via restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, a community was found that mainly consists of iron oxidizing Leptospirillum and Ferrovum species but also of bacteria that could be involved in dissimilatory sulfate and dissimilatory iron reduction. Each snottite can be regarded as a complex, self-contained consortium of bacterial species fuelled by the decomposition of pyrite.

Characterizing changes in soil bacterial community structure in response to short-term warming

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Xiong, Jinbo [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing China; School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo China; Sun, Huaibo [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing China; Peng, Fei [Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou China; Zhang, Huayong [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing China; Xue, Xian [Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou China; Gibbons, Sean M. [Argonne National Laboratory Biosciences Division, Argonne IL USA; Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago IL USA; Gilbert, Jack A. [Argonne National Laboratory Biosciences Division, Argonne IL USA; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago IL USA; Chu, Haiyan [State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing China

2014-02-18

High altitude alpine meadows are experiencing considerably greater than average increases in soil surface temperature, potentially as a result of ongoing climate change. The effects of warming on plant productivity and soil edaphic variables have been established previously, but the influence of warming on soil microbial community structure has not been well characterized. Here, the impact of 15 months of soil warming (both + 1 and + 2 degrees C) on bacterial community structure was examined in a field experiment on a Tibetan plateau alpine meadow using bar-coded pyrosequencing. Warming significantly changed (P < 0.05) the structure of the soil bacterial community, but the alpha diversity was not dramatically affected. Changes in the abundance of the Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were found to contribute the most to differences between ambient (AT) and artificially warmed conditions. A variance partitioning analysis (VPA) showed that warming directly explained 7.15% variation in bacterial community structure, while warming-induced changes in soil edaphic and plant phenotypic properties indirectly accounted for 28.3% and 20.6% of the community variance, respectively. Interestingly, certain taxa showed an inconsistent response to the two warming treatments, for example Deltaproteobacteria showed a decreased relative abundance at + 1 degrees C, but a return to AT control relative abundance at + 2 degrees C. This suggests complex microbial dynamics that could result from conditional dependencies between bacterial taxa.

Dynamic changes of bacterial community under bioremediation with Sphingobium sp. LY-6 in buprofezin-contaminated soil.

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Liu, Yuan; Hou, Qianqian; Liu, Wanru; Meng, Yawen; Wang, Guangli

2015-08-01

Buprofezin is a commonly used chemical with satisfactory biological activity against sucking insect pests, but its disposal can cause serious environmental problems. To study the feasibility of remedying contamination by buprofezin, microcosm experiments were carried out to study the effects of various concentrations of buprofezin and Sphingobium sp. LY-6 on soil bacterial communities in soils collected from vegetable fields. In this experiment, the results showed that buprofezin was effectively degraded by Sphingobium sp. LY-6 in incubation soils. Comparing to non-incubated soils, the cumulative degradation ratio of buprofezin was significantly increased, up to the extent of 85 and 51%, in the initial concentration of 10 and 100 mg kg(-1). The abundance and community structure of the bacterial communities were analysed by real-time PCR (qPCR) and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The findings suggest that buprofezin had a negative effect on soil bacterial community, and decreases in bacterial abundance were observed in the later part of the incubation period. The bacterial community structure and diversity shifted significantly at each sampling time. In conclusion, the buprofezin-degrading strain LY-6 played a major role in the bioremediation of the buprofezin-contaminated soil and influenced the dynamics and structure of the bacterial community, demonstrating the great potential of exogenous microorganisms for soil remediation.

Spatial variation of bacterial community composition near the Luzon ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

use

2011-11-23

Nov 23, 2011 ... However, little information of spatial variation of bacterial community ... GF/F glass fiber (0.45 µm, 47 mm diameter, Whatman Japan. Limited., Tokyo ... the research vessel using a CTD system (Sea-Bird Electronics, Inc.,. USA).

Distinct Bacterial Composition Associated with Different Laboratory-cultured Aiptasia Strains Across Two Thermal Conditions

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Ahmed, Hanin

2018-05-01

Coral reefs are crucial for the ecological sustainability of the oceans, yet, increasing sea surface temperature is threatening these ecosystems globally. Microbial communities associated with corals have become a recent research focus, as the associated microbiome may contribute to coral resilience to environmental stressors, e.g., heat stress. However, research in this area is hampered by the difficulty of working with corals. This study aims to use Aiptasia, a sea anemone, as a tractable laboratory model system to study the role of the coral microbiome. Analyses of the bacterial compositions associated with different Aiptasia strains across two temperatures (25 °C and 32 °C), based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This study aims also to identify a “core” microbiome associated with heat stress acclimation, as well as host-specific differences. In general, results showed that bacterial composition associated with Aiptasia strains differs significantly with temperature. Higher bacterial diversity and richness were observed when all Aiptasia strains were placed under heat stress. Moreover, results showed an increase in beta diversity and dispersion of bacterial communities in response to heat stress. These changes in the bacterial composition are in line with the recently described “Anna Karenina principle” for animal microbiomes, which suggests that the microbiomes of unhealthy individuals vary more than healthy and stable individuals. This study further shows that while temperature had the greatest effect on structuring the bacterial compositions, there were some variations better attributed to batch and host effects. This suggests that technical aspects have to be carefully addressed in the framework of microbiome studies. Members of a putative “core” microbiome associated with 32 °C Aiptasia have been identified as indicator species of heat stress (i.e., Francisella sp.,). Previous reports have shown that these indicator taxa are associated with

Effect of streptomycin treatment on bacterial community structure in the apple phyllosphere.

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Erika Yashiro

Full Text Available We studied the effect of many years of streptomycin use in apple orchards on the proportion of phyllosphere bacteria resistant to streptomycin and bacterial community structure. Leaf samples were collected during early July through early September from four orchards that had been sprayed with streptomycin during spring of most years for at least 10 years and four orchards that had not been sprayed. The percentage of cultured phyllosphere bacteria resistant to streptomycin at non-sprayed orchards (mean of 65% was greater than at sprayed orchards (mean of 50% (P = 0.0271. For each orchard, a 16S rRNA gene clone library was constructed from leaf samples. Proteobacteria dominated the bacterial communities at all orchards, accounting for 71 of 104 OTUs (determined at 97% sequence similarity and 93% of all sequences. The genera Massilia, Methylobacterium, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, and Sphingomonas were shared across all sites. Shannon and Simpson's diversity indices and Pielou's evenness index were similar among orchards regardless of streptomycin use. Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM indicated that long-term streptomycin treatment did not account for the observed variability in community structure among orchards (R = -0.104, P = 0.655. Other variables, including time of summer, temperature and time at sampling, and relative distance of the orchards from each other, also had no significant effect on bacterial community structure. We conclude that factors other than streptomycin exposure drive both the proportion of streptomycin-resistant bacteria and phylogenetic makeup of bacterial communities in the apple phyllosphere in middle to late summer.

Bacterial community structure in the Cerasus sachalinensis Kom ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The results showed that the bacterial community diversity in the cultivated C. sachalinensis rhizosphere was always higher than the wild, while the evenness and dominance indices followed a different pattern as compared to band richness in the wild and cultivated conditions. The plant growth stages also had an influence ...

Changes in Soil Bacterial Communities and Diversity in ...

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Silver-induced selective pressure is becoming increasingly important due to the growing use of silver (Ag) as an antimicrobial agent in biomedical and commercial products. With demonstrated links between environmental resistomes and clinical pathogens, it is important to identify microbial profiles related to silver tolerance/resistance. We investigated the effects of ionic Ag stress on soil bacterial communities and identified resistant/persistant bacterial populations. Silver treatments of 50 - 400 mg Ag kg-1 soil were established in five soils. Chemical lability measurements using diffusive gradients in thin-film devices confirmed that significant (albeit decreasing) labile Ag concentrations were present throughout the 9-month incubation period. Synchrotron X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy demonstrate that this decreasing lability was due to changes in Ag speciation to less soluble forms such as Ag0 and Ag2S. Real-time PCR and Illumina MiSeq screening of 16S rRNA bacterial genes showed β-diversity in response to Ag pressure, and immediate and significant reductions in 16S rRNA gene counts with varying degrees of recovery. These effects were more strongly influenced by exposure time than by Ag dose at these rates. Ag-selected dominant OTUs principally resided in known persister taxa (mainly Gram positive), including metal-tolerant bacteria and slow-growing Mycobacteria. Soil microbial communities have been implicated as sources of an

Bacterial community composition in the water column of a lake formed by a former uranium open pit mine.

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Edberg, Frida; Andersson, Anders F; Holmström, Sara J M

2012-11-01

Mining of pyrite minerals is a major environmental issue involving both biological and geochemical processes. Here we present a study of an artificial lake of a former uranium open pit mine with the aim to connect the chemistry and bacterial community composition (454-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes) in the stratified water column. A shift in the water chemistry from oxic conditions in the epilimnion to anoxic, alkaline, and metal and sulfide-rich conditions in the hypolimnion was corresponded by a strong shift in the bacterial community, with few shared operational taxonomic units (OTU) between the water layers. The epilimnetic bacterial community of the lake (~20 years old) showed similarities to other temperate freshwater lakes, while the hypolimnetic bacterial community showed similarity to extreme chemical environments. The epilimnetic bacterial community had dominance of Actinobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. The hypolimnion displayed a higher bacterial diversity and was dominated by the phototrophic green sulphur bacterium of the genus Chlorobium (ca. 40 % of the total community). Deltaproteobacteria were only represented in the hypolimnion and the most abundant OTUs were affiliated with ferric iron and sulfate reducers of the genus Geobacter and Desulfobulbus, respectively. The chemistry is clearly controlling, especially the hypolimnetic, bacterial community but the community composition also indicates that the bacteria are involved in metal cycling in the lake.

Temperature-driven adaptation of the bacterial community in peat measured by using thymidine and leucine incorporation.

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Ranneklev, S B; Bååth, E

2001-03-01

The temperature-driven adaptation of the bacterial community in peat was studied, by altering temperature to simulate self-heating and a subsequent return to mesophilic conditions. The technique used consisted of extracting the bacterial community from peat using homogenization-centrifugation and measuring the rates of thymidine (TdR) or leucine (Leu) incorporation by the extracted bacterial community at different temperatures. Increasing the peat incubation temperature from 25 degrees C to 35, 45, or 55 degrees C resulted in a selection of bacterial communities whose optimum temperatures for activity correlated to the peat incubation temperatures. Although TdR and Leu incorporations were significantly correlated, the Leu/TdR incorporation ratios were affected by temperature. Higher Leu/TdR incorporation ratios were found at higher temperatures of incubation of the extracted bacterial community. Higher Leu/TdR incorporation ratios were also found for bacteria in peat samples incubated at higher temperatures. The reappearance of the mesophilic community and disappearance of the thermophilic community when the incubation temperature of the peat was shifted down were monitored by measuring TdR incorporation at 55 degrees C (thermophilic activity) and 25 degrees C (mesophilic activity). Shifting the peat incubation temperature from 55 to 25 degrees C resulted in a recovery of the mesophilic activity, with a subsequent disappearance of the thermophilic activity. The availability of substrate for bacterial growth varied over time and among different peat samples. To avoid confounding effects of substrate availability, a temperature adaptation index was calculated. This index consisted of the log(10) ratio of TdR incorporation at 55 and 25 degrees C. The temperature index decreased linearly with time, indicating that no thermophilic activity would be detected by the TdR technique 1 month after the temperature downshift. There were no differences between the slopes of the

Temporal and Spatial Diversity of Bacterial Communities in Coastal Waters of the South China Sea

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Du, Jikun; Xiao, Kai; Li, Li; Ding, Xian; Liu, Helu; Lu, Yongjun; Zhou, Shining

2013-01-01

Bacteria are recognized as important drivers of biogeochemical processes in all aquatic ecosystems. Temporal and geographical patterns in ocean bacterial communities have been observed in many studies, but the temporal and spatial patterns in the bacterial communities from the South China Sea remained unexplored. To determine the spatiotemporal patterns, we generated 16S rRNA datasets for 15 samples collected from the five regularly distributed sites of the South China Sea in three seasons (spring, summer, winter). A total of 491 representative sequences were analyzed by MOTHUR, yielding 282 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) grouped at 97% stringency. Significant temporal variations of bacterial diversity were observed. Richness and diversity indices indicated that summer samples were the most diverse. The main bacterial group in spring and summer samples was Alphaproteobacteria, followed by Cyanobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, whereas Cyanobacteria dominated the winter samples. Spatial patterns in the samples were observed that samples collected from the coastal (D151, D221) waters and offshore (D157, D1512, D224) waters clustered separately, the coastal samples harbored more diverse bacterial communities. However, the temporal pattern of the coastal site D151 was contrary to that of the coastal site D221. The LIBSHUFF statistics revealed noticeable differences among the spring, summer and winter libraries collected at five sites. The UPGMA tree showed there were temporal and spatial heterogeneity of bacterial community composition in coastal waters of the South China Sea. The water salinity (P=0.001) contributed significantly to the bacteria-environment relationship. Our results revealed that bacterial community structures were influenced by environmental factors and community-level changes in 16S-based diversity were better explained by spatial patterns than by temporal patterns. PMID:23785512

Distinct microbial communities in the active and permafrost layers on the Tibetan Plateau.

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Chen, Yong-Liang; Deng, Ye; Ding, Jin-Zhi; Hu, Hang-Wei; Xu, Tian-Le; Li, Fei; Yang, Gui-Biao; Yang, Yuan-He

2017-12-01

Permafrost represents an important understudied genetic resource. Soil microorganisms play important roles in regulating biogeochemical cycles and maintaining ecosystem function. However, our knowledge of patterns and drivers of permafrost microbial communities is limited over broad geographic scales. Using high-throughput Illumina sequencing, this study compared soil bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities between the active and permafrost layers on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results indicated that microbial alpha diversity was significantly higher in the active layer than in the permafrost layer with the exception of fungal Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson's diversity index, and microbial community structures were significantly different between the two layers. Our results also revealed that environmental factors such as soil fertility (soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and total nitrogen contents) were the primary drivers of the beta diversity of bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities in the active layer. In contrast, environmental variables such as the mean annual precipitation and total phosphorus played dominant roles in driving the microbial beta diversity in the permafrost layer. Spatial distance was important for predicting the bacterial and archaeal beta diversity in both the active and permafrost layers, but not for fungal communities. Collectively, these results demonstrated different driving factors of microbial beta diversity between the active layer and permafrost layer, implying that the drivers of the microbial beta diversity observed in the active layer cannot be used to predict the biogeographic patterns of the microbial beta diversity in the permafrost layer. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Biofuel components change the ecology of bacterial volatile petroleum hydrocarbon degradation in aerobic sandy soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elazhari-Ali, Abdulmagid; Singh, Arvind K.; Davenport, Russell J.; Head, Ian M.; Werner, David

2013-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the biodegradation of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (VPHs) in aerobic sandy soil is affected by the blending with 10 percent ethanol (E10) or 20 percent biodiesel (B20). When inorganic nutrients were scarce, competition between biofuel and VPH degraders temporarily slowed monoaromatic hydrocarbon degradation. Ethanol had a bigger impact than biodiesel, reflecting the relative ease of ethanol compared to methyl ester biodegradation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of bacterial 16S rRNA genes revealed that each fuel mixture selected for a distinct bacterial community, each dominated by Pseudomonas spp. Despite lasting impacts on soil bacterial ecology, the overall effects on VHP biodegradation were minor, and average biomass yields were comparable between fuel types, ranging from 0.40 ± 0.16 to 0.51 ± 0.22 g of biomass carbon per gram of fuel carbon degraded. Inorganic nutrient availability had a greater impact on petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation than fuel composition. Highlights: ► The effect of 10% ethanol or 20% biodiesel on the biodegradability of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons in soil was investigated. ► Competition for scarce inorganic nutrients between biofuel and VPH degraders slowed monoaromatic hydrocarbon degradation. ► Biofuel effects were transitional. ► Each fuel selected for a distinct predominant bacterial community. ► All bacterial communities were dominated by Pseudomonas spp. - Blending of petroleum with ethanol or biodiesel changes the fuel degrading soil bacterial community structure, but the long-term effects on fuel biodegradability are minor.

Integrated analysis of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities from differentially active mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz.

Science.gov (United States)

Coelho, Francisco J R C; Louvado, António; Domingues, Patrícia M; Cleary, Daniel F R; Ferreira, Marina; Almeida, Adelaide; Cunha, Marina R; Cunha, Ângela; Gomes, Newton C M

2016-10-20

The present study assesses the diversity and composition of sediment bacterial and microeukaryotic communities from deep-sea mud volcanoes (MVs) associated with strike-slip faults in the South-West Iberian Margin (SWIM). We used a 16S/18S rRNA gene based pyrosequencing approach to characterize and correlate the sediment bacterial and microeukaryotic communities from MVs with differing gas seep regimes and from an additional site with no apparent seeping activity. In general, our results showed significant compositional changes of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities in sampling sites with different seepage regimes. Sediment bacterial communities were enriched with Methylococcales (putative methanotrophs) but had lower abundances of Rhodospirillales, Nitrospirales and SAR202 in the more active MVs. Within microeukaryotic communities, members of the Lobosa (lobose amoebae) were enriched in more active MVs. We also showed a strong correlation between Methylococcales populations and lobose amoeba in active MVs. This study provides baseline information on the diversity and composition of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities in deep-sea MVs associated with strike-slip faults.

Investigation of bacterial communities within the digestive organs of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata provide insights into holobiont geographic clustering.

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Dominique A Cowart

Full Text Available Prokaryotic communities forming symbiotic relationships with the vent shrimp, Rimicaris exoculata, are well studied components of hydrothermal ecosystems at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR. Despite the tight link between host and symbiont, the observed lack of spatial genetic structure seen in R. exoculata contrasts with the geographic differentiation detected in specific bacterial ectosymbionts. The geographic clustering of bacterial lineages within a seemingly panmictic host suggests either the presence of finer scale restriction to gene flow not yet detected in the host, horizontal transmission (environmental selection of its endosymbionts as a consequence of unique vent geochemistry, or vertically transmitted endosymbionts that exhibit genetic differentiation. To identify which hypothesis best fits, we tested whether bacterial assemblages exhibit differentiation across sites or host populations by performing a 16S rRNA metabarcoding survey on R. exoculata digestive prokaryote samples (n = 31 taken from three geochemically distinct vents across MAR: Rainbow, Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse (TAG and Logatchev. Analysis of communities across two organs (digestive tract, stomach, three molt colors (white, red, black and three life stages (eggs, juveniles, adults also provided insights into symbiont transmission mode. Examining both whole communities and operational taxonomic units (OTUs confirmed the presence of three main epibionts: Epsilonproteobacteria, Mollicutes and Deferribacteres. With these findings, we identified a clear pattern of geographic segregation by vent in OTUs assigned to Epsilonproteobacteria. Additionally, we detected evidence for differentiation among all communities associated to vents and life stages. Overall, results suggest a combination of environmental selection and vertical inheritance of some of the symbiotic lineages.

Upstream Freshwater and Terrestrial Sources Are Differentially Reflected in the Bacterial Community Structure along a Small Arctic River and Its Estuary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauptmann, Aviaja Zenia Edna Lyberth; Markussen, Thor N; Stibal, Marek

2016-01-01

of different water sources on the microbial communities in Arctic rivers and estuaries remains unknown. In this study we used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess a small river and its estuary on the Disko Island, West Greenland (69°N). Samples were taken in August when there is maximum precipitation......Glacier melting and altered precipitation patterns influence Arctic freshwater and coastal ecosystems. Arctic rivers are central to Arctic water ecosystems by linking glacier meltwaters and precipitation with the ocean through transport of particulate matter and microorganisms. However, the impact...... and temperatures are high in the Disko Bay area. We describe the bacterial community through a river into the estuary, including communities originating in a glacier and a proglacial lake. Our results show that water from the glacier and lake transports distinct communities into the river in terms of diversity...

Bacterial communities in sediment of a Mediterranean marine protected area.

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Catania, Valentina; Sarà, Gianluca; Settanni, Luca; Quatrini, Paola

2017-04-01

Biodiversity is crucial in preservation of ecosystems, and bacterial communities play an indispensable role for the functioning of marine ecosystems. The Mediterranean marine protected area (MPA) "Capo Gallo-Isola delle Femmine" was instituted to preserve marine biodiversity. The bacterial diversity associated with MPA sediment was compared with that from sediment of an adjacent harbour exposed to intense nautical traffic. The MPA sediment showed higher diversity with respect to the impacted site. A 16S rDNA clone library of the MPA sediment allowed the identification of 7 phyla: Proteobacteria (78%), Firmicutes (11%), Acidobacteria (3%), Actinobacteria (3%), Bacteroidetes (2%), Planctomycetes (2%), and Cyanobacteria (1%). Analysis of the hydrocarbon (HC)-degrading bacteria was performed using enrichment cultures. Most of the MPA sediment isolates were affiliated with Gram-positive G+C rich bacteria, whereas the majority of taxa in the harbour sediment clustered with Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria; no Gram-positive HC degraders were isolated from the harbour sediment. Our results show that protection probably has an influence on bacterial diversity, and suggest the importance of monitoring the effects of protection at microbial level as well. This study creates a baseline of data that can be used to assess changes over time in bacterial communities associated with a Mediterranean MPA.

Gut bacterial community structure of two Australian tropical fruit fly species (Diptera: Tephritidae

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Narit Thaochan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The community structure of the alimentary tract bacteria of two Australian fruit fly species, Bactrocera cacuminata (Hering and Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt, was studied using a molecular cloning method based on the 16S rRNA gene. Differences in the bacterial community structure were shown between the crops and midguts of the two species and sexes of each species. Proteobacteria was the dominant bacterial phylum in the flies, especially bacteria in the order Gammaproteobacteria which was prominent in all clones. The total bacterial community consisted of Proteobacteria (more than 75% of clones, except in the crop of B. cacuminata where more than 50% of clones belonged to Firmicutes. Firmicutes gave the number of the secondary community structure in the fly’s gut. Four orders, Alpha-, Beta-, Delta- and Gammaproteobacteria and the phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were found in both fruit fly species, while the order Epsilonproteobacteria and the phylum Bacteroidetes were found only in B. tryoni. Two phyla, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes, were rare and less frequent in the flies. There was a greater diversity of bacteria in the crop of the two fruit fly species than in the midgut. The midgut of B. tryoni females and the midgut of B. cacuminata males had the lowest bacterial diversity.

Transient shifts in bacterial communities associated with the temperate gorgonian Paramuricea clavata in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.

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Marie La Rivière

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Bacterial communities that are associated with tropical reef-forming corals are being increasingly recognized for their role in host physiology and health. However, little is known about the microbial diversity of the communities associated with temperate gorgonian corals, even though these communities are key structural components of the ecosystem. In the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, gorgonians undergo recurrent mass mortalities, but the potential relationship between these events and the structure of the associated bacterial communities remains unexplored. Because microbial assemblages may contribute to the overall health and disease resistance of their host, a detailed baseline of the associated bacterial diversity is required to better understand the functioning of the gorgonian holobiont. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The bacterial diversity associated with the gorgonian Paramuricea clavata was determined using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism and the construction of clone libraries of the bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA. Three study sites were monitored for 4 years to assess the variability of communities associated with healthy colonies. Bacterial assemblages were highly dominated by one Hahellaceae-related ribotype and exhibited low diversity. While this pattern was mostly conserved through space and time, in summer 2007, a deep shift in microbiota structure toward increased bacterial diversity and the transient disappearance of Hahellaceae was observed. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first spatiotemporal study to investigate the bacterial diversity associated with a temperate shallow gorgonian. Our data revealed an established relationship between P. clavata and a specific bacterial group within the Oceanospirillales. These results suggest a potential symbiotic role of Hahellaceae in the host-microbe association, as recently suggested for tropical corals

Salt Marsh Bacterial Communities before and after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

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Engel, Annette Summers; Liu, Chang; Paterson, Audrey T; Anderson, Laurie C; Turner, R Eugene; Overton, Edward B

2017-10-15

Coastal salt marshes along the northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline received varied types and amounts of weathered oil residues after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. At the time, predicting how marsh bacterial communities would respond and/or recover to oiling and other environmental stressors was difficult because baseline information on community composition and dynamics was generally unavailable. Here, we evaluated marsh vegetation, physicochemistry, flooding frequency, hydrocarbon chemistry, and subtidal sediment bacterial communities from 16S rRNA gene surveys at 11 sites in southern Louisiana before the oil spill and resampled the same marshes three to four times over 38 months after the spill. Calculated hydrocarbon biomarker indices indicated that oil replaced native natural organic matter (NOM) originating from Spartina alterniflora and marine phytoplankton in the marshes between May 2010 and September 2010. At all the studied marshes, the major class- and order-level shifts among the phyla Proteobacteria , Firmicutes , Bacteroidetes , and Actinobacteria occurred within these first 4 months, but another community shift occurred at the time of peak oiling in 2011. Two years later, hydrocarbon levels decreased and bacterial communities became more diverse, being dominated by Alphaproteobacteria ( Rhizobiales ), Chloroflexi ( Dehalococcoidia ), and Planctomycetes Compositional changes through time could be explained by NOM source differences, perhaps due to vegetation changes, as well as marsh flooding and salinity excursions linked to freshwater diversions. These findings indicate that persistent hydrocarbon exposure alone did not explain long-term community shifts. IMPORTANCE Significant deterioration of coastal salt marshes in Louisiana has been linked to natural and anthropogenic stressors that can adversely affect how ecosystems function. Although microorganisms carry out and regulate most biogeochemical reactions, the diversity of bacterial

Evaluation of environmental bacterial communities as a factor affecting the growth of duckweed Lemna minor.

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Ishizawa, Hidehiro; Kuroda, Masashi; Morikawa, Masaaki; Ike, Michihiko

2017-01-01

Duckweed (family Lemnaceae ) has recently been recognized as an ideal biomass feedstock for biofuel production due to its rapid growth and high starch content, which inspired interest in improving their productivity. Since microbes that co-exist with plants are known to have significant effects on their growth according to the previous studies for terrestrial plants, this study has attempted to understand the plant-microbial interactions of a duckweed, Lemna minor , focusing on the growth promotion/inhibition effects so as to assess the possibility of accelerated duckweed production by modifying co-existing bacterial community. Co-cultivation of aseptic L. minor and bacterial communities collected from various aquatic environments resulted in changes in duckweed growth ranging from -24 to +14% compared to aseptic control. A number of bacterial strains were isolated from both growth-promoting and growth-inhibitory communities, and examined for their co-existing effects on duckweed growth. Irrespective of the source, each strain showed promotive, inhibitory, or neutral effects when individually co-cultured with L. minor . To further analyze the interactions among these bacterial strains in a community, binary combinations of promotive and inhibitory strains were co-cultured with aseptic L. minor , resulting in that combinations of promotive-promotive or inhibitory-inhibitory strains generally showed effects similar to those of individual strains. However, combinations of promotive-inhibitory strains tended to show inhibitory effects while only Aquitalea magnusonii H3 exerted its plant growth-promoting effect in all combinations tested. Significant change in biomass production was observed when duckweed was co-cultivated with environmental bacterial communities. Promotive, neutral, and inhibitory bacteria in the community would synergistically determine the effects. The results indicate the possibility of improving duckweed biomass production via regulation of co

Hydrogeochemical characteristics and bacterial community diversity in leachate from animal carcass disposal

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Kaown, D.; Kim, H.; Lee, S.; Hyun, Y.; Moon, H.; Ko, K.; Lee, K.

2012-12-01

The release of leachate from animal carcass disposal can potentially contaminate soil and groundwater. During the Korea's foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in 2010-2011, about 3.53 million of pigs and cattle were slaughtered and 4,538 burial sites were constructed. The objectives of this study are to determine the hydrogeochemical characteristics and bacterial community diversity in leachate from animal carcass disposal. Hydrogeochemical characteristics and bacterial community diversity in leachate from animal carcass burial facilities were monitored to prevent further soil and groundwater contamination and to build effective plans for stabilization of the burial site. Two burial sites were investigated in this study. An animal carcass disposal site is located in a flat area and another disposal site is found in mountain area. The hydrogeochemical and hydrogeological characteristics were analyzed to identify groundwater contamination by leachate from livestock burial sites. After 5-6 months of burial, the concentrations of NH4+, Cl-, and HCO3- in leachate were decreased since the leachate was regularly pumped and treated. However, high concentrations of major contaminants (NH4+, Cl-, and HCO3-) were still observed in landfill leachate of mountain area even though pumping and treatment of leachate were continuously conducted. Bacterial community diversity over time in leachate from animal carcass disposal was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing. The impact of landfill leachate on change of bacterial community in soil and groundwater were monitored for a year.

Bacterial diversity and biogeochemistry of different chemosynthetic habitats of the REGAB cold seep (West African margin, 3160 m water depth

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P. Pop Ristova

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The giant pockmark REGAB (West African margin, 3160 m water depth is an active methane-emitting cold seep ecosystem, where the energy derived from microbially mediated oxidation of methane supports high biomass and diversity of chemosynthetic communities. Bare sediments interspersed with heterogeneous chemosynthetic assemblages of mytilid mussels, vesicomyid clams and siboglinid tubeworms form a complex seep ecosystem. To better understand if benthic bacterial communities reflect the patchy distribution of chemosynthetic fauna, all major chemosynthetic habitats at REGAB were investigated using an interdisciplinary approach combining pore water geochemistry, in situ quantification of fluxes and consumption of methane, as well as bacterial community fingerprinting. This study revealed that sediments populated by different fauna assemblages show distinct biogeochemical activities and are associated with distinct sediment bacterial communities. The methane consumption rates and methane effluxes ranged over one to two orders of magnitude across habitats, and reached highest values at the mussel habitat, which hosted a different bacterial community compared to the other habitats. Clam assemblages had a profound impact on the sediment geochemistry, but less so on the bacterial community structure. Moreover, all clam assemblages at REGAB were restricted to sediments characterized by complete methane consumption in the seafloor, and intermediate biogeochemical activity. Overall, variations in the sediment geochemistry were reflected in the distribution of both fauna and microbial communities; and were mostly determined by methane flux.

Bacterial Community Development in Experimental Gingivitis

Science.gov (United States)

Kistler, James O.; Booth, Veronica; Bradshaw, David J.; Wade, William G.

2013-01-01

Current knowledge of the microbial composition of dental plaque in early gingivitis is based largely on microscopy and cultural methods, which do not provide a comprehensive description of oral microbial communities. This study used 454-pyrosequencing of the V1–V3 region of 16S rRNA genes (approximately 500 bp), and bacterial culture, to characterize the composition of plaque during the transition from periodontal health to gingivitis. A total of 20 healthy volunteers abstained from oral hygiene for two weeks, allowing plaque to accumulate and gingivitis to develop. Plaque samples were analyzed at baseline, and after one and two weeks. In addition, plaque samples from 20 chronic periodontitis patients were analyzed for cross-sectional comparison to the experimental gingivitis cohort. All of the healthy volunteers developed gingivitis after two weeks. Pyrosequencing yielded a final total of 344 267 sequences after filtering, with a mean length of 354 bases, that were clustered into an average of 299 species-level Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) per sample. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) plots revealed significant shifts in the bacterial community structure of plaque as gingivitis was induced, and community diversity increased significantly after two weeks. Changes in the relative abundance of OTUs during the transition from health to gingivitis were correlated to bleeding on probing (BoP) scores and resulted in the identification of new health- and gingivitis-associated taxa. Comparison of the healthy volunteers to the periodontitis patients also confirmed the association of a number of putative periodontal pathogens with chronic periodontitis. Taxa associated with gingivitis included Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum, Lachnospiraceae [G-2] sp. HOT100, Lautropia sp. HOTA94, and Prevotella oulorum, whilst Rothia dentocariosa was associated with periodontal health. Further study of these taxa is warranted and may lead to new therapeutic approaches

Bacterial community development in experimental gingivitis.

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James O Kistler

Full Text Available Current knowledge of the microbial composition of dental plaque in early gingivitis is based largely on microscopy and cultural methods, which do not provide a comprehensive description of oral microbial communities. This study used 454-pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 region of 16S rRNA genes (approximately 500 bp, and bacterial culture, to characterize the composition of plaque during the transition from periodontal health to gingivitis. A total of 20 healthy volunteers abstained from oral hygiene for two weeks, allowing plaque to accumulate and gingivitis to develop. Plaque samples were analyzed at baseline, and after one and two weeks. In addition, plaque samples from 20 chronic periodontitis patients were analyzed for cross-sectional comparison to the experimental gingivitis cohort. All of the healthy volunteers developed gingivitis after two weeks. Pyrosequencing yielded a final total of 344,267 sequences after filtering, with a mean length of 354 bases, that were clustered into an average of 299 species-level Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs per sample. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA plots revealed significant shifts in the bacterial community structure of plaque as gingivitis was induced, and community diversity increased significantly after two weeks. Changes in the relative abundance of OTUs during the transition from health to gingivitis were correlated to bleeding on probing (BoP scores and resulted in the identification of new health- and gingivitis-associated taxa. Comparison of the healthy volunteers to the periodontitis patients also confirmed the association of a number of putative periodontal pathogens with chronic periodontitis. Taxa associated with gingivitis included Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum, Lachnospiraceae [G-2] sp. HOT100, Lautropia sp. HOTA94, and Prevotella oulorum, whilst Rothia dentocariosa was associated with periodontal health. Further study of these taxa is warranted and may lead to new

Bacterial community development in experimental gingivitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kistler, James O; Booth, Veronica; Bradshaw, David J; Wade, William G

2013-01-01

Current knowledge of the microbial composition of dental plaque in early gingivitis is based largely on microscopy and cultural methods, which do not provide a comprehensive description of oral microbial communities. This study used 454-pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 region of 16S rRNA genes (approximately 500 bp), and bacterial culture, to characterize the composition of plaque during the transition from periodontal health to gingivitis. A total of 20 healthy volunteers abstained from oral hygiene for two weeks, allowing plaque to accumulate and gingivitis to develop. Plaque samples were analyzed at baseline, and after one and two weeks. In addition, plaque samples from 20 chronic periodontitis patients were analyzed for cross-sectional comparison to the experimental gingivitis cohort. All of the healthy volunteers developed gingivitis after two weeks. Pyrosequencing yielded a final total of 344,267 sequences after filtering, with a mean length of 354 bases, that were clustered into an average of 299 species-level Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) per sample. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) plots revealed significant shifts in the bacterial community structure of plaque as gingivitis was induced, and community diversity increased significantly after two weeks. Changes in the relative abundance of OTUs during the transition from health to gingivitis were correlated to bleeding on probing (BoP) scores and resulted in the identification of new health- and gingivitis-associated taxa. Comparison of the healthy volunteers to the periodontitis patients also confirmed the association of a number of putative periodontal pathogens with chronic periodontitis. Taxa associated with gingivitis included Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum, Lachnospiraceae [G-2] sp. HOT100, Lautropia sp. HOTA94, and Prevotella oulorum, whilst Rothia dentocariosa was associated with periodontal health. Further study of these taxa is warranted and may lead to new therapeutic approaches

Interactive effects of solar radiation and dissolved organic matter on bacterial activity and community structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, María Teresa; Sommaruga, Ruben

2007-09-01

We studied the interactive effects of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and solar radiation on the activity and community structure of bacteria from an alpine lake. Activity was assessed both at the community level as leucine incorporation rates and at the single-cell level by microautoradiography. Fluorescent in situ hybridization and signal amplification by catalysed reporter deposition (CARD-FISH) was used to track changes in the bacterial community composition. Bacteria-free filtrates of different DOM sources (lake, algae or soil) were incubated either in the dark or exposed to solar radiation. Afterwards, the natural bacterial assemblage was inoculated and the cultures incubated in the dark for 24-48 h. Bacterial activity was enhanced in the first 24 h in the soil and algal DOM amendments kept in the dark. After 48 h, the enhancement effect was greatly reduced. The initial bacterial community was dominated by Betaproteobacteria followed by Actinobacteria. The relative abundance (expressed as a percentage of DAPI-stained cells) of Betaproteobacteria increased first in dark incubated DOM amendments, but after 48 h no significant differences were detected among treatments. In contrast, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria increased in pre-irradiated DOM treatments. Although Betaproteobacteria dominated at the end of the experiment, the relative abundance of their R-BT subgroup differed among treatments. Changes in bacterial community activity were significantly correlated with those of the relative abundance and activity of Betaproteobacteria, whereas the contribution of Actinobacteria to the bulk activity was very modest. Our results indicate a negative effect of DOM photoalteration on the bulk bacterial activity. The magnitude of this effect was time-dependent and related to rapid changes in the bacterial assemblage composition.

Bacterial community in ancient permafrost alluvium at the Mammoth Mountain (Eastern Siberia).

Science.gov (United States)

Brouchkov, Anatoli; Kabilov, Marsel; Filippova, Svetlana; Baturina, Olga; Rogov, Victor; Galchenko, Valery; Mulyukin, Andrey; Fursova, Oksana; Pogorelko, Gennady

2017-12-15

Permanently frozen (approx. 3.5Ma) alluvial Neogene sediments exposed in the Aldan river valley at the Mammoth Mountain (Eastern Siberia) are unique, ancient, and poorly studied permafrost environments. So far, the structure of the indigenous bacterial community has remained unknown. Use of 16S metagenomic analysis with total DNA isolation using DNA Spin Kit for Soil (MO-Bio) and QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit (Qiagen) has revealed the major and minor bacterial lineages in the permafrost alluvium sediments. In sum, 61 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) with 31,239 reads (Qiagen kit) and 15,404 reads (Mo-Bio kit) could be assigned to the known taxa. Only three phyla, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, comprised >5% of the OTUs abundance and accounted for 99% of the total reads. OTUs pertaining to the top families (Chitinophagaceae, Caulobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Bradyrhizobiaceae, Halomonadaceae) held >90% of reads. The abundance of Actinobacteria was less (0.7%), whereas members of other phyla (Deinococcus-Thermus, Cyanobacteria/Chloroplast, Fusobacteria, and Acidobacteria) constituted a minor fraction of reads. The bacterial community in the studied ancient alluvium differs from other permafrost sediments, mainly by predominance of Bacteroidetes (>52%). The diversity of this preserved bacterial community has the potential to cause effects unknown if prompted to thaw and spread with changing climate. Therefore, this study elicits further reason to study how reintroduction of these ancient bacteria could affect the surrounding ecosystem, including current bacterial species. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Functional diversity and redundancy across fish gut, sediment and water bacterial communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Escalas, Arthur; Troussellier, Marc; Yuan, Tong; Bouvier, Thierry; Bouvier, Corinne; Mouchet, Maud A; Flores Hernandez, Domingo; Ramos Miranda, Julia; Zhou, Jizhong; Mouillot, David

2017-08-01

This article explores the functional diversity and redundancy in a bacterial metacommunity constituted of three habitats (sediment, water column and fish gut) in a coastal lagoon under anthropogenic pressure. Comprehensive functional gene arrays covering a wide range of ecological processes and stress resistance genes to estimate the functional potential of bacterial communities were used. Then, diversity partitioning was used to characterize functional diversity and redundancy within (α), between (β) and across (γ) habitats. It was showed that all local communities exhibit a highly diversified potential for the realization of key ecological processes and resistance to various environmental conditions, supporting the growing evidence that macro-organisms microbiomes harbour a high functional potential and are integral components of functional gene dynamics in aquatic bacterial metacommunities. Several levels of functional redundancy at different scales of the bacterial metacommunity were observed (within local communities, within habitats and at the metacommunity level). The results suggested a high potential for the realization of spatial ecological insurance within this ecosystem, that is, the functional compensation among microorganisms for the realization and maintenance of key ecological processes, within and across habitats. Finally, the role of macro-organisms as dispersal vectors of microbes and their potential influence on marine metacommunity dynamics were discussed. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparative study of endophytic and endophytic diazotrophic bacterial communities across rice landraces grown in the highlands of northern Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangjaroen, Chakrapong; Rerkasem, Benjavan; Teaumroong, Neung; Sungthong, Rungroch; Lumyong, Saisamorn

2014-01-01

Communities of bacterial endophytes within the rice landraces cultivated in the highlands of northern Thailand were studied using fingerprinting data of 16S rRNA and nifH genes profiling by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The bacterial communities' richness, diversity index, evenness, and stability were varied depending on the plant tissues, stages of growth, and rice cultivars. These indices for the endophytic diazotrophic bacteria within the landrace rice Bue Wah Bo were significantly the lowest. The endophytic bacteria revealed greater diversity by cluster analysis with seven clusters compared to the endophytic diazotrophic bacteria (three clusters). Principal component analysis suggested that the endophytic bacteria showed that the community structures across the rice landraces had a higher stability than those of the endophytic diazotrophic bacteria. Uncultured bacteria were found dominantly in both bacterial communities, while higher generic varieties were observed in the endophytic diazotrophic bacterial community. These differences in bacterial communities might be influenced either by genetic variation in the rice landraces or the rice cultivation system, where the nitrogen input affects the endophytic diazotrophic bacterial community.

Changes in assembly processes in soil bacterial communities following a wildfire disturbance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrenberg, Scott; O'Neill, Sean P; Knelman, Joseph E; Todd, Bryan; Duggan, Sam; Bradley, Daniel; Robinson, Taylor; Schmidt, Steven K; Townsend, Alan R; Williams, Mark W; Cleveland, Cory C; Melbourne, Brett A; Jiang, Lin; Nemergut, Diana R

2013-06-01

Although recent work has shown that both deterministic and stochastic processes are important in structuring microbial communities, the factors that affect the relative contributions of niche and neutral processes are poorly understood. The macrobiological literature indicates that ecological disturbances can influence assembly processes. Thus, we sampled bacterial communities at 4 and 16 weeks following a wildfire and used null deviation analysis to examine the role that time since disturbance has in community assembly. Fire dramatically altered bacterial community structure and diversity as well as soil chemistry for both time-points. Community structure shifted between 4 and 16 weeks for both burned and unburned communities. Community assembly in burned sites 4 weeks after fire was significantly more stochastic than in unburned sites. After 16 weeks, however, burned communities were significantly less stochastic than unburned communities. Thus, we propose a three-phase model featuring shifts in the relative importance of niche and neutral processes as a function of time since disturbance. Because neutral processes are characterized by a decoupling between environmental parameters and community structure, we hypothesize that a better understanding of community assembly may be important in determining where and when detailed studies of community composition are valuable for predicting ecosystem function.

[Analysis of the bacterial community developing in the course of Sphagnum moss decomposition].

Science.gov (United States)

Kulichevskaia, I S; Belova, S E; Kevbrin, V V; Dedysh, S N; Zavarzin, G A

2007-01-01

Slow degradation of organic matter in acidic Sphagnum peat bogs suggests a limited activity of organotrophic microorganisms. Monitoring of the Sphagnum debris decomposition in a laboratory simulation experiment showed that this process was accompanied by a shift in the water color to brownish due to accumulation of humic substances and by the development of a specific bacterial community with a density of 2.4 x 10(7) cells ml(-1). About half of these organisms are metabolically active and detectable with rRNA-specific oligonucleotide probes. Molecular identification of the components of this microbial community showed the numerical dominance of bacteria affiliated with the phyla Alphaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Phanctomycetes. The population sizes of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, which are believed to be the main agents of bacterially-mediated decomposition in eutrophic wetlands, were low. The numbers of planctomycetes increased at the final stage of Sphagnum decomposition. The representative isolates of Alphaproteobacteria were able to utilize galacturonic acid, the only low-molecular-weight organic compound detected in the water samples; the representatives of Planctomycetes were able to decompose some heteropolysaccharides, which points to the possible functional role of these groups of microorganisms in the community under study. Thus, the composition of the bacterial community responsible for Sphagnum decomposition in acidic and low-mineral oligotrophic conditions seems to be fundamentally different from that of the bacterial community which decomposes plant debris in eutrophic ecosystems at neutral pH.

Upstream freshwater and terrestrial sources are differentially reflected in the bacterial community structure along a small Arctic river and its estuary

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Aviaja Lyberth Hauptmann

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Glacier melting and altered precipitation patterns influence Arctic freshwater and coastal ecosystems. Arctic rivers are central to Arctic water ecosystems by linking glacier meltwaters and precipitation with the ocean through transport of particulate matter and microorganisms. However, the impact of different water sources on the microbial communities in Arctic rivers and estuaries remains unknown. In this study we used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess a small river and its estuary on the Disko Island, West Greenland (69°N. Samples were taken in August when there is maximum precipitation and temperatures are high in the Disko Bay area. We describe the bacterial community through a river into the estuary, including communities originating in a glacier and a proglacial lake. Our results show that water from the glacier and lake transports distinct communities into the river in terms of diversity and community composition. Bacteria of terrestrial origin were among the dominating OTUs in the main river, while the glacier and lake supplied the river with water containing fewer terrestrial organisms. Also, more psychrophilic taxa were found in the community supplied by the lake. At the river mouth, the presence of dominant bacterial taxa from the lake and glacier was unnoticeable, but these taxa increased their abundances again further into the estuary. On average 23% of the estuary community consisted of indicator OTUs from different sites along the river. Environmental variables showed only weak correlations with community composition, suggesting that hydrology largely influences the observed patterns.

Upstream Freshwater and Terrestrial Sources Are Differentially Reflected in the Bacterial Community Structure along a Small Arctic River and Its Estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Hauptmann, Aviaja L.; Markussen, Thor N.; Stibal, Marek; Olsen, Nikoline S.; Elberling, Bo; Bælum, Jacob; Sicheritz-Pontén, Thomas; Jacobsen, Carsten S.

2016-01-01

Glacier melting and altered precipitation patterns influence Arctic freshwater and coastal ecosystems. Arctic rivers are central to Arctic water ecosystems by linking glacier meltwaters and precipitation with the ocean through transport of particulate matter and microorganisms. However, the impact of different water sources on the microbial communities in Arctic rivers and estuaries remains unknown. In this study we used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess a small river and its estuary on the Disko Island, West Greenland (69°N). Samples were taken in August when there is maximum precipitation and temperatures are high in the Disko Bay area. We describe the bacterial community through a river into the estuary, including communities originating in a glacier and a proglacial lake. Our results show that water from the glacier and lake transports distinct communities into the river in terms of diversity and community composition. Bacteria of terrestrial origin were among the dominating OTUs in the main river, while the glacier and lake supplied the river with water containing fewer terrestrial organisms. Also, more psychrophilic taxa were found in the community supplied by the lake. At the river mouth, the presence of dominant bacterial taxa from the lake and glacier was unnoticeable, but these taxa increased their abundances again further into the estuary. On average 23% of the estuary community consisted of indicator OTUs from different sites along the river. Environmental variables showed only weak correlations with community composition, suggesting that hydrology largely influences the observed patterns. PMID:27708629

Impact of enzymatic digestion on bacterial community composition in CF airway samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kayla M. Williamson

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of DNA extraction methods for molecular detection of Staphylococcus, an important bacterial group in cystic fibrosis (CF. We sought to evaluate the effect of enzymatic digestion (EnzD prior to DNA extraction on bacterial communities identified in sputum and oropharyngeal swab (OP samples from patients with CF. Methods DNA from 81 samples (39 sputum and 42 OP collected from 63 patients with CF was extracted in duplicate with and without EnzD. Bacterial communities were determined by rRNA gene sequencing, and measures of alpha and beta diversity were calculated. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA was used to assess differences at the community level and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to compare relative abundance (RA of individual genera for paired samples with and without EnzD. Results Shannon Diversity Index (alpha-diversity decreased in sputum and OP samples with the use of EnzD. Larger shifts in community composition were observed for OP samples (beta-diversity, measured by Morisita-Horn, whereas less change in communities was observed for sputum samples. The use of EnzD with OP swabs resulted in significant increase in RA for the genera Gemella (p < 0.01, Streptococcus (p < 0.01, and Rothia (p < 0.01. Staphylococcus (p < 0.01 was the only genus with a significant increase in RA from sputum, whereas the following genera decreased in RA with EnzD: Veillonella (p < 0.01, Granulicatella (p < 0.01, Prevotella (p < 0.01, and Gemella (p = 0.02. In OP samples, higher RA of Gram-positive taxa was associated with larger changes in microbial community composition. Discussion We show that the application of EnzD to CF airway samples, particularly OP swabs, results in differences in microbial communities detected by sequencing. Use of EnzD can result in large changes in bacterial community composition, and is particularly useful for detection of Staphylococcus in CF OP

Effect of Copper Treatment on the Composition and Function of the Bacterial Community in the Sponge Haliclona cymaeformis

KAUST Repository

Tian, R.-M.

2014-11-04

Marine sponges are the most primitive metazoan and host symbiotic microorganisms. They are crucial components of the marine ecological system and play an essential role in pelagic processes. Copper pollution is currently a widespread problem and poses a threat to marine organisms. Here, we examined the effects of copper treatment on the composition of the sponge-associated bacterial community and the genetic features that facilitate the survival of enriched bacteria under copper stress. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing results showed that the sponge Haliclona cymaeformis harbored symbiotic sulfur-oxidizing Ectothiorhodospiraceae and photosynthetic Cyanobacteria as dominant species. However, these autotrophic bacteria decreased substantially after treatment with a high copper concentration, which enriched for a heterotrophic-bacterium-dominated community. Metagenomic comparison revealed a varied profile of functional genes and enriched functions, including bacterial motility and chemotaxis, extracellular polysaccharide and capsule synthesis, virulence-associated genes, and genes involved in cell signaling and regulation, suggesting short-period mechanisms of the enriched bacterial community for surviving copper stress in the microenvironment of the sponge. Microscopic observation and comparison revealed dynamic bacterial aggregation within the matrix and lysis of sponge cells. The bacteriophage community was also enriched, and the complete genome of a dominant phage was determined, implying that a lytic phage cycle was stimulated by the high copper concentration. This study demonstrated a copper-induced shift in the composition of functional genes of the sponge-associated bacterial community, revealing the selective effect of copper treatment on the functions of the bacterial community in the microenvironment of the sponge. IMPORTANCE This study determined the bacterial community structure of the common sponge Haliclona cymaeformis and examined the effect of copper

Succession of Bacterial Communities in a Seasonally Stratified Lake with an Anoxic and Sulfidic Hypolimnion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhe Diao

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Although bacteria play key roles in aquatic food webs and biogeochemical cycles, information on the seasonal succession of bacterial communities in lakes is still far from complete. Here, we report results of an integrative study on the successional trajectories of bacterial communities in a seasonally stratified lake with an anoxic hypolimnion. The bacterial community composition of epilimnion, metalimnion, and hypolimnion diverged during summer stratification and converged when the lake was mixed. In contrast, bacterial communities in the sediment remained relatively stable over the year. Phototrophic Cyanobacteria and heterotrophic Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Planktomycetes were abundant in the aerobic epilimnion, Gammaproteobacteria (mainly Chromatiaceae dominated in the metalimnion, and Chlorobi, Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes were abundant in the anoxic sulfidic hypolimnion. Anoxic but nonsulfidic conditions expanded to the surface layer during fall turnover, when the epilimnion, metalimnion and upper hypolimnion mixed. During this period, phototrophic sulfur bacteria (Chromatiaceae and Chlorobi disappeared, Polynucleobacter (Betaproteobacteria and Methylobacter (Gammaproteobacteria spread out from the former meta- and hypolimnion to the surface layer, and Epsilonproteobacteria dominated in the bottom water layer. Cyanobacteria and Planktomycetes regained dominance in early spring, after the oxygen concentration was restored by winter mixing. In total, these results show large spatio-temporal changes in bacterial community composition, especially during transitions from oxic to anoxic and from sulfidic to nonsulfidic conditions.

Long- term manure exposure increases soil bacterial community potential for plasmid uptake

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Musovic, Sanin; Klümper, Uli; Dechesne, Arnaud

2014-01-01

Microbial communities derived from soils subject to different agronomic treatments were challenged with three broad host range plasmids, RP4, pIPO2tet and pRO101, via solid surface filter matings to assess their permissiveness. Approximately 1 in 10 000 soil bacterial cells could receive and main......Microbial communities derived from soils subject to different agronomic treatments were challenged with three broad host range plasmids, RP4, pIPO2tet and pRO101, via solid surface filter matings to assess their permissiveness. Approximately 1 in 10 000 soil bacterial cells could receive...... and maintain the plasmids. The community permissiveness increased up to 100% in communities derived from manured soil. While the plasmid transfer frequency was significantly influenced by both the type of plasmid and the agronomic treatment, the diversity of the transconjugal pools was purely plasmid dependent...

Bacterial community dynamics and activity in relation to dissolved organic matter availability during sea-ice formation in a mesocosm experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Eronen-Rasimus, Eeva; Kaartokallio, Hermanni; Lyra, Christina; Autio, Riitta; Kuosa, Harri; Dieckmann, Gerhard S; Thomas, David N

2014-02-01

The structure of sea-ice bacterial communities is frequently different from that in seawater. Bacterial entrainment in sea ice has been studied with traditional microbiological, bacterial abundance, and bacterial production methods. However, the dynamics of the changes in bacterial communities during the transition from open water to frozen sea ice is largely unknown. Given previous evidence that the nutritional status of the parent water may affect bacterial communities during ice formation, bacterial succession was studied in under ice water and sea ice in two series of mesocosms: the first containing seawater from the North Sea and the second containing seawater enriched with algal-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM). The composition and dynamics of bacterial communities were investigated with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and cloning alongside bacterial production (thymidine and leucine uptake) and abundance measurements (measured by flow cytometry). Enriched and active sea-ice bacterial communities developed in ice formed in both unenriched and DOM-enriched seawater (0-6 days). γ-Proteobacteria dominated in the DOM-enriched samples, indicative of their capability for opportunistic growth in sea ice. The bacterial communities in the unenriched waters and ice consisted of the classes Flavobacteria, α- and γ-Proteobacteria, which are frequently found in natural sea ice in polar regions. Furthermore, the results indicate that seawater bacterial communities are able to adapt rapidly to sudden environmental changes when facing considerable physicochemical stress such as the changes in temperature, salinity, nutrient status, and organic matter supply during ice formation. © 2014 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impact of sampling depth and plant species on local environmental conditions, microbiological parameters and bacterial composition in a mercury contaminated salt marsh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleary, D.F.R.; Oliveira, V.; Gomes, N.C.M.; Pereira, A.; Henriques, I.; Marques, B.; Almeida, A.; Cunha, A.; Correia, A.; Lillebø, A.I.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Vegetated habitat contained distinct bacterial communities. ► Variation in bacterial composition with depth differed between plant species. ► There is evidence of an effect of mercury concentration on bacterial composition. ► Depth and sampling depth explained almost 70% of the variation in bacterial composition. - Abstract: We compare the environmental characteristics and bacterial communities associated with two rushes, Juncus maritimus and Bolboschoenus maritimus, and adjacent unvegetated habitat in a salt marsh subjected to historical mercury pollution. Mercury content was higher in vegetated than unvegetated habitat and increased with sampling depth. There was also a significant relationship between mercury concentration and bacterial composition. Habitat (Juncus, Bolboschoenus or unvegetated), sample depth, and the interaction between both, however, explained most of the variation in composition (∼70%). Variation in composition with depth was most prominent for the unvegetated habitat, followed by Juncus, but more constrained for Bolboschoenus habitat. This constraint may be indicative of a strong plant–microbe ecophysiological adaptation. Vegetated habitat contained distinct bacterial communities associated with higher potential activity of aminopeptidase, β-glucosidase and arylsulphatase and incorporation rates of 14 C-glucose and 14 C-acetate. Communities in unvegetated habitat were, in contrast, associated with both higher pH and proportion of sulphate reducing bacteria.

Archaeal and Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surface Mucus of Caribbean Corals Differ in Their Degree of Host Specificity and Community Turnover Over Reefs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frade, P.R.; Roll, K.; Bergauer, K.; Herndl, G.

2016-01-01

Comparative studies on the distribution of archaeal versus bacterial communities associatedwith the surface mucus layer of corals have rarely taken place. It has thereforeremained enigmatic whether mucus-associated archaeal and bacterial communities exhibita similar specificity towards coral hosts

Spatial diversity of bacterioplankton communities in surface water of northern South China Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jialin; Li, Nan; Li, Fuchao; Zou, Tao; Yu, Shuxian; Wang, Yinchu; Qin, Song; Wang, Guangyi

2014-01-01

The South China Sea is one of the largest marginal seas, with relatively frequent passage of eddies and featuring distinct spatial variation in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. Here, we report a phylogenetic study of bacterial community structures in surface seawater of the northern South China Sea (nSCS). Samples collected from 31 sites across large environmental gradients were used to construct clone libraries and yielded 2,443 sequences grouped into 170 OTUs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed 23 bacterial classes with major components α-, β- and γ-Proteobacteria, as well as Cyanobacteria. At class and genus taxon levels, community structure of coastal waters was distinctively different from that of deep-sea waters and displayed a higher diversity index. Redundancy analyses revealed that bacterial community structures displayed a significant correlation with the water depth of individual sampling sites. Members of α-Proteobacteria were the principal component contributing to the differences of the clone libraries. Furthermore, the bacterial communities exhibited heterogeneity within zones of upwelling and anticyclonic eddies. Our results suggested that surface bacterial communities in nSCS had two-level patterns of spatial distribution structured by ecological types (coastal VS. oceanic zones) and mesoscale physical processes, and also provided evidence for bacterial phylogenetic phyla shaped by ecological preferences.

Spatial diversity of bacterioplankton communities in surface water of northern South China Sea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jialin Li

Full Text Available The South China Sea is one of the largest marginal seas, with relatively frequent passage of eddies and featuring distinct spatial variation in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. Here, we report a phylogenetic study of bacterial community structures in surface seawater of the northern South China Sea (nSCS. Samples collected from 31 sites across large environmental gradients were used to construct clone libraries and yielded 2,443 sequences grouped into 170 OTUs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed 23 bacterial classes with major components α-, β- and γ-Proteobacteria, as well as Cyanobacteria. At class and genus taxon levels, community structure of coastal waters was distinctively different from that of deep-sea waters and displayed a higher diversity index. Redundancy analyses revealed that bacterial community structures displayed a significant correlation with the water depth of individual sampling sites. Members of α-Proteobacteria were the principal component contributing to the differences of the clone libraries. Furthermore, the bacterial communities exhibited heterogeneity within zones of upwelling and anticyclonic eddies. Our results suggested that surface bacterial communities in nSCS had two-level patterns of spatial distribution structured by ecological types (coastal VS. oceanic zones and mesoscale physical processes, and also provided evidence for bacterial phylogenetic phyla shaped by ecological preferences.

Restructuring of endophytic bacterial communities in grapevine yellows-diseased and recovered Vitis vinifera L. plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulgari, Daniela; Casati, Paola; Crepaldi, Paola; Daffonchio, Daniele; Quaglino, Fabio; Brusetti, Lorenzo; Bianco, Piero Attilio

2011-07-01

Length heterogeneity-PCR assays, combined with statistical analyses, highlighted that the endophytic bacterial community associated with healthy grapevines was characterized by a greater diversity than that present in diseased and recovered plants. The findings suggest that phytoplasmas can restructure the bacterial community by selecting endophytic strains that could elicit a plant defense response.

Phytoplankton and bacterial community structures and their interaction during red-tide phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, Mona Mohamed; Ibrahim, Hassan Abd Allah

2017-09-01

Phytoplankton and bacteria diversity were studied before, during and after red tide phenomena during spring season 2015 in the Eastern Harbour (E.H.) of Alexandria, Egypt. Fifty five species of phytoplankton were identified and represented different distinct classes "Bacillariophyceae; Dinophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae and Eugelenophyceae". Also, Diatom formed the most dominant group. The average number of the phytoplankton density varied from 4.8 × 104 to 1.1 × 106 cell l-1 during the study period and Skeletonema costatum was the agent causing the red tide. The existence percentages of bacteria ranged from 2.6 to 17.9% on all media tested. The bacterial isolates on the nutrient agar medium represented the highest existence with a total percentage of 43.6%, followed by MSA medium (25.7%), while the lowest percentage was for the AA medium at 7.8%. However, twelve isolates were selected as representative for bacterial community during study interval. Based on the morphological, biochemical, physiological and enzymatic characteristics, the bacterial strains were described. Depending on the 16S rDNA gene sequence, three common antagonists were aligned as: Vibrio toranzoniae strain Vb 10.8, Ruegeria pelagia strain NBRC 102038 and Psychrobacter adeliensis strain DSM 15333. The interaction between these bacteria and S. costatum was studied. The growth of S. costatum was significantly lower whenever each bacterium was present as compared to axenic culture. More specifically, 30% (v/v) of the all tested bacteria showed the strongest algicidal activities, as all S. costatum cells were killed after two days. 10% of R. pelagia and P. adeliensis also showed significant algicidal activities within six days.

Hydrocephalus is a rare outcome in community-acquired bacterial meningitis in adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodilsen, Jacob; Schønheyder, Henrik Carl; Nielsen, Henrik I

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired bacterial meningitis (CABM) continues to have a high mortality rate and often results in severe sequelae among survivors. Lately, an increased effort has been focused on describing the neurological complications of meningitis including hydrocephalus. To aid in this ......BACKGROUND: Community-acquired bacterial meningitis (CABM) continues to have a high mortality rate and often results in severe sequelae among survivors. Lately, an increased effort has been focused on describing the neurological complications of meningitis including hydrocephalus. To aid...... in this field of research we set out to ascertain the risk and outcome of hydrocephalus in patients with community-acquired bacterial meningitis (CABM) in North Denmark Region. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study of CABM cases above 14 years of age. Cases diagnosed during a 13......-year period, 1998 through 2010, were identified in a laboratory register and data were acquired through patient records. Cases not confirmed by culture met other strict inclusion criteria. The diagnosis of hydrocephalus relied upon the radiologists' reports on cranial imaging. Outcome was graded...

Bacterial community shift in the coastal Gulf of Mexico salt-marsh sediment microcosm in vitro following exposure to the Mississippi Canyon Block 252 oil (MC252)

KAUST Repository

Koo, Hyunmin; Mojib, Nazia; Huang, Jonathan P.; Donahoe, Rona J.; Bej, Asim K.

2014-01-01

In this study, we examined the responses by the indigenous bacterial communities in salt-marsh sediment microcosms in vitro following treatment with Mississippi Canyon Block 252 oil (MC252). Microcosms were constructed of sediment and seawater collected from Bayou La Batre located in coastal Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico. We used an amplicon pyrosequencing approach on microcosm sediment metagenome targeting the V3–V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Overall, we identified a shift in the bacterial community in three distinct groups. The first group was the early responders (orders Pseudomonadales and Oceanospirillales within class Gammaproteobacteria), which increased their relative abundance within 2 weeks and were maintained 3 weeks after oil treatment. The second group was identified as early, but transient responders (order Rhodobacterales within class Alphaproteobacteria; class Epsilonproteobacteria), which increased their population by 2 weeks, but returned to the basal level 3 weeks after oil treatment. The third group was the late responders (order Clostridiales within phylum Firmicutes; order Methylococcales within class Gammaproteobacteria; and phylum Tenericutes), which only increased 3 weeks after oil treatment. Furthermore, we identified oil-sensitive bacterial taxa (order Chromatiales within class Gammaproteobacteria; order Syntrophobacterales within class Deltaproteobacteria), which decreased in their population after 2 weeks of oil treatment. Detection of alkane (alkB), catechol (C2,3DO) and biphenyl (bph) biodegradation genes by PCR, particularly in oil-treated sediment metacommunity DNA, delineates proliferation of the hydrocarbon degrading bacterial community. Overall, the indigenous bacterial communities in our salt-marsh sediment in vitro microcosm study responded rapidly and shifted towards members of the taxonomic groups that are capable of surviving in an MC252 oil-contaminated environment.

Bacterial community shift in the coastal Gulf of Mexico salt-marsh sediment microcosm in vitro following exposure to the Mississippi Canyon Block 252 oil (MC252)

KAUST Repository

Koo, Hyunmin

2014-07-10

In this study, we examined the responses by the indigenous bacterial communities in salt-marsh sediment microcosms in vitro following treatment with Mississippi Canyon Block 252 oil (MC252). Microcosms were constructed of sediment and seawater collected from Bayou La Batre located in coastal Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico. We used an amplicon pyrosequencing approach on microcosm sediment metagenome targeting the V3–V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Overall, we identified a shift in the bacterial community in three distinct groups. The first group was the early responders (orders Pseudomonadales and Oceanospirillales within class Gammaproteobacteria), which increased their relative abundance within 2 weeks and were maintained 3 weeks after oil treatment. The second group was identified as early, but transient responders (order Rhodobacterales within class Alphaproteobacteria; class Epsilonproteobacteria), which increased their population by 2 weeks, but returned to the basal level 3 weeks after oil treatment. The third group was the late responders (order Clostridiales within phylum Firmicutes; order Methylococcales within class Gammaproteobacteria; and phylum Tenericutes), which only increased 3 weeks after oil treatment. Furthermore, we identified oil-sensitive bacterial taxa (order Chromatiales within class Gammaproteobacteria; order Syntrophobacterales within class Deltaproteobacteria), which decreased in their population after 2 weeks of oil treatment. Detection of alkane (alkB), catechol (C2,3DO) and biphenyl (bph) biodegradation genes by PCR, particularly in oil-treated sediment metacommunity DNA, delineates proliferation of the hydrocarbon degrading bacterial community. Overall, the indigenous bacterial communities in our salt-marsh sediment in vitro microcosm study responded rapidly and shifted towards members of the taxonomic groups that are capable of surviving in an MC252 oil-contaminated environment.

Response of soil bacterial communities to lead and zinc pollution revealed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xihui; Zhang, Zhou; Hu, Shunli; Ruan, Zhepu; Jiang, Jiandong; Chen, Chen; Shen, Zhenguo

2017-01-01

Soil provides a critical environment for microbial community development. However, microorganisms may be sensitive to substances such as heavy metals (HMs), which are common soil contaminants. This study investigated bacterial communities using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene fragment sequencing in geographic regions with and without HM pollution to elucidate the effects of soil properties and HMs on bacterial communities. No obvious changes in the richness or diversity of bacterial communities were observed between samples from mining and control areas. Significant differences in bacterial richness and diversity were detected between samples from different geographic regions, indicating that the basic soil characteristics were the most important factors affecting bacterial communities other than HMs. However, the abundances of several phyla and genera differed significantly between mining and control samples, suggesting that Zn and Pb pollution may impact the soil bacterial community composition. Moreover, regression analyses showed that the relative abundances of these phyla and genera were correlated significantly with the soil-available Zn and Pb contents. Redundancy analysis indicated that the soil K, ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 4 + -N), total Cu, and available Zn and Cu contents were the most important factors. Our results not only suggested that the soil bacteria were sensitive to HM stresses but also indicated that other soil properties may affect soil microorganisms to a greater extent.

Effect of copper on the performance and bacterial communities of activated sludge using Illumina MiSeq platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fu-Lin; Fan, Lei-Lei; Xie, Guang-Jian

2016-08-01

The anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A2O) process is a highly efficient sewage treatment method, which uses complex bacterial communities. However, the effect of copper on this process and the bacterial communities involved remains unknown. In this study, a systematic investigation of the effect of persistent exposure of copper in the A2O wastewater treatment system was performed. An A2O device was designed to examine the effect of copper on the removal efficiency and microbial community compositions of activated sludge that was continuously treated with 10, 20, and 40 mg L(-1) copper, respectively. Surprisingly, a decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4N) removal efficiency was observed, and the toxicity of high copper concentration was significantly greater at 7d than at 1d. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Chlorobi, and Nitrospirae were the dominant bacterial taxa in the A2O system, and significant changes in microbial community were observed during the exposure period. Most of the dominant bacterial groups were easily susceptible to copper toxicity and diversely changed at different copper concentrations. However, not all the bacterial taxa were inhibited by copper treatment. At high copper concentration, many bacterial species were stimulated and their abundance increased. Cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs) revealed clear differences in the bacterial communities among the samples. These findings indicated that copper severely affected the performance and key microbial populations in the A2O system as well as disturbed the stability of the bacterial communities in the system, thus decreasing the removal efficiency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial and Species Variations in Bacterial Communities Associated with Corals from the Red Sea as Revealed by Pyrosequencing

KAUST Repository

Lee, O. O.

2012-08-03

Microbial associations with corals are common and are most likely symbiotic, although their diversity and relationships with environmental factors and host species remain unclear. In this study, we adopted a 16S rRNA gene tag-pyrosequencing technique to investigate the bacterial communities associated with three stony Scleractinea and two soft Octocorallia corals from three locations in the Red Sea. Our results revealed highly diverse bacterial communities in the Red Sea corals, with more than 600 ribotypes detected and up to 1,000 species estimated from a single coral species. Altogether, 21 bacterial phyla were recovered from the corals, of which Gammaproteobacteria was the most dominant group, and Chloroflexi, Chlamydiae, and the candidate phylum WS3 were reported in corals for the first time. The associated bacterial communities varied greatly with location, where environmental conditions differed significantly. Corals from disturbed areas appeared to share more similar bacterial communities, but larger variations in community structures were observed between different coral species from pristine waters. Ordination methods identified salinity and depth as the most influential parameters affecting the abundance of Vibrio, Pseudoalteromonas, Serratia, Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, and Achromobacter in the corals. On the other hand, bacteria such as Chloracidobacterium and Endozoicomonas were more sensitive to the coral species, suggesting that the host species type may be influential in the associated bacterial community, as well. The combined influences of the coral host and environmental factors on the associated microbial communities are discussed. This study represents the first comparative study using tag-pyrosequencing technology to investigate the bacterial communities in Red Sea corals.

Evaluating the efficacy of bioremediating a diesel-contaminated soil using ecotoxicological and bacterial community indices.

Science.gov (United States)

Khudur, Leadin Salah; Shahsavari, Esmaeil; Miranda, Ana F; Morrison, Paul D; Nugegoda, Dayanthi; Ball, Andrew S

2015-10-01

Diesel represents a common environmental contaminant as a result of operation, storage, and transportation accidents. The bioremediation of diesel in a contaminated soil is seen as an environmentally safe approach to treat contaminated land. The effectiveness of the remediation process is usually assessed by the degradation of the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration, without considering ecotoxicological effects. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of two bioremediation strategies in terms of reduction in TPH concentration together with ecotoxicity indices and changes in the bacterial diversity assessed using PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The biostimulation strategy resulted in a 90 % reduction in the TPH concentration versus 78 % reduction from the natural attenuation strategy over 12 weeks incubation in a laboratory mesocosm-containing diesel-contaminated soil. In contrast, the reduction in the ecotoxicity resulting from the natural attenuation treatment using the Microtox and earthworm toxicity assays was more than double the reduction resulting from the biostimulation treatment (45 and 20 % reduction, respectively). The biostimulated treatment involved the addition of nitrogen and phosphorus in order to stimulate the microorganisms by creating an optimal C:N:P molar ratio. An increased concentration of ammonium and phosphate was detected in the biostimulated soil compared with the naturally attenuated samples before and after the remediation process. Furthermore, through PCR-DGGE, significant changes in the bacterial community were observed as a consequence of adding the nutrients together with the diesel (biostimulation), resulting in the formation of distinctly different bacterial communities in the soil subjected to the two strategies used in this study. These findings indicate the suitability of both bioremediation approaches in treating hydrocarbon-contaminated soil, particularly biostimulation. Although

Structure of bacterial communities in soil following cover crop and organic fertilizer incorporation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Adria L; Sheaffer, Craig C; Wyse, Donald L; Staley, Christopher; Gould, Trevor J; Sadowsky, Michael J

2016-11-01

Incorporation of organic material into soils is an important element of organic farming practices that can affect the composition of the soil bacterial communities that carry out nutrient cycling and other functions crucial to crop health and growth. We conducted a field experiment to determine the effects of cover crops and fertilizers on bacterial community structure in agricultural soils under long-term organic management. Illumina sequencing of 16S rDNA revealed diverse communities comprising 45 bacterial phyla in corn rhizosphere and bulk field soil. Community structure was most affected by location and by the rhizosphere effect, followed by sampling time and amendment treatment. These effects were associated with soil physicochemical properties, including pH, moisture, organic matter, and nutrient levels. Treatment differences were apparent in bulk and rhizosphere soils at the time of peak corn growth in the season following cover crop and fertilizer application. Cover crop and fertilizer treatments tended to lower alpha diversity in early season samples. However, winter rye, oilseed radish, and buckwheat cover crop treatments increased alpha diversity in some later season samples compared to a no-amendment control. Fertilizer treatments and some cover crops decreased relative abundance of members of the ammonia-oxidizing family Nitrosomonadaceae. Pelleted poultry manure and Sustane® (a commercial fertilizer) decreased the relative abundance of Rhizobiales. Our data point to a need for future research exploring how (1) cover crops influence bacterial community structure and functions, (2) these effects differ with biomass composition and quantity, and (3) existing soil conditions and microbial community composition influence how soil microbial populations respond to agricultural management practices.

Changes in bacterial and fungal communities across compost recipes, preparation methods, and composting times.

Science.gov (United States)

Neher, Deborah A; Weicht, Thomas R; Bates, Scott T; Leff, Jonathan W; Fierer, Noah

2013-01-01

Compost production is a critical component of organic waste handling, and compost applications to soil are increasingly important to crop production. However, we know surprisingly little about the microbial communities involved in the composting process and the factors shaping compost microbial dynamics. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing approaches to assess the diversity and composition of both bacterial and fungal communities in compost produced at a commercial-scale. Bacterial and fungal communities responded to both compost recipe and composting method. Specifically, bacterial communities in manure and hay recipes contained greater relative abundances of Firmicutes than hardwood recipes with hay recipes containing relatively more Actinobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes. In contrast, hardwood recipes contained a large relative abundance of Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi. Fungal communities of compost from a mixture of dairy manure and silage-based bedding were distinguished by a greater relative abundance of Pezizomycetes and Microascales. Hay recipes uniquely contained abundant Epicoccum, Thermomyces, Eurotium, Arthrobotrys, and Myriococcum. Hardwood recipes contained relatively abundant Sordariomycetes. Holding recipe constant, there were significantly different bacterial and fungal communities when the composting process was managed by windrow, aerated static pile, or vermicompost. Temporal dynamics of the composting process followed known patterns of degradative succession in herbivore manure. The initial community was dominated by Phycomycetes, followed by Ascomycota and finally Basidiomycota. Zygomycota were associated more with manure-silage and hay than hardwood composts. Most commercial composters focus on the thermophilic phase as an economic means to insure sanitation of compost from pathogens. However, the community succeeding the thermophilic phase begs further investigation to determine how the microbial dynamics observed here can be best managed

Changes in soil bacterial community structure as a result of incorporation of Brassica plants compared with continuous planting eggplant and chemical disinfection in greenhouses.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tianzhu; Liu, Tongtong; Zheng, Chengyu; Kang, Chunsheng; Yang, Zichao; Yao, Xiaotong; Song, Fengbin; Zhang, Runzhi; Wang, Xuerong; Xu, Ning; Zhang, Chunyi; Li, Wei; Li, Shumin

2017-01-01

Greenhouse eggplant monocropping in China has contributed to the aggravation of soil-borne diseases, reductions in crop quality and yield, and the degradation of physical and chemical soil properties. Crop rotation is one effective way of alleviating the problems of continuous cropping worldwide; however, few studies have reported changes in soil bacterial community structures and physical and chemical soil properties after Brassica vegetables had been rotated with eggplant in greenhouses. In this experiment, mustard-eggplant (BFN) and oilseed rape-eggplant (BFC) rotations were studied to identify changes in the physicochemical properties and bacterial community structure in soil that was previously subject to monocropping. Samples were taken after two types of Brassica plants incorporated into soil for 15 days to compare with continually planted eggplant (control, CN) and chemical disinfection of soil (CF) in greenhouses. MiSeq pyrosequencing was used to analyze soil bacterial diversity and structure in the four different treatments. A total of 55,129 reads were identified, and rarefaction analysis showed that the soil treatments were equally sampled. The bacterial richness of the BFC treatment and the diversity of the BFN treatment were significantly higher than those of the other treatments. Further comparison showed that the bacterial community structures of BFC and BFN treatments were also different from CN and CF treatments. The relative abundance of several dominant bacterial genera in the BFC and BFN treatments (such as Flavobacteria, Stenotrophomonas, Massilia and Cellvibrio, which played different roles in improving soil fertility and advancing plant growth) was distinctly higher than the CN or CF treatments. Additionally, the total organic matter and Olsen-P content of the BFC and BFN treatments were significantly greater than the CN treatment. We conclude that Brassica vegetables-eggplant crop rotations could provide a more effective means of solving

Spatial distribution of planktonic bacterial and archaeal communities in the upper section of the tidal reach in Yangtze River

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Limin; Song, Chao; Meng, Shunlong; Qiu, Liping; Zheng, Yao; Wu, Wei; Qu, Jianhong; Li, Dandan; Zhang, Cong; Hu, Gengdong; Chen, Jiazhang

2016-01-01

Bacterioplankton and archaeaplankton communities play key roles in the biogeochemical processes of water, and they may be affected by many factors. In this study, we used high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to profile planktonic bacterial and archaeal community compositions in the upper section of the tidal reach in Yangtze River. We found that the predominant bacterial phyla in this river section were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria, whereas the predominant archaeal classes were Halobacteria, Methanomicrobia, and unclassified Euryarchaeota. Additionally, the bacterial and archaeal community compositions, richnesses, functional profiles, and ordinations were affected by the spatial heterogeneity related to the concentration changes of sulphate or nitrate. Notably, the bacterial community was more sensitive than the archaeal community to changes in the spatial characteristics of this river section. These findings provide important insights into the distributions of bacterial and archaeal communities in natural water habitats. PMID:27966673

Archaeal and bacterial community analysis of several Yellowstone National Park hot springs

Science.gov (United States)

Colman, D. R.; Takacs-Vesbach, C. D.

2012-12-01

The hot springs of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) are home to a diverse assemblage of microorganisms. Culture-independent studies have significantly expanded our understanding of the diversity of both Bacteria and Archaea present in YNP springs as well as the geochemical and ecological controls on communities. While the ecological analysis of Bacteria among the physicochemically heterogenous springs of YNP has been previously conducted, less is known about the extent of diversity of Archaeal communities and the chemical and ecological controls on their populations. Here we report a culture-independent analysis of 31 hot spring archaeal and bacterial communities of YNP springs using next generation sequencing. We found the phylogenetic diversity of Archaea to be generally comparable to that of co-occurring bacterial communities although overall, in the springs we investigated, diversity was higher for Bacteria than Archaea. Chemical and physical controls were similar for both domains with pH correlating most strongly with community composition. Community differences reflected the partitioning of taxonomic groups in low or high pH springs for both domains. Results will be discussed in a geochemical and ecological context.

Impact of Anthracene Exposure on Bacterial Community Composition and Function in an Egyptian Marine Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakaria, A.E.M.; Lappin-Scott, H.

2013-01-01

The application of bioremediation technology for pollution treatment requires more knowledge about how do microbial communities respond to pollutant exposure. The main goals of this study are to investigate the behavior of natural bacterial microflora of Suez Gulf (SGM) in response to exposure to different concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) for different periods. In this study, anthracene, as a model of (PAHs) was added in different concentrations, (30,150 and 500 ppm) to fertilized Suez Gulf water in shaking microcosms to examine the possible shifts in bacterial community composition and function. Changes in bacterial community composition was followed up after different periods of exposure (0, 6, 12, and 18) days to the above mentioned concentrations of anthracene by profiling the amplified product of 16S rDNA via denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of SGM in treated microcosm separately. DGGE profiles revealed remarkable changes in diversity due to exposure concentration and duration to anthracene. A diverse relationship between anthracene concentration and bacterial diversity was detected. On the other hand, changes in community function were determined by testing the biodegradation capabilities of the consortia after different exposures separately in microcosms containing 50 ppm of anthracene for 14 days. The remaining anthracene was extracted and monitored by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and DGGE profiles of amplified 16S rDNA extracted from parallel biodegradation microcosms were examined to indicate the effects of pre-exposure to different concentrations for different periods to PAHs on the bacterial community compositions. The results confirm that the long term effects of pre exposure to high concentrations of PAH on the bacterial community composition, suggesting that that some organisms can be used as a bio marker indicating the exposures of the marine environment to high concentrations of PAHs. HPLC

Analysis of bacterial and fungal community structure in replant ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

High quality DNA is the basis of analyzing bacterial and fungal community structure in replant strawberry rhizosphere soil with the method of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DNA of soil microorganisms was extracted from the rhizosphere soil of strawberries planted in different replanted years (0, two, ...

Comparison of bacterial communities of tilapia fish from Cameroon ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Comparison of bacterial communities of tilapia fish from Cameroon and Vietnam using PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) ... The different PCR-DGGE 16S rDNA banding profiles obtained were analysed and results showed that there were specific bands for each geographical ...

The bacterial community composition of the surface microlayer in a high mountain lake.

Science.gov (United States)

Hörtnagl, Paul; Pérez, Maria Teresa; Zeder, Michael; Sommaruga, Ruben

2010-09-01

The existence of bacterioneuston in aquatic ecosystems is well established, but little is known about its composition and dynamics, particularly in lakes. The bacterioneuston underlies extreme conditions at the air-water boundary, which may influence its dynamics in a different way compared with the bacterioplankton. In this study, we assessed quantitative changes in major bacterial groups of the surface microlayer (SML) (upper 900 microm) and the underlying water (ULW) (0.2-0.5 m depth) of an alpine lake during two consecutive ice-free seasons. Analysis of the bacterial community composition was done using catalyzed reporter deposition FISH with oligonucleotide probes. In addition, several physicochemical parameters were measured to characterize these two water layers. Dissolved organic carbon was consistently enriched in the SML and the dissolved organic matter pool presented clear signals of photodegradation and photobleaching. The water temperature was generally colder in the SML than in the subsurface. The bacterial community of the SML and the ULW was dominated by Betaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The bacterial community composition was associated with different combinations of physicochemical factors in these two layers, but temporal changes showed similar trends in both layers over the two seasons. Our results identify the SML of alpine lakes as a microhabitat where specific bacterial members such as of Betaproteobacteria seem to be efficient colonizers.

Endophytic bacterial community of grapevine leaves influenced by sampling date and phytoplasma infection process.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulgari, Daniela; Casati, Paola; Quaglino, Fabio; Bianco, Piero A

2014-07-21

Endophytic bacteria benefit host plant directly or indirectly, e.g. by biocontrol of the pathogens. Up to now, their interactions with the host and with other microorganisms are poorly understood. Consequently, a crucial step for improving the knowledge of those relationships is to determine if pathogens or plant growing season influence endophytic bacterial diversity and dynamic. Four healthy, four phytoplasma diseased and four recovered (symptomatic plants that spontaneously regain a healthy condition) grapevine plants were sampled monthly from June to October 2010 in a vineyard in north-western Italy. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from sterilized leaves and the endophytic bacterial community dynamic and diversity were analyzed by taxon specific real-time PCR, Length-Heterogeneity PCR and genus-specific PCR. These analyses revealed that both sampling date and phytoplasma infection influenced the endophytic bacterial composition. Interestingly, in June, when the plants are symptomless and the pathogen is undetectable (i) the endophytic bacterial community associated with diseased grapevines was different from those in the other sampling dates, when the phytoplasmas are detectable inside samples; (ii) the microbial community associated with recovered plants differs from that living inside healthy and diseased plants. Interestingly, LH-PCR database identified bacteria previously reported as biocontrol agents in the examined grapevines. Of these, Burkholderia, Methylobacterium and Pantoea dynamic was influenced by the phytoplasma infection process and seasonality. Results indicated that endophytic bacterial community composition in grapevine is correlated to both phytoplasma infection and sampling date. For the first time, data underlined that, in diseased plants, the pathogen infection process can decrease the impact of seasonality on community dynamic. Moreover, based on experimental evidences, it was reasonable to hypothesize that after recovery the restructured

Pole-to-pole biogeography of surface and deep marine bacterial communities

Science.gov (United States)

Ghiglione, Jean-François; Galand, Pierre E.; Pommier, Thomas; Pedrós-Alió, Carlos; Maas, Elizabeth W.; Bakker, Kevin; Bertilson, Stefan; Kirchman, David L.; Lovejoy, Connie; Yager, Patricia L.; Murray, Alison E.

2012-01-01

The Antarctic and Arctic regions offer a unique opportunity to test factors shaping biogeography of marine microbial communities because these regions are geographically far apart, yet share similar selection pressures. Here, we report a comprehensive comparison of bacterioplankton diversity between polar oceans, using standardized methods for pyrosequencing the V6 region of the small subunit ribosomal (SSU) rRNA gene. Bacterial communities from lower latitude oceans were included, providing a global perspective. A clear difference between Southern and Arctic Ocean surface communities was evident, with 78% of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) unique to the Southern Ocean and 70% unique to the Arctic Ocean. Although polar ocean bacterial communities were more similar to each other than to lower latitude pelagic communities, analyses of depths, seasons, and coastal vs. open waters, the Southern and Arctic Ocean bacterioplankton communities consistently clustered separately from each other. Coastal surface Southern and Arctic Ocean communities were more dissimilar from their respective open ocean communities. In contrast, deep ocean communities differed less between poles and lower latitude deep waters and displayed different diversity patterns compared with the surface. In addition, estimated diversity (Chao1) for surface and deep communities did not correlate significantly with latitude or temperature. Our results suggest differences in environmental conditions at the poles and different selection mechanisms controlling surface and deep ocean community structure and diversity. Surface bacterioplankton may be subjected to more short-term, variable conditions, whereas deep communities appear to be structured by longer water-mass residence time and connectivity through ocean circulation. PMID:23045668

Time-scales of hydrological forcing on the geochemistry and bacterial community structure of temperate peat soils

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Flavia L. D.; Aquilina, Luc; De Ridder, Jo; Francez, André-Jean; Quaiser, Achim; Caudal, Jean-Pierre; Vandenkoornhuyse, Philippe; Dufresne, Alexis

2015-10-01

Peatlands are an important global carbon reservoir. The continued accumulation of carbon in peatlands depends on the persistence of anoxic conditions, in part induced by water saturation, which prevents oxidation of organic matter, and slows down decomposition. Here we investigate how and over what time scales the hydrological regime impacts the geochemistry and the bacterial community structure of temperate peat soils. Peat cores from two sites having contrasting groundwater budgets were subjected to four controlled drought-rewetting cycles. Pore water geochemistry and metagenomic profiling of bacterial communities showed that frequent water table drawdown induced lower concentrations of dissolved carbon, higher concentrations of sulfate and iron and reduced bacterial richness and diversity in the peat soil and water. Short-term drought cycles (3-9 day frequency) resulted in different communities from continuously saturated environments. Furthermore, the site that has more frequently experienced water table drawdown during the last two decades presented the most striking shifts in bacterial community structure, altering biogeochemical functioning of peat soils. Our results suggest that the increase in frequency and duration of drought conditions under changing climatic conditions or water resource use can induce profound changes in bacterial communities, with potentially severe consequences for carbon storage in temperate peatlands.

Long-term nickel exposure altered the bacterial community composition but not diversity in two contrasting agricultural soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Hu, Hang-Wei; Ma, Yi-Bing; Wang, Jun-Tao; Liu, Yu-Rong; He, Ji-Zheng

2015-07-01

Nickel pollution imposes deleterious effects on soil ecosystem. The responses of soil microorganisms to long-term nickel pollution under field conditions remain largely unknown. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing to elucidate the impacts of long-term nickel pollution on soil bacterial communities in two contrasting agricultural soils. Our results found that the soil microbial biomass carbon consistently decreased along the nickel gradients in both soils. Nickel pollution selectively favored or impeded the prevalence of several dominant bacterial guilds, in particular, Actinobacteria showed tolerance, while Acidobacteria and Planctomycetes displayed sensitivity. Despite the apparent shifts in the bacterial community composition, no clear tendency in the bacterial diversity and abundance was identified along the nickel gradients in either soil. Collectively, we provide evidence that long-term nickel pollution shifted the soil bacterial communities, resulting in the decrease of microbial biomass although the bacterial diversity was not significantly changed.

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Bacterial and Faunal Communities Associated with Deep-Sea Wood Falls

Science.gov (United States)

Bienhold, Christina; Wenzhöfer, Frank; Rossel, Pamela E.; Boetius, Antje

2017-01-01

Sinking of large organic food falls i.e. kelp, wood and whale carcasses to the oligotrophic deep-sea floor promotes the establishment of locally highly productive and diverse ecosystems, often with specifically adapted benthic communities. However, the fragmented spatial distribution and small area poses challenges for the dispersal of their microbial and faunal communities. Our study focused on the temporal dynamics and spatial distributions of sunken wood bacterial communities, which were deployed in the vicinity of different cold seeps in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Norwegian deep-seas. By combining fingerprinting of bacterial communities by ARISA and 454 sequencing with in situ and ex situ biogeochemical measurements, we show that sunken wood logs have a locally confined long-term impact (> 3y) on the sediment geochemistry and community structure. We confirm previous hypotheses of different successional stages in wood degradation including a sulphophilic one, attracting chemosynthetic fauna from nearby seep systems. Wood experiments deployed at similar water depths (1100–1700 m), but in hydrographically different oceanic regions harbored different wood-boring bivalves, opportunistic faunal communities, and chemosynthetic species. Similarly, bacterial communities on sunken wood logs were more similar within one geographic region than between different seas. Diverse sulphate-reducing bacteria of the Deltaproteobacteria, the sulphide-oxidizing bacteria Sulfurovum as well as members of the Acidimicrobiia and Bacteroidia dominated the wood falls in the Eastern Mediterranean, while Alphaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia colonized the Norwegian Sea wood logs. Fauna and bacterial wood-associated communities changed between 1 to 3 years of immersion, with sulphate-reducers and sulphide-oxidizers increasing in proportion, and putative cellulose degraders decreasing with time. Only 6% of all bacterial genera, comprising the core community, were found at any time

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Bacterial and Faunal Communities Associated with Deep-Sea Wood Falls.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Pop Ristova

Full Text Available Sinking of large organic food falls i.e. kelp, wood and whale carcasses to the oligotrophic deep-sea floor promotes the establishment of locally highly productive and diverse ecosystems, often with specifically adapted benthic communities. However, the fragmented spatial distribution and small area poses challenges for the dispersal of their microbial and faunal communities. Our study focused on the temporal dynamics and spatial distributions of sunken wood bacterial communities, which were deployed in the vicinity of different cold seeps in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Norwegian deep-seas. By combining fingerprinting of bacterial communities by ARISA and 454 sequencing with in situ and ex situ biogeochemical measurements, we show that sunken wood logs have a locally confined long-term impact (> 3y on the sediment geochemistry and community structure. We confirm previous hypotheses of different successional stages in wood degradation including a sulphophilic one, attracting chemosynthetic fauna from nearby seep systems. Wood experiments deployed at similar water depths (1100-1700 m, but in hydrographically different oceanic regions harbored different wood-boring bivalves, opportunistic faunal communities, and chemosynthetic species. Similarly, bacterial communities on sunken wood logs were more similar within one geographic region than between different seas. Diverse sulphate-reducing bacteria of the Deltaproteobacteria, the sulphide-oxidizing bacteria Sulfurovum as well as members of the Acidimicrobiia and Bacteroidia dominated the wood falls in the Eastern Mediterranean, while Alphaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia colonized the Norwegian Sea wood logs. Fauna and bacterial wood-associated communities changed between 1 to 3 years of immersion, with sulphate-reducers and sulphide-oxidizers increasing in proportion, and putative cellulose degraders decreasing with time. Only 6% of all bacterial genera, comprising the core community, were

Effect of Pre-weaning Diet on the Ruminal Archaeal, Bacterial, and Fungal Communities of Dairy Calves.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Juliana; Marcondes, Marcos I; Noronha, Melline F; Resende, Rafael T; Machado, Fernanda S; Mantovani, Hilário C; Dill-McFarland, Kimberly A; Suen, Garret

2017-01-01

At birth, calves display an underdeveloped rumen that eventually matures into a fully functional rumen as a result of solid food intake and microbial activity. However, little is known regarding the gradual impact of pre-weaning diet on the establishment of the rumen microbiota. Here, we employed next-generation sequencing to investigate the effects of the inclusion of starter concentrate (M: milk-fed vs. MC: milk plus starter concentrate fed) on archaeal, bacterial and anaerobic fungal communities in the rumens of 45 crossbred dairy calves across pre-weaning development (7, 28, 49, and 63 days). Our results show that archaeal, bacterial, and fungal taxa commonly found in the mature rumen were already established in the rumens of calves at 7 days old, regardless of diet. This confirms that microbiota colonization occurs in the absence of solid substrate. However, diet did significantly impact some microbial taxa. In the bacterial community, feeding starter concentrate promoted greater diversity of bacterial taxa known to degrade readily fermentable carbohydrates in the rumen (e.g., Megasphaera, Sharpea , and Succinivribrio ). Shifts in the ruminal bacterial community also correlated to changes in fermentation patterns that favored the colonization of Methanosphaera sp. A4 in the rumen of MC calves. In contrast, M calves displayed a bacterial community dominated by taxa able to utilize milk nutrients (e.g., Lactobacillus, Bacteroides , and Parabacteroides ). In both diet groups, the dominance of these milk-associated taxa decreased with age, suggesting that diet and age simultaneously drive changes in the structure and abundance of bacterial communities in the developing rumen. Changes in the composition and abundance of archaeal communities were attributed exclusively to diet, with more highly abundant Methanosphaera and less abundant Methanobrevibacter in MC calves. Finally, the fungal community was dominated by members of the genus SK3 and Caecomyces . Relative

Effect of Pre-weaning Diet on the Ruminal Archaeal, Bacterial, and Fungal Communities of Dairy Calves

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Juliana; Marcondes, Marcos I.; Noronha, Melline F.; Resende, Rafael T.; Machado, Fernanda S.; Mantovani, Hilário C.; Dill-McFarland, Kimberly A.; Suen, Garret

2017-01-01

At birth, calves display an underdeveloped rumen that eventually matures into a fully functional rumen as a result of solid food intake and microbial activity. However, little is known regarding the gradual impact of pre-weaning diet on the establishment of the rumen microbiota. Here, we employed next-generation sequencing to investigate the effects of the inclusion of starter concentrate (M: milk-fed vs. MC: milk plus starter concentrate fed) on archaeal, bacterial and anaerobic fungal communities in the rumens of 45 crossbred dairy calves across pre-weaning development (7, 28, 49, and 63 days). Our results show that archaeal, bacterial, and fungal taxa commonly found in the mature rumen were already established in the rumens of calves at 7 days old, regardless of diet. This confirms that microbiota colonization occurs in the absence of solid substrate. However, diet did significantly impact some microbial taxa. In the bacterial community, feeding starter concentrate promoted greater diversity of bacterial taxa known to degrade readily fermentable carbohydrates in the rumen (e.g., Megasphaera, Sharpea, and Succinivribrio). Shifts in the ruminal bacterial community also correlated to changes in fermentation patterns that favored the colonization of Methanosphaera sp. A4 in the rumen of MC calves. In contrast, M calves displayed a bacterial community dominated by taxa able to utilize milk nutrients (e.g., Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, and Parabacteroides). In both diet groups, the dominance of these milk-associated taxa decreased with age, suggesting that diet and age simultaneously drive changes in the structure and abundance of bacterial communities in the developing rumen. Changes in the composition and abundance of archaeal communities were attributed exclusively to diet, with more highly abundant Methanosphaera and less abundant Methanobrevibacter in MC calves. Finally, the fungal community was dominated by members of the genus SK3 and Caecomyces. Relative

Effect of Pre-weaning Diet on the Ruminal Archaeal, Bacterial, and Fungal Communities of Dairy Calves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Dias

2017-08-01

Full Text Available At birth, calves display an underdeveloped rumen that eventually matures into a fully functional rumen as a result of solid food intake and microbial activity. However, little is known regarding the gradual impact of pre-weaning diet on the establishment of the rumen microbiota. Here, we employed next-generation sequencing to investigate the effects of the inclusion of starter concentrate (M: milk-fed vs. MC: milk plus starter concentrate fed on archaeal, bacterial and anaerobic fungal communities in the rumens of 45 crossbred dairy calves across pre-weaning development (7, 28, 49, and 63 days. Our results show that archaeal, bacterial, and fungal taxa commonly found in the mature rumen were already established in the rumens of calves at 7 days old, regardless of diet. This confirms that microbiota colonization occurs in the absence of solid substrate. However, diet did significantly impact some microbial taxa. In the bacterial community, feeding starter concentrate promoted greater diversity of bacterial taxa known to degrade readily fermentable carbohydrates in the rumen (e.g., Megasphaera, Sharpea, and Succinivribrio. Shifts in the ruminal bacterial community also correlated to changes in fermentation patterns that favored the colonization of Methanosphaera sp. A4 in the rumen of MC calves. In contrast, M calves displayed a bacterial community dominated by taxa able to utilize milk nutrients (e.g., Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, and Parabacteroides. In both diet groups, the dominance of these milk-associated taxa decreased with age, suggesting that diet and age simultaneously drive changes in the structure and abundance of bacterial communities in the developing rumen. Changes in the composition and abundance of archaeal communities were attributed exclusively to diet, with more highly abundant Methanosphaera and less abundant Methanobrevibacter in MC calves. Finally, the fungal community was dominated by members of the genus SK3 and Caecomyces

Structural Variation in the Bacterial Community Associated with Airborne Particulate Matter in Beijing, China, during Hazy and Nonhazy Days.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Dong; Zhang, Tao; Su, Jing; Zhao, Li-Li; Wang, Hao; Fang, Xiao-Mei; Zhang, Yu-Qin; Liu, Hong-Yu; Yu, Li-Yan

2018-05-01

The structural variation of the bacterial community associated with particulate matter (PM) was assessed in an urban area of Beijing during hazy and nonhazy days. Sampling for different PM fractions (PM 2.5 [airborne bacterial community in these samples was analyzed using the Illumina MiSeq platform with bacterium-specific primers targeting the 16S rRNA gene. A total of 1,707,072 reads belonging to 6,009 operational taxonomic units were observed. The airborne bacterial community composition was significantly affected by PM fractions ( R = 0.157, P airborne bacterial community composition. Only six genera increased across PM 10 samples ( Dokdonella , Caenimonas , Geminicoccus , and Sphingopyxis ) and PM 2.5 samples ( Cellulomonas and Rhizobacter ), while a large number of taxa significantly increased in total suspended particulate samples, such as Paracoccus , Kocuria , and Sphingomonas Network analysis indicated that Paracoccus , Rubellimicrobium , Kocuria , and Arthrobacter were the key genera in the airborne PM samples. Overall, the findings presented here suggest that diverse airborne bacterial communities are associated with PM and provide further understanding of bacterial community structure in the atmosphere during hazy and nonhazy days. IMPORTANCE The results presented here represent an analysis of the airborne bacterial community associated with particulate matter (PM) and advance our understanding of the structural variation of these communities. We observed a shift in bacterial community composition with PM fractions but no significant difference with haze levels. This may be because the bacterial differences are obscured by high bacterial diversity in the atmosphere. However, we also observed that a few genera (such as Methylobacillus , Tumebacillus , and Desulfurispora ) increased significantly on heavy-haze days. In addition, Paracoccus , Rubellimicrobium , Kocuria , and Arthrobacter were the key genera in the airborne PM samples. Accurate and real

The impact of shrimp farming effluent on bacterial communities in mangrove waters, Ceará, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa, O V; Macrae, A; Menezes, F G R; Gomes, N C M; Vieira, R H S F; Mendonça-Hagler, L C S

2006-12-01

The effects of shrimp farm effluents on bacterial communities in mangroves have been infrequently reported. Classic and molecular biology methods were used to survey bacterial communities from four mangroves systems. Water temperature, salinity, pH, total heterotrophic bacteria and maximum probable numbers of Vibrio spp. were investigated. Genetic profiles of bacterial communities were also characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of eubacterial and Vibrio 16S rDNA using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Highest heterotrophic counts were registered in the mangrove not directly polluted by shrimp farming. The Enterobacteriaceae and Chryseomonas luteola dominated the heterotrophic isolates. Vibrio spp. pathogenic to humans and shrimps were identified. Eubacterial genetic profiles suggest a shared community structure independent of mangrove system. Vibrio genetic profiles were mangrove specific. Neither microbial counts nor genetic profiling revealed a significant decrease in species richness associated with shrimp farm effluent. The complex nature of mangrove ecosystems and their microbial communities is discussed.

[Algo-bacterial communities of the Kulunda steppe (Altai region, Russia) soda lakes].

Science.gov (United States)

Samylina, O S; Sapozhnikov, F V; Gaĭnanova, O Iu; Riabova, A V; Nikitin, M A; Sorokin, D Iu

2015-01-01

The composition and macroscopic structure of the floating oxygenic phototrophic communities from Kulunda steppe soda lakes (Petukhovskoe sodovoe, Tanatara VI, and Gorchiny 3) was described based on the data of the 2011 and 2012 expeditions (Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology). The algo-bacterial community with a green alga Ctenocladus circinnatus as an edificator was the typical one. Filamentous Geitlerinema sp. and Nodosilinea sp. were the dominant cyanobacteria. Apart from C. circinnatus, the algological component of the community contained unicellular green algae Dunaliella viridis and cf. Chlorella minutissima, as well as diatoms (Anomeoneis sphaerophora, Brchysira brebissonii, Brachysira zellensis, Mastogloia pusilla var. subcapitata, Nitzschia amphibia, Nitzschia communis, and Nitzschia sp.1). The latter have not been previously identified in the lakes under study. In all lakes, a considerable increase in salinity was found to result in changes in the composition and macroscopic structure of algo-bacterial communities.

Dynamic Effects of Biochar on the Bacterial Community Structure in Soil Contaminated with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yang; Bian, Yongrong; Wang, Fang; Xu, Min; Ni, Ni; Yang, Xinglun; Gu, Chenggang; Jiang, Xin

2017-08-16

Amending soil with biochar is an effective soil remediation strategy for organic contaminants. This study investigated the dynamic effects of wheat straw biochar on the bacterial community structure during remediation by high-throughput sequencing. The wheat straw biochar amended into the soil significantly reduced the bioavailability and toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Biochar amendment helped to maintain the bacterial diversity in the PAH-contaminated soil. The relationship between the immobilization of PAHs and the soil bacterial diversity fit a quadratic model. Before week 12 of the incubation, the incubation time was the main factor contributing to the changes in the soil bacterial community structure. However, biochar greatly affected the bacterial community structure after 12 weeks of amendment, and the effects were dependent upon the biochar type. Amendment with biochar mainly facilitated the growth of rare bacterial genera (relative abundance of 0.01-1%) in the studied soil. Therefore, the application of wheat straw biochar into PAH-contaminated soil can reduce the environmental risks of PAHs and benefit the soil microbial ecology.

Activity and stability of a complex bacterial soil community under simulated Martian conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Aviaja Anna; Merrison, Jonathan; Nørnberg, Per; Aagaard Lomstein, Bente; Finster, Kai

2005-04-01

A simulation experiment with a complex bacterial soil community in a Mars simulation chamber was performed to determine the effect of Martian conditions on community activity, stability and survival. At three different depths in the soil core short-term effects of Martian conditions with and without ultraviolet (UV) exposure corresponding to 8 Martian Sol were compared. Community metabolic activities and functional diversity, measured as glucose respiration and versatility in substrate utilization, respectively, decreased after UV exposure, whereas they remained unaffected by Martian conditions without UV exposure. In contrast, the numbers of culturable bacteria and the genetic diversity were unaffected by the simulated Martian conditions both with and without UV exposure. The genetic diversity of the soil community and of the colonies grown on agar plates were evaluated by denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) on DNA extracts. Desiccation of the soil prior to experimentation affected the functional diversity by decreasing the versatility in substrate utilization. The natural dominance of endospores and Gram-positive bacteria in the investigated Mars-analogue soil may explain the limited effect of the Mars incubations on the survival and community structure. Our results suggest that UV radiation and desiccation are major selecting factors on bacterial functional diversity in terrestrial bacterial communities incubated under simulated Martian conditions. Furthermore, these results suggest that forward contamination of Mars is a matter of great concern in future space missions.

Influence of environmental variables on the structure and composition of soil bacterial communities in natural and constructed wetlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Arroyo, Paula; Sáenz de Miera, Luis E; Ansola, Gemma

2015-02-15

Bacteria are key players in wetland ecosystems, however many essential aspects regarding the ecology of wetland bacterial communities remain unknown. The present study characterizes soil bacterial communities from natural and constructed wetlands through the pyrosequencing of 16S rDNA genes in order to evaluate the influence of wetland variables on bacterial community composition and structure. The results show that the composition of soil bacterial communities was significantly associated with the wetland type (natural or constructed wetland), the type of environment (lagoon, Typha or Salix) and three continuous parameters (SOM, COD and TKN). However, no clear associations were observed with soil pH. Bacterial diversity values were significantly lower in the constructed wetland with the highest inlet nutrient concentrations. The abundances of particular metabolic groups were also related to wetland characteristics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relationship between cystic fibrosis respiratory tract bacterial communities and age, genotype, antibiotics and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Klepac-Ceraj, Vanja; Lemon, Katherine P; Martin, Thomas R; Allgaier, Martin; Kembel, Steven W; Knapp, Alixandra A; Lory, Stephen; Brodie, Eoin L; Lynch, Susan V; Bohannan, Brendan J M; Green, Jessica L; Maurer, Brian A; Kolter, Roberto

2010-05-01

Polymicrobial bronchopulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) cause progressive lung damage and death. Although the arrival of Pseudomonas aeruginosa often heralds a more rapid rate of pulmonary decline, there is significant inter-individual variation in the rate of decline, the causes of which remain poorly understood. By coupling culture-independent methods with ecological analyses, we discovered correlations between bacterial community profiles and clinical disease markers in respiratory tracts of 45 children with CF. Bacterial community complexity was inversely correlated with patient age, presence of P. aeruginosa and antibiotic exposure, and was related to CF genotype. Strikingly, bacterial communities lacking P. aeruginosa were much more similar to each other than were those containing P. aeruginosa, regardless of antibiotic exposure. This suggests that community composition might be a better predictor of disease progression than the presence of P. aeruginosa alone and deserves further study.

Development of bacterial communities in biological soil crusts along a revegetation chronosequence in the Tengger Desert, northwest China

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lichao; Liu, Yubing; Zhang, Peng; Song, Guang; Hui, Rong; Wang, Zengru; Wang, Jin

2017-08-01

Knowledge of structure and function of microbial communities in different successional stages of biological soil crusts (BSCs) is still scarce for desert areas. In this study, Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used to assess the compositional changes of bacterial communities in different ages of BSCs in the revegetation of Shapotou in the Tengger Desert. The most dominant phyla of bacterial communities shifted with the changed types of BSCs in the successional stages, from Firmicutes in mobile sand and physical crusts to Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in BSCs, and the most dominant genera shifted from Bacillus, Enterococcus and Lactococcus to RB41_norank and JG34-KF-361_norank. Alpha diversity and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis indicated that bacterial richness and abundance reached their highest levels after 15 years of BSC development. Redundancy analysis showed that silt + clay content and total K were the prime determinants of the bacterial communities of BSCs. The results suggested that bacterial communities of BSCs recovered quickly with the improved soil physicochemical properties in the early stages of BSC succession. Changes in the bacterial community structure may be an important indicator in the biogeochemical cycling and nutrient storage in early successional stages of BSCs in desert ecosystems.

Bacterial and archaeal communities in the deep-sea sediments of inactive hydrothermal vents in the Southwest India Ridge

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Likui; Kang, Manyu; Xu, Jiajun; Xu, Jian; Shuai, Yinjie; Zhou, Xiaojian; Yang, Zhihui; Ma, Kesen

2016-05-01

Active deep-sea hydrothermal vents harbor abundant thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms. However, microbial communities in inactive hydrothermal vents have not been well documented. Here, we investigated bacterial and archaeal communities in the two deep-sea sediments (named as TVG4 and TVG11) collected from inactive hydrothermal vents in the Southwest India Ridge using the high-throughput sequencing technology of Illumina MiSeq2500 platform. Based on the V4 region of 16S rRNA gene, sequence analysis showed that bacterial communities in the two samples were dominated by Proteobacteria, followed by Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Furthermore, archaeal communities in the two samples were dominated by Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. Comparative analysis showed that (i) TVG4 displayed the higher bacterial richness and lower archaeal richness than TVG11; (ii) the two samples had more divergence in archaeal communities than bacterial communities. Bacteria and archaea that are potentially associated with nitrogen, sulfur metal and methane cycling were detected in the two samples. Overall, we first provided a comparative picture of bacterial and archaeal communities and revealed their potentially ecological roles in the deep-sea environments of inactive hydrothermal vents in the Southwest Indian Ridge, augmenting microbial communities in inactive hydrothermal vents.

Bacterial community structure and variation in a full-scale seawater desalination plant for drinking water production

KAUST Repository

Belila, Abdelaziz

2016-02-18

Microbial processes inevitably play a role in membrane-based desalination plants, mainly recognized as membrane biofouling. We assessed the bacterial community structure and diversity during different treatment steps in a full-scale seawater desalination plant producing 40,000 m3/d of drinking water. Water samples were taken over the full treatment train consisting of chlorination, spruce media and cartridge filters, de-chlorination, first and second pass reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and final chlorine dosage for drinking water distribution. The water samples were analyzed for water quality parameters (total bacterial cell number, total organic carbon, conductivity, pH, etc.) and microbial community composition by 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. The planktonic microbial community was dominated by Proteobacteria (48.6%) followed by Bacteroidetes (15%), Firmicutes (9.3%) and Cyanobacteria (4.9%). During the pretreatment step, the spruce media filter did not impact the bacterial community composition dominated by Proteobacteria. In contrast, the RO and final chlorination treatment steps reduced the Proteobacterial relative abundance in the produced water where Firmicutes constituted the most dominant bacterial group. Shannon and Chao1 diversity indices showed that bacterial species richness and diversity decreased during the seawater desalination process. The two-stage RO filtration strongly reduced the water conductivity (>99%), TOC concentration (98.5%) and total bacterial cell number (>99%), albeit some bacterial DNA was found in the water after RO filtration. About 0.25% of the total bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were present in all stages of the desalination plant: the seawater, the RO permeates and the chlorinated drinking water, suggesting that these bacterial strains can survive in different environments such as high/low salt concentration and with/without residual disinfectant. These bacterial strains were not caused by contamination during

Bacterial community composition and potential driving factors in different reef habitats of the Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kegler, Hauke F.; Lukman, Muhammad; Teichberg, Mirta

2017-01-01

Coastal eutrophication is a key driver of shifts in bacterial communities on coral reefs. With fringing and patch reefs at varying distances from the coast the Spermonde Archipelago in southern Sulawesi, Indonesia offers ideal conditions to study the effects of coastal eutrophication along...... a spatially defined gradient. The present study investigated bacterial community composition of three coral reef habitats: the water column, sediments, and mucus of the hard coral genus Fungia, along that cross shelf environmental and water quality gradient. The main research questions were: (1) How do water....../Shigella (Gammaproteobacteria) and Raistonia (Betaproteobacteria), respectively, both dominated the bacterial community composition of the both size fractions of the water column and coral mucus. The sampled reef sediments were more diverse, and no single OTUs was dominant. There was no gradual shift in bacterial classes...

Coupled cryoconite ecosystem structure-function relationships are revealed by comparing bacterial communities in alpine and Arctic glaciers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edwards, Arwyn; Mur, Luis A. J.; Girdwood, Susan E.

2014-01-01

Cryoconite holes are known as foci of microbial diversity and activity on polar glacier surfaces, but are virtually unexplored microbial habitats in alpine regions. In addition, whether cryoconite community structure reflects ecosystem functionality is poorly understood. Terminal restriction...... revealed Proteobacteria were particularly abundant, with Cyanobacteria likely acting as ecosystem engineers in both alpine and Arctic cryoconite communities. However, despite these generalities, significant differences in bacterial community structures, compositions and metabolomes are found between alpine...... fragment length polymorphism and Fourier transform infrared metabolite fingerprinting of cryoconite from glaciers in Austria, Greenland and Svalbard demonstrated cryoconite bacterial communities are closely correlated with cognate metabolite fingerprints. The influence of bacterial-associated fatty acids...

Wood Ash Induced pH Changes Strongly Affect Soil Bacterial Numbers and Community Composition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bang-Andreasen, Toke; Nielsen, Jeppe T.; Voriskova, Jana

2017-01-01

Recirculation of wood ash from energy production to forest soil improves the sustainability of this energy production form as recycled wood ash contains nutrients that otherwise would be lost at harvest. In addition, wood-ash is beneficial to many soils due to its inherent acid......-neutralizing capabilities. However, wood ash has several ecosystem-perturbing effects like increased soil pH and pore water electrical conductivity both known to strongly impact soil bacterial numbers and community composition. Studies investigating soil bacterial community responses to wood ash application remain sparse...... and the available results are ambiguous and remain at a general taxonomic level. Here we investigate the response of bacterial communities in a spruce forest soil to wood ash addition corresponding to 0, 5, 22, and 167 t wood ash ha(-1). We used culture-based enumerations of general bacteria, Pseudomonas...

Diversity of bacterial communities along a petroleum contamination gradient in desert soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Abed, Raeid M M; Al-Kindi, Sumaiya; Al-Kharusi, Samiha

2015-01-01

Microbial communities in oil-polluted desert soils have been rarely studied compared to their counterparts from freshwater and marine environments. We investigated bacterial diversity and changes therein in five desert soils exposed to different levels of oil pollution. Automated rRNA intergenic spacer (ARISA) analysis profiles showed that the bacterial communities of the five soils were profoundly different (analysis of similarities (ANOSIM), R = 0.45, P pollution levels. Multivariate analyses of ARISA profiles revealed that the microbial communities in the S soil, which contains the highest level of contamination, were different from the other soils and formed a completely separate cluster. A total of 16,657 ribosomal sequences were obtained, with 42-89 % of these sequences belonging to the phylum Proteobacteria. While sequences belonging to Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacilli, and Actinobacteria were encountered in all soils, sequences belonging to anaerobic bacteria from the classes Deltaproteobacteria, Clostridia, and Anaerolineae were only detected in the S soil. Sequences belonging to the genus Terriglobus of the class Acidobacteria were only detected in the B3 soil with the lowest level of contamination. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that oil contamination level was the most determinant factor that explained variations in the microbial communities. We conclude that the exposure to different levels of oil contamination exerts a strong selective pressure on bacterial communities and that desert soils are rich in aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that could potentially contribute to the degradation of hydrocarbons.

Mechanism of uranium (VI) removal by two anaerobic bacterial communities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martins, Monica [Centro de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, FCT-DQF (edificio 8), Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro (Portugal); Faleiro, Maria Leonor [IBB - Centro de Biomedicina Molecular e Estrutural, Universidade do Algarve, FCT, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro (Portugal); Costa, Ana M. Rosa da [Centro de Investigacao em Quimica do Algarve, Universidade do Algarve, FCT, DQF, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro (Portugal); Chaves, Sandra; Tenreiro, Rogerio [Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciencias, Centro de Biodiversidade, Genomica Integrativa e Funcional (BioFIG), Campus de FCUL, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa (Portugal); Matos, Antonio Pedro [Servico de Anatomia Patologica, Hospital Curry Cabral, Lisboa (Portugal); Costa, Maria Clara, E-mail: mcorada@ualg.pt [Centro de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, FCT-DQF (edificio 8), Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro (Portugal)

2010-12-15

The mechanism of uranium (VI) removal by two anaerobic bacterial consortia, recovered from an uncontaminated site (consortium A) and other from an uranium mine (consortium U), was investigated. The highest efficiency of U (VI) removal by both consortia (97%) occurred at room temperature and at pH 7.2. Furthermore, it was found that U (VI) removal by consortium A occurred by enzymatic reduction and bioaccumulation, while the enzymatic process was the only mechanism involved in metal removal by consortium U. FTIR analysis suggested that after U (VI) reduction, U (IV) could be bound to carboxyl, phosphate and amide groups of bacterial cells. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA showed that community A was mainly composed by bacteria closely related to Sporotalea genus and Rhodocyclaceae family, while community U was mainly composed by bacteria related to Clostridium genus and Rhodocyclaceae family.

Mechanism of uranium (VI) removal by two anaerobic bacterial communities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, Monica; Faleiro, Maria Leonor; Costa, Ana M. Rosa da; Chaves, Sandra; Tenreiro, Rogerio; Matos, Antonio Pedro; Costa, Maria Clara

2010-01-01

The mechanism of uranium (VI) removal by two anaerobic bacterial consortia, recovered from an uncontaminated site (consortium A) and other from an uranium mine (consortium U), was investigated. The highest efficiency of U (VI) removal by both consortia (97%) occurred at room temperature and at pH 7.2. Furthermore, it was found that U (VI) removal by consortium A occurred by enzymatic reduction and bioaccumulation, while the enzymatic process was the only mechanism involved in metal removal by consortium U. FTIR analysis suggested that after U (VI) reduction, U (IV) could be bound to carboxyl, phosphate and amide groups of bacterial cells. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA showed that community A was mainly composed by bacteria closely related to Sporotalea genus and Rhodocyclaceae family, while community U was mainly composed by bacteria related to Clostridium genus and Rhodocyclaceae family.

Bacterial community analysis of contaminant soils from Chernobyl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sergeant, C.; Vesvres, M.H.; Chapon, V.; Berthomieu, C.; Piette, L.; Le Marrec, C.; Coppin, F.; Fevrier, L.; Martin-Garin, A.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows: Shortly after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, vegetation, contaminated soil and other radioactive debris were buried in situ in trenches. The aims of this work are to analyse the structure of bacterial communities evolving in this environment since 20 years, and to evaluate the potential role of microorganisms in radionuclide migration in soils. Therefore, soil samples exhibiting contrasted radionuclides content were collected in and around the trench number 22. Bacterial communities were examined using a genetic fingerprinting method that allowed a comparative profiling of the samples (DGGE), with universal and group-specific PCR primers. Our results indicate that Chernobyl soil samples host a wide diversity of Bacteria, with stable patterns for Firmicutes and Actinobacteria and more variable for Proteobacteria. A collection of 650 aerobic and anaerobic culturable isolates was also constructed. A phylogenetic analysis of 250 heterotrophic aerobic isolates revealed that 5 phyla are represented: Beta-, Gamma-proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and spore-forming Firmicutes, which is largely dominant. These collection will be screened for the presence of radionuclide-accumulating species in order to estimate the potential influence of microorganisms in radionuclides migration in soils

Bacterial community profiling of milk samples as a means to understand culture-negative bovine clinical mastitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuehn, Joanna S; Gorden, Patrick J; Munro, Daniel; Rong, Ruichen; Dong, Qunfeng; Plummer, Paul J; Wang, Chong; Phillips, Gregory J

2013-01-01

Inflammation and infection of bovine mammary glands, commonly known as mastitis, imposes significant losses each year in the dairy industry worldwide. While several different bacterial species have been identified as causative agents of mastitis, many clinical mastitis cases remain culture negative, even after enrichment for bacterial growth. To understand the basis for this increasingly common phenomenon, the composition of bacterial communities from milk samples was analyzed using culture independent pyrosequencing of amplicons of 16S ribosomal RNA genes (16S rDNA). Comparisons were made of the microbial community composition of culture negative milk samples from mastitic quarters with that of non-mastitic quarters from the same animals. Genomic DNA from culture-negative clinical and healthy quarter sample pairs was isolated, and amplicon libraries were prepared using indexed primers specific to the V1-V2 region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and sequenced using the Roche 454 GS FLX with titanium chemistry. Evaluation of the taxonomic composition of these samples revealed significant differences in the microbiota in milk from mastitic and healthy quarters. Statistical analysis identified seven bacterial genera that may be mainly responsible for the observed microbial community differences between mastitic and healthy quarters. Collectively, these results provide evidence that cases of culture negative mastitis can be associated with bacterial species that may be present below culture detection thresholds used here. The application of culture-independent bacterial community profiling represents a powerful approach to understand long-standing questions in animal health and disease.

Shifts in the bacterial community composition along deep soil profiles in monospecific and mixed stands of Eucalyptus grandis and Acacia mangium

Science.gov (United States)

de Andrade, Pedro Avelino Maia; Bini, Daniel; Durrer, Ademir; Robin, Agnès; Bouillet, Jean Pierre; Andreote, Fernando Dini; Cardoso, Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira

2017-01-01

Our knowledge of the rhizosphere bacterial communities in deep soils and the role of Eucalyptus and Acacia on the structure of these communities remains very limited. In this study, we targeted the bacterial community along a depth profile (0 to 800 cm) and compared community structure in monospecific or mixed plantations of Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus grandis. We applied quantitative PCR (qPCR) and sequence the V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize composition of bacterial communities. We identified a decrease in bacterial abundance with soil depth, and differences in community patterns between monospecific and mixed cultivations. Sequence analysis indicated a prevalent effect of soil depth on bacterial communities in the mixed plant cultivation system, and a remarkable differentiation of bacterial communities in areas solely cultivated with Eucalyptus. The groups most influenced by soil depth were Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria (more frequent in samples between 0 and 300 cm). The predominant bacterial groups differentially displayed in the monospecific stands of Eucalyptus were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Our results suggest that the addition of an N2-fixing tree in a monospecific cultivation system modulates bacterial community composition even at a great depth. We conclude that co-cultivation systems may represent a key strategy to improve soil resources and to establish more sustainable cultivation of Eucalyptus in Brazil. PMID:28686690

Long-term nitrogen amendment alters the diversity and assemblage of soil bacterial communities in tallgrass prairie.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph D Coolon

Full Text Available Anthropogenic changes are altering the environmental conditions and the biota of ecosystems worldwide. In many temperate grasslands, such as North American tallgrass prairie, these changes include alteration in historically important disturbance regimes (e.g., frequency of fires and enhanced availability of potentially limiting nutrients, particularly nitrogen. Such anthropogenically-driven changes in the environment are known to elicit substantial changes in plant and consumer communities aboveground, but much less is known about their effects on soil microbial communities. Due to the high diversity of soil microbes and methodological challenges associated with assessing microbial community composition, relatively few studies have addressed specific taxonomic changes underlying microbial community-level responses to different fire regimes or nutrient amendments in tallgrass prairie. We used deep sequencing of the V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene to explore the effects of contrasting fire regimes and nutrient enrichment on soil bacterial communities in a long-term (20 yrs experiment in native tallgrass prairie in the eastern Central Plains. We focused on responses to nutrient amendments coupled with two extreme fire regimes (annual prescribed spring burning and complete fire exclusion. The dominant bacterial phyla identified were Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Bacteriodetes, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria and made up 80% of all taxa quantified. Chronic nitrogen enrichment significantly impacted bacterial community diversity and community structure varied according to nitrogen treatment, but not phosphorus enrichment or fire regime. We also found significant responses of individual bacterial groups including Nitrospira and Gammaproteobacteria to long-term nitrogen enrichment. Our results show that soil nitrogen enrichment can significantly alter bacterial community diversity, structure, and individual taxa abundance, which have

Responses of bacterial communities in arable soils in a rice-wheat cropping system to different fertilizer regimes and sampling times.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhao

Full Text Available Soil physicochemical properties, soil microbial biomass and bacterial community structures in a rice-wheat cropping system subjected to different fertilizer regimes were investigated in two seasons (June and October. All fertilizer regimes increased the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. Both fertilizer regime and time had a significant effect on soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community structure. The combined application of inorganic fertilizer and manure organic-inorganic fertilizer significantly enhanced the bacterial diversity in both seasons. The bacterial communities across all samples were dominated by Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi at the phylum level. Permutational multivariate analysis confirmed that both fertilizer treatment and season were significant factors in the variation of the composition of the bacterial community. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on Bray-Curtis distances further revealed that bacterial communities were separated primarily by season. The effect of fertilizer treatment is significant (P = 0.005 and accounts for 7.43% of the total variation in bacterial community. Soil nutrients (e.g., available K, total N, total P and organic matter rather than pH showed significant correlation with the majority of abundant taxa. In conclusion, both fertilizer treatment and seasonal changes affect soil properties, microbial biomass and bacterial community structure. The application of NPK plus manure organic-inorganic fertilizer may be a sound fertilizer practice for sustainable food production.

Comparing bacterial community composition between healthy and white plague-like disease states in Orbicella annularis using PhyloChip™ G3 microarrays

Science.gov (United States)

Kellogg, Christina A.; Piceno, Yvette M.; Tom, Lauren M.; DeSantis, Todd Z.; Gray, Michael A.; Zawada, David G.; Andersen, Gary L.

2013-01-01

Coral disease is a global problem. Diseases are typically named or described based on macroscopic changes, but broad signs of coral distress such as tissue loss or discoloration are unlikely to be specific to a particular pathogen. For example, there appear to be multiple diseases that manifest the rapid tissue loss that characterizes ‘white plague.’ PhyloChip™ G3 microarrays were used to compare the bacterial community composition of both healthy and white plague-like diseased corals. Samples of lobed star coral (Orbicella annularis, formerly of the genus Montastraea [1]) were collected from two geographically distinct areas, Dry Tortugas National Park and Virgin Islands National Park, to determine if there were biogeographic differences between the diseases. In fact, all diseased samples clustered together, however there was no consistent link to Aurantimonas coralicida, which has been described as the causative agent of white plague type II. The microarrays revealed a large amount of bacterial heterogeneity within the healthy corals and less diversity in the diseased corals. Gram-positive bacterial groups (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes) comprised a greater proportion of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) unique to healthy samples. Diseased samples were enriched in OTUs from the families Corynebacteriaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Rhodobacteraceae, and Streptococcaceae. Much previous coral disease work has used clone libraries, which seem to be methodologically biased toward recovery of Gram-negative bacterial sequences and may therefore have missed the importance of Gram-positive groups. The PhyloChip™ data presented here provide a broader characterization of the bacterial community changes that occur within Orbicella annularis during the shift from a healthy to diseased state.