scholarly journals Context-dependent dynamics lead to the assembly of functionally distinct pitcher-plant microbiomes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonora S. Bittleston ◽  
Matti Gralka ◽  
Gabriel E. Leventhal ◽  
Itzhak Mizrahi ◽  
Otto X. Cordero

AbstractNiche construction through interspecific interactions can condition future community states on past ones. However, the extent to which such history dependency can steer communities towards functionally different states remains a subject of active debate. Using bacterial communities collected from wild pitchers of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, we tested the effects of history on composition and function across communities assembled in synthetic pitcher plant microcosms. We found that the diversity of assembled communities was determined by the diversity of the system at early, pre-assembly stages. Species composition was also contingent on early community states, not only because of differences in the species pool, but also because the same species had different dynamics in different community contexts. Importantly, compositional differences were proportional to differences in function, as profiles of resource use were strongly correlated with composition, despite convergence in respiration rates. Early differences in community structure can thus propagate to mature communities, conditioning their functional repertoire.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3438
Author(s):  
Juan Liu ◽  
Xiangwei He ◽  
Jingya Sun ◽  
Yuchao Ma

Bacterial communities associated with roots influence the health and nutrition of the host plant. However, the microbiome discrepancy are not well understood under different healthy conditions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that rhizosphere soil microbial diversity and function varies along a degeneration gradient of poplar, with a focus on plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) and antibiotic resistance genes. Comprehensive metagenomic analysis including taxonomic investigation, functional detection, and ARG (antibiotics resistance genes) annotation revealed that available potassium (AK) was correlated with microbial diversity and function. We proposed several microbes, Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas, Mesorhizobium, Nocardioides, Variovorax, Gemmatimonadetes, Rhizobacter, Pedosphaera, Candidatus Solibacter, Acidobacterium, and Phenylobacterium, as candidates to reflect the soil fertility and the plant health. The highest abundance of multidrug resistance genes and the four mainly microbial resistance mechanisms (antibiotic efflux, antibiotic target protection, antibiotic target alteration, and antibiotic target replacement) in healthy poplar rhizosphere, corroborated the relationship between soil fertility and microbial activity. This result suggested that healthy rhizosphere soil harbored microbes with a higher capacity and had more complex microbial interaction network to promote plant growing and reduce intracellular levels of antibiotics. Our findings suggested a correlation between the plant degeneration gradient and bacterial communities, and provided insight into the role of high-turnover microbial communities as well as potential PGPB as real-time indicators of forestry soil quality, and demonstrated the inner interaction contributed by the bacterial communities.


Author(s):  
Shen Jean Lim ◽  
Brenton Davis ◽  
Danielle Gill ◽  
John Swetenburg ◽  
Laurie C Anderson ◽  
...  

Abstract Lucinid bivalves harbor environmentally acquired, chemosynthetic, gammaproteobacterial gill endosymbionts. Lucinid gill microbiomes, which may contain other gammaproteobacterial and/or spirochete taxa, remain under-sampled. To understand inter-host variability of the lucinid gill microbiome, specifically in the bacterial communities, we analyzed the microbiome content of Stewartia floridana collected from Florida. Sampled gills contained a monospecific gammaproteobacterial endosymbiont expressing lithoautotrophic, mixotrophic, diazotrophic, and C1 compound oxidation-related functions previously characterized in similar lucinid species. Another low-abundance Spirochaeta-like species in ∼72% of the sampled gills was most closely related to Spirochaeta-like species in another lucinid Phacoides pectinatus and formed a clade with known marine Spirochaeta symbionts. The spirochete expressed genes were involved in heterotrophy and the transport of sugars, amino acids, peptides, and other substrates. Few muscular and neurofilament genes from the host and none from the gammaproteobacterial and spirochete symbionts were differentially expressed among quadrats predominantly covered with seagrass species or 80% bare sand. Our results suggest that spirochetes are facultatively associated with S. floridana, with potential scavenging and nutrient cycling roles. Expressed stress- and defense-related functions in the host and symbionts also suggest species-species communications, which highlight the need for further study of the interactions among lucinid hosts, their microbiomes, and their environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin J Fenske ◽  
Sudeep Ghimire ◽  
Linto Antony ◽  
Jane Christopher-Hennings ◽  
Joy Scaria

ABSTRACT Bacterial communities resident in the hindgut of pigs, have profound impacts on health and disease. Investigations into the pig microbiome have utilized either culture-dependent, or far more commonly, culture-independent techniques using next generation sequencing. We contend that a combination of both approaches generates a more coherent view of microbiome composition. In this study, we surveyed the microbiome of Tamworth breed and feral pigs through the integration high throughput culturing and shotgun metagenomics. A single culture medium was used for culturing. Selective screens were added to the media to increase culture diversity. In total, 46 distinct bacterial species were isolated from the Tamworth and feral samples. Selective screens successfully shifted the diversity of bacteria on agar plates. Tamworth pigs are highly dominated by Bacteroidetes primarily composed of the genus Prevotella whereas feral samples were more diverse with almost equal proportions of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The combination of metagenomics and culture techniques facilitated a greater retrieval of annotated genes than either method alone. The single medium based pig microbiota library we report is a resource to better understand pig gut microbial ecology and function. It allows for assemblage of defined bacterial communities for studies in bioreactors or germfree animal models.


1987 ◽  
Vol 119 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 647-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.L. Fairchild ◽  
D.C. Eidt ◽  
C.A.A. Weaver

AbstractBy injecting fenitrothion into fluid in leaves of pitcher plants, Sarracenia purpurea L., it was determined that the mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii (Coquillett), and the midge, Metriocnemus knabi (Coquillett), are under some risk from fenitrothion forest sprays at the rate of 210 g AI/ha. Wyeomyia smithii is slightly more susceptible than is M. knabi. Other leaf inhabitants, mites and rotifers, were not affected by initial concentrations of fenitrothion in the fluid (up to 9.6 μg/L) that did affect the mosquito and the midge.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e113384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor K. Paisie ◽  
Thomas E. Miller ◽  
Olivia U. Mason

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyako Kurihara-Shimomura ◽  
Tomonori Sasahira ◽  
Chie Nakashima ◽  
Hiroki Kuniyasu ◽  
Hiroyuki Shimomura ◽  
...  

Head and neck cancers, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), are the sixth most common malignancies worldwide. OSCC frequently leads to oral dysfunction, which worsens a patient’s quality of life. Moreover, its prognosis remains poor. Unlike normal cells, tumor cells preferentially metabolize glucose by aerobic glycolysis. Pyruvate kinase (PK) catalyzes the final step in glycolysis, and the transition from PKM1 to PKM2 is observed in many cancer cells. However, little is known about PKM expression and function in OSCC. In this study, we investigated the expression of PKM in OSCC specimens and performed a functional analysis of human OSCC cells. We found that the PKM2/PKM1 ratio was higher in OSCC cells than in adjacent normal mucosal cells and in samples obtained from dysplasia patients. Furthermore, PKM2 expression was strongly correlated with OSCC tumor progression on immunohistochemistry. PKM2 expression was higher during cell growth, invasion, and apoptosis in HSC3 cells, which show a high energy flow and whose metabolism depends on aerobic glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. PKM2 expression was also associated with the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and integration of glutamine into lactate. Our results suggested that PKM2 has a variety of tumor progressive functions in OSCC cells.


Author(s):  
Xun Kang ◽  
Yanhong Wang ◽  
Siping Li ◽  
Xiaomei Sun ◽  
Xiangyang Lu ◽  
...  

The midgut microbial community composition, structure, and function of field-collected mosquitoes may provide a way to exploit microbial function for mosquito-borne disease control. However, it is unclear how adult mosquitoes acquire their microbiome, how the microbiome affects life history traits and how the microbiome influences community structure. We analyzed the composition of 501 midgut bacterial communities from field-collected adult female mosquitoes, including Aedes albopictus, Aedes galloisi, Culex pallidothorax, Culex pipiens, Culex gelidus, and Armigeres subalbatus, across eight habitats using the HiSeq 4000 system and the V3−V4 hyper-variable region of 16S rRNA gene. After quality filtering and rarefaction, a total of 1421 operational taxonomic units, belonging to 29 phyla, 44 families, and 43 genera were identified. Proteobacteria (75.67%) were the most common phylum, followed by Firmicutes (10.38%), Bacteroidetes (6.87%), Thermi (4.60%), and Actinobacteria (1.58%). The genera Rickettsiaceae (33.00%), Enterobacteriaceae (20.27%), Enterococcaceae (7.49%), Aeromonadaceae (7.00%), Thermaceae (4.52%), and Moraxellaceae (4.31%) were dominant in the samples analyzed and accounted for 76.59% of the total genera. We characterized the midgut bacterial communities of six mosquito species in Hainan province, China. The gut bacterial communities were different in composition and abundance, among locations, for all mosquito species. There were significant differences in the gut microbial composition between some species and substantial variation in the gut microbiota between individuals of the same mosquito species. There was a marked variation in different mosquito gut microbiota within the same location. These results might be useful in the identification of microbial communities that could be exploited for disease control.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Capucine Baubin ◽  
Arielle M. Farrell ◽  
Adam Šťovíček ◽  
Lusine Ghazaryan ◽  
Itamar Giladi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTEcosystem engineers (EEs) are present in every environment and are known to strongly influence ecological processes and thus shape the distribution of species and resources. In this study, we assessed the direct and indirect effect of two EEs (perennial shrubs and ant nests), individually and combined, on the composition and function of arid soil bacterial communities. To that end, top soil samples were collected in the Negev Desert Highlands during the dry season from four patch types: (1) barren soil; (2) under shrubs; (3) near ant nests; or (4) near ant nests situated under shrubs. The bacterial composition was evaluated in the soil samples (fourteen replicates per patch type) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, together with physico-chemical measures of the soil, and the potential functions of the community. We have found that the EEs differently affected the community composition. Indeed, barren patches supported a soil microbiome, dominated by Rubrobacter and Proteobacteria, while in EE patches the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum was dominating. The presence of the EEs similarly enhanced the abundance of phototrophic, nitrogen cycle and stress- related genes. In addition, only when both EEs were combined, were the soil characteristics altered. Our results imply that arid landscapes foster unique communities selected by each EE(s), solo or in combination, yet these communities have similar potential biological traits to persist under the harsh arid conditions. Environments with multiple EEs are complicated to study due to the possibility of non-additive effects of EEs and thus further research should be done.IMPORTANCEEcosystem engineers are organisms that can create, modify, or maintain their habitat. They are present in various environments but are particularly conspicuous in desert ecosystems, where their presence is tightly linked to vital resources like water or nutrients. Despite their key role in structuring and controlling desert ecosystems, joint engineering, and their effect on soil function, are unknown. Our study explores the contributions of key ecosystem engineers to the diversity and function of their soil microbiome allowing better understanding of their role in shaping habitats and engineering their activity


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