scholarly journals Coral microbial ecology under the microscope

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Meegan Henderson ◽  
Tracy Ainsworth ◽  
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Ecology ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Coral Disease ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Anthropogenic Inputs ◽  
Environmental Perturbations ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Complex Ecosystem ◽  
Coral Health

Increasing episodes of mass coral bleaching and a growing number of reports of coral disease epizootics have led to an expanding research field investigating the microbial ecology of reef building corals. Corals reside in a complex ecosystem and form intimate symbiotic relationships with eukaryotic dinoflagellates (commonly called zooxanthellae), which have been well studied. Less understood is the complex interactions that corals form with Bacteria, Archaea and viruses, all of which play an important functional role in coral health. Understanding how the coral animal and its symbiotic partners (eukaryotic, bacterial, archeal and viral) are influenced by environmental perturbations such as global climate change, rising sea surface temperatures and increasing anthropogenic inputs into the ecosystem such as nutrients, is the driving factor behind this expanding microbial discipline.

scholarly journals Fungal-Fungal Interactions in Leaf-Cutting Ant Agriculture

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunshine A. Van Bael ◽  
Catalina Estrada ◽  
William T. Wcislo
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Secondary Compounds ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Tropical Plants ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Symbiotic Fungi ◽  
Leaf Cutting ◽  
Fungal Interactions

Many organisms participate in symbiotic relationships with other organisms, yet studies of symbioses typically have focused on the reciprocal costs and benefits within a particular host-symbiont pair. Recent studies indicate that many ecological interactions involve alliances of symbionts acting together as mutualistic consortia against other consortia. Such interacting consortia are likely to be widespread in nature, even if the interactions often occur in a cryptic fashion. Little theory and empirical data exist concerning how these complex interactions shape ecological outcomes in nature. Here, we review recent work on fungal-fungal interactions between two consortia: (i) leaf-cutting ants and their symbiotic fungi (the latter grown as a food crop by the former) and (ii) tropical plants and their foliar endophytes (the cryptic symbiotic fungi within leaves of the former). Plant characteristics (e.g., secondary compounds or leaf physical properties of leaves) are involved in leaf-cutting ant preferences, and a synthesis of published information suggests that these plant traits could be modified by fungal presence. We discuss potential mechanisms for how fungal-fungal interactions proceed in the leaf-cutting ant agriculture and suggest themes for future research.

scholarly journals An Organizing Principle for the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 8135
Author(s):  
Chad W. Higgins ◽  
Majdi Abou Najm
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Mathematical Representation ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Natural Processes ◽  
Anthropogenic Inputs ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Management Concept ◽  
Growth Habits

The nexus between water, energy, and food has recently evolved as a resource-management concept to deal with this intimately interwoven set of resources, their complex interactions, and the growing and continuously changing internal and external set of influencing factors, including climate change, population growth, habits and lifestyles alternations, and the dynamic prices of water, energy, and food. While an intriguing concept, the global research community is yet to identify a unifying conceptual and mathematical framework capable of adapting to integrate gathered knowledge and ensuring inclusivity by accounting for all significant interactions and feedbacks (including natural processes and anthropogenic inputs) within all nexus domains. We present an organizing roadmap for a conceptual and mathematical representation of the nexus. Our hope is that this representation will organize the nexus research and formalize a way for a generalizable framework that can be used to advance our understanding of those complex interactions, with hope that such an approach will lead to a more resilient future with sustained resources for the future generations.

Global Climate Change and Microbial Ecology: Current Scenario and Management

2021 ◽  
pp. 285-313
Author(s):  
Zia Ur Rahman Farooqi ◽  
Muhammad Ashir Hameed ◽  
Waqas Mohy-Ud-Din ◽  
Muhammad Hayder Ali ◽  
Abdul Qadir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Microbial Ecology ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Current Scenario

scholarly journals The gut microbiome of horses: current research on equine enteral microbiota and future perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kauter ◽  
Lennard Epping ◽  
Torsten Semmler ◽  
Esther-Maria Antao ◽  
Dania Kannapin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Field ◽  
Metagenomic Data ◽  
Future Perspective ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Resistance Factors ◽  
Sequencing Technologies ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Enteral Microbiota ◽  
Compositional Changes ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Abstract Understanding the complex interactions of microbial communities including bacteria, archaea, parasites, viruses and fungi of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) associated with states of either health or disease is still an expanding research field in both, human and veterinary medicine. GIT disorders and their consequences are among the most important diseases of domesticated Equidae, but current gaps of knowledge hinder adequate progress with respect to disease prevention and microbiome-based interventions. Current literature on enteral microbiomes mirrors a vast data and knowledge imbalance, with only few studies tackling archaea, viruses and eukaryotes compared with those addressing the bacterial components. Until recently, culture-dependent methods were used for the identification and description of compositional changes of enteral microorganisms, limiting the outcome to cultivatable bacteria only. Today, next generation sequencing technologies provide access to the entirety of genes (microbiome) associated with the microorganisms of the equine GIT including the mass of uncultured microbiota, or “microbial dark matter”. This review illustrates methods commonly used for enteral microbiome analysis in horses and summarizes key findings reached for bacteria, viruses and fungi so far. Moreover, reasonable possibilities to combine different explorative techniques are described. As a future perspective, knowledge expansion concerning beneficial compositions of microorganisms within the equine GIT creates novel possibilities for early disorder diagnostics as well as innovative therapeutic approaches. In addition, analysis of shotgun metagenomic data enables tracking of certain microorganisms beyond species barriers: transmission events of bacteria including pathogens and opportunists harboring antibiotic resistance factors between different horses but also between humans and horses will reach new levels of depth concerning strain-level distinctions.

scholarly journals Microbial Potlatch: Cell-level adaptation of leakiness of metabolites leads to resilient symbiosis among diverse cells

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jumpei F Yamagishi ◽  
Nen Saito ◽  
Kunihiko Kaneko
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Cell Level ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Microbial Species ◽  
Nutrient Limitations ◽  
Environmental Perturbations ◽  
Microbial Ecosystems ◽  
Diverse Species

AbstractMicrobial communities display extreme diversity, facilitated by the secretion of chemicals that can create new niches. However, it is unclear why cells often secrete even essential metabolites after evolution. By noting that cells can enhance their own growth rate by leakage of essential metabolites, we show that such leaker cells can benefit from coexistence with cells that consume the leaked chemicals in the environment. This leads to an unusual form of mutualism between “leaker” and “consumer” cells, resulting in frequency-dependent coexistence of multiple microbial species, as supported by extensive simulations. Remarkably, such symbiotic relationships generally evolve when each species adapts its leakiness to optimize its own growth rate under crowded conditions and nutrient limitations, leading to ecosystems with diverse species exchanging many metabolites with each other. In addition, such ecosystems are resilient against structural and environmental perturbations. Thus, we present a new basis for diverse, complex microbial ecosystems.

scholarly journals Adaptation of metabolite leakiness leads to symbiotic chemical exchange and to a resilient microbial ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. e1009143
Author(s):  
Jumpei F. Yamagishi ◽  
Nen Saito ◽  
Kunihiko Kaneko
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Chemical Exchange ◽  
Reaction Network ◽  
Cell Level ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Nutrient Limitations ◽  
Environmental Perturbations ◽  
Metabolite Exchange ◽  
Asymmetric Form ◽  
Theoretical Results

Microbial communities display remarkable diversity, facilitated by the secretion of chemicals that can create new niches. However, it is unclear why cells often secrete even essential metabolites after evolution. Based on theoretical results indicating that cells can enhance their own growth rate by leaking even essential metabolites, we show that such “leaker” cells can establish an asymmetric form of mutualism with “consumer” cells that consume the leaked chemicals: the consumer cells benefit from the uptake of the secreted metabolites, while the leaker cells also benefit from such consumption, as it reduces the metabolite accumulation in the environment and thereby enables further secretion, resulting in frequency-dependent coexistence of multiple microbial species. As supported by extensive simulations, such symbiotic relationships generally evolve when each species has a complex reaction network and adapts its leakiness to optimize its own growth rate under crowded conditions and nutrient limitations. Accordingly, symbiotic ecosystems with diverse cell species that leak and exchange many metabolites with each other are shaped by cell-level adaptation of leakiness of metabolites. Moreover, the resultant ecosystems with entangled metabolite exchange are resilient against structural and environmental perturbations. Thus, we present a theory for the origin of resilient ecosystems with diverse microbes mediated by secretion and exchange of essential chemicals.

scholarly journals Fungal Metagenome of Chernevaya Taiga Soils: Taxonomic Composition, Differential Abundance and Factors Related to Plant Gigantism

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 908
Author(s):  
Mikhail Rayko ◽  
Sophie Sokornova ◽  
Alla Lapidus
Keyword(s):  
Western Siberia ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
Differential Abundance ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Complex Ecosystem ◽  
Taiga Soils ◽  
Different Soils

The Chernevaya taiga of Western Siberia is a unique and complex ecosystem, distinguished by the unusually large sizes of herbaceous plants, the reasons for which are poorly understood. Here, we explored the fungal diversity of the Chernevaya taiga soils in the Tomsk regions of Western Siberia in comparison with other soil types. The soil biomes of Chernevaya taiga and the control regions were investigated using Illumina ITS rRNA sequencing, and taxonomic analysis revealed a predominance of fungal phyla in the different soils. These results demonstrate that the fungi of the Chernevaya taiga regions have a higher species diversity (Faith’s PD) vs. the control soils, and the diversity is due more to the sampling sites rather than to the seasons (Bray-Curtis distance). We studied most of the differentially abundant taxa among the soil types, and we annotated the taxa with their ecological guilds and trophic types. Some of the abundant fungal taxa in the summer- and fall-Chernevaya taiga samples belong to the phylum Glomeromycota—arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiotrophs, which are known to establish symbiotic relationships and enhance plant growth. Additionally, several OTUs were assigned to novel genera in the Glomeraceae and Claroideoglomeraceae families. Our findings add a potential explanation of the high productivity and plant gigantism in Chernevaya taiga and expand our knowledge of fungal biodiversity.

Ecological implications of microalgal and cyanobacterial CO2 concentrating mechanisms, and their regulation

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 335 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Beardall ◽  
Mario Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Surrounding Medium ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Photon Flux ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Ecological Performance ◽  
Ecological Implications ◽  
Co2 Concentrating Mechanisms

The capacity of algae to express CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) is regulated by environmental factors. Some of these factors, especially photon flux, can influence the instantaneous activity of a CCM without necessarily affecting gene expression or the capacity of the cell to transport inorganic carbon. Other environmental parameters, especially those causing changes in the availability of CO2 dissolved in the surrounding medium, act at a transcriptional level. In this review, the complex interactions between environmental factors in controlling CCM activity will be discussed, as will the ecological consequences of CCMs as they relate to the growth and ecological performance of algal cells in nature. We also consider the consequences of global climate change for the performance of algae with and without CCMs.

scholarly journals Intra-colony disease progression induces fragmentation of coral fluorescent pigments

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie M. Caldwell ◽  
Blake Ushijima ◽  
Courtney S. Couch ◽  
Ruth D. Gates
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Coral Disease ◽  
Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Health State ◽  
Scanning Confocal Microscopy ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Coral Health ◽  
Healthy Coral

Abstract As disease spreads through living coral, it can induce changes in the distribution of coral’s naturally fluorescent pigments, making fluorescence a potentially powerful non-invasive intrinsic marker of coral disease. Here, we show the usefulness of live-imaging laser scanning confocal microscopy to investigate coral health state. We demonstrate that the Hawaiian coral Montipora capitata consistently emits cyan and red fluorescence across a depth gradient in reef habitats, but the micro-scale spatial distribution of those pigments differ between healthy coral and coral affected by a tissue loss disease. Naturally diseased and laboratory infected coral systematically exhibited fragmented fluorescent pigments adjacent to the disease front as indicated by several measures of landscape structure (e.g., number of patches) relative to healthy coral. Histology results supported these findings. Pigment fragmentation indicates a disruption in coral tissue that likely impedes translocation of energy within a colony. The area of fragmented fluorescent pigments in diseased coral extended 3.03 mm ± 1.80 mm adjacent to the disease front, indicating pathogenesis was highly localized rather than systemic. Our study demonstrates that coral fluorescence can be used as a proxy for coral health state, and, such patterns may help refine hypotheses about modes of pathogenesis.

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