scholarly journals Microdiversity of an Abundant Terrestrial Bacterium Encompasses Extensive Variation in Ecologically Relevant Traits

mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander B. Chase ◽  
Ulas Karaoz ◽  
Eoin L. Brodie ◽  
Zulema Gomez-Lunar ◽  
Adam C. Martiny ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Much genetic diversity within a bacterial community is likely obscured by microdiversity within operational taxonomic units (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA gene sequences. However, it is unclear how variation within this microdiversity influences ecologically relevant traits. Here, we employ a multifaceted approach to investigate microdiversity within the dominant leaf litter bacterium, Curtobacterium , which comprises 7.8% of the bacterial community at a grassland site undergoing global change manipulations. We use cultured bacterial isolates to interpret metagenomic data, collected in situ over 2 years, together with lab-based physiological assays to determine the extent of trait variation within this abundant OTU. The response of Curtobacterium to seasonal variability and the global change manipulations, specifically an increase in relative abundance under decreased water availability, appeared to be conserved across six Curtobacterium lineages identified at this site. Genomic and physiological analyses in the lab revealed that degradation of abundant polymeric carbohydrates within leaf litter, cellulose and xylan, is nearly universal across the genus, which may contribute to its high abundance in grassland leaf litter. However, the degree of carbohydrate utilization and temperature preference for this degradation varied greatly among clades. Overall, we find that traits within Curtobacterium are conserved at different phylogenetic depths. We speculate that similar to bacteria in marine systems, diverse microbes within this taxon may be structured in distinct ecotypes that are key to understanding Curtobacterium abundance and distribution in the environment. IMPORTANCE Despite the plummeting costs of sequencing, characterizing the fine-scale genetic diversity of a microbial community—and interpreting its functional importance—remains a challenge. Indeed, most studies, particularly studies of soil, assess community composition at a broad genetic level by classifying diversity into taxa (OTUs) defined by 16S rRNA sequence similarity. However, these classifications potentially obscure variation in traits that result in fine-scale ecological differentiation among closely related strains. Here, we investigated “microdiversity” in a highly diverse and poorly characterized soil system (leaf litter in a southern Californian grassland). We focused on the most abundant bacterium, Curtobacterium , which by standard methods is grouped into only one OTU. We find that the degree of carbohydrate usage and temperature preference vary within the OTU, whereas its responses to changes in precipitation are relatively uniform. These results suggest that microdiversity may be key to understanding how soil bacterial diversity is linked to ecosystem functioning.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 891
Author(s):  
Mingyuan SUN ◽  
Rui ZHU ◽  
Xiaoqing SUN ◽  
Yan ZHANG ◽  
Shangqi LI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Badreddine Sijilmassi ◽  
Abdelkarim Filali-Maltouf ◽  
Hassan Boulahyaoui ◽  
Aymane Kricha ◽  
Kenza Boubekri ◽  
...  

A total of 14 Rhizobium strains were isolated from lentil accessions grown at the ICARDA experimental research station at Marchouch in Morocco and used for molecular characterization and symbiotic efficiency assessment. Individual phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene, house-keeping genes rpoB, recA, and gyrB, and symbiotic genes nodD and nodA along with Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA) of the concatenated genes (16S rRNA-rpoB-recA-gyrB) was carried out for the identification and clustering of the isolates. The symbiotic efficiency of the strains was assessed on three Moroccan lentil cultivars (Bakria, Chakkouf, and Zaria) based on the number of nodules, plant height, plant dry weight, and total nitrogen content in leaves. The results showed that the individual phylogenetic analysis clustered all the strains into Rhizobium laguerreae and Rhizobium leguminosarum with sequence similarity ranging from 94 to 100%, except one strain which clustered with Mesorhizobium huakuii with sequence similarity of 100%. The MLSA of the concatenated genes and the related percentages of similarity clustered these strains into two groups of Rhizobium species, with one strain as a new genospecies when applying the threshold of 96%. For symbiotic efficiency, the Bakria variety showed the best association with 10 strains compared to its non-inoculated control (p-value ≤ 0.05), followed by Chakkouf and Zaria. The present study concluded that the genetic diversity and the symbiotic efficiency of Rhizobium strains appeared to be mainly under the control of the lentil genotypes.


Microbiome ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju-Hyeong Park ◽  
Angela R. Lemons ◽  
Jerry Roseman ◽  
Brett J. Green ◽  
Jean M. Cox-Ganser

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s179-s180
Author(s):  
Erik Clarke ◽  
Kathleen None Chiotos ◽  
James Harrigan ◽  
Ebbing Lautenbach ◽  
Emily Reesey ◽  
...  

Background: Healthcare exposure results in significant microbiome disruption, particularly in the setting of critical illness, which may contribute to risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Patients admitted to long-term acute-care hospitals (LTACHs) have extensive prior healthcare exposure and critical illness; significant microbiome disruption has been previously documented among LTACH patients. We compared the predictive value of 3 respiratory tract microbiome disruption indices—bacterial community diversity, dominance, and absolute abundance—as they relate to risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and adverse ventilator-associated events (VAE), which commonly complicate LTACH care. Methods: We enrolled 83 subjects on admission to an academic LTACH for ventilator weaning and performed longitudinal sampling of endotracheal aspirates, followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina HiSeq), bacterial community profiling (QIIME2) for diversity, and 16S rRNA quantitative PCR (qPCR) for total bacterial abundance. Statistical analyses were performed with R and Stan software. Mixed-effects models were fit to relate the admission MDIs to subsequent clinically diagnosed VAP and VAE. Results: Of the 83 patients, 19 had been diagnosed with pneumonia during the 14 days prior to LTACH admission (ie, “recent past VAP”); 23 additional patients were receiving antibiotics consistent with empiric VAP therapy within 48 hours of admission (ie, “empiric VAP therapy”); and 41 patients had no evidence of VAP at admission (ie, “no suspected VAP”). We detected no statistically significant differences in admission Shannon diversity, maximum amplicon sequence variant (ASV)–level proportional abundance, or 16S qPCR across the variables of interest. In isolation, all 3 admission microbiome disruption indices showed poor predictive performance, though Shannon diversity performed better than maximum ASV abundance. Predictive models that combined (1) bacterial diversity or abundance with (2) recent prior VAP diagnosis and (3) concurrent antibiotic exposure best predicted 14-day VAP (type S error < 0.05) and 30-day VAP (type S error < 0.003). In this cohort, VAE risk was paradoxically associated with higher admission Shannon diversity and lower admission maximum ASV abundance. Conclusions: In isolation, respiratory tract microbiome disruption indices obtained at LTACH admission showed poor predictive performance for subsequent VAP and VAE. But diversity and abundance models incorporating recent VAP history and admission antibiotic exposure performed well predicting 14-day and 30-day VAP.Disclosures: NoneFunding: None


2005 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. DYET ◽  
D. R. MARTIN

An epidemic of meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B meningococci expressing the P1.7-2,4 PorA protein began in New Zealand in 1991. The PorA type has remained stable. Different porB have been found in association with the P1.7-2,4 PorA, although type 4 has been most common. The clonal origins of B:P1.7-2,4 meningococci isolated from cases during 1990 to the end of 2003 were analysed. In 1990, the year immediately preceding the recognized increase in disease rates, all three subclones (ST-41, ST-42, and ST-154) of the ST-41/44 clonal complex occurred among the five isolates of B:P1.7-2,4. The two sequence types, ST-42 and ST-154, continued to cause most disease throughout New Zealand. Isolates belonging to subclone ST-41 were mostly identified early in the epidemic and in the South Island. 16S rRNA typing indicated that isolates belonging to the subclones ST-41 and ST-154 share a common ancestor, with those typing as ST-42 more distantly related with some genetically ambiguous. It is possible that ST-41 and ST-154 may have evolved one from the other but evolution to ST-42 is more difficult to explain. It is possible that one or more of the ST types could have been introduced into New Zealand prior to the first detection of clinical cases in 1990. Genetic diversity may have occurred during carriage in the community.


2009 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola M.A. DECRISTOPHORIS ◽  
Sandro PEDUZZI ◽  
Nadia RUGGERI-BERNARDI ◽  
Dittmar HAHN ◽  
Mauro TONOLLA

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Alibrandi ◽  
Sylvia Schnell ◽  
Silvia Perotto ◽  
Massimiliano Cardinale

The endophytic microbiota can establish mutualistic or commensalistic interactions within the host plant tissues. We investigated the bacterial endophytic microbiota in three species of Mediterranean orchids (Neottia ovata, Serapias vomeracea, and Spiranthes spiralis) by metabarcoding of the 16S rRNA gene. We examined whether the different orchid species and organs, both underground and aboveground, influenced the endophytic bacterial communities. A total of 1,930 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained, mainly Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, whose distribution model indicated that the plant organ was the main determinant of the bacterial community structure. The co-occurrence network was not modular, suggesting a relative homogeneity of the microbiota between both plant species and organs. Moreover, the decrease in species richness and diversity in the aerial vegetative organs may indicate a filtering effect by the host plant. We identified four hub OTUs, three of them already reported as plant-associated taxa (Pseudoxanthomonas, Rhizobium, and Mitsuaria), whereas Thermus was an unusual member of the plant microbiota. Core microbiota analysis revealed a selective and systemic ascent of bacterial communities from the vegetative to the reproductive organs. The core microbiota was also maintained in the S. spiralis seeds, suggesting a potential vertical transfer of the microbiota. Surprisingly, some S. spiralis seed samples displayed a very rich endophytic microbiota, with a large number of OTUs shared with the roots, a situation that may lead to a putative restoring process of the root-associated microbiota in the progeny. Our results indicate that the bacterial community has adapted to colonize the orchid organs selectively and systemically, suggesting an active involvement in the orchid holobiont.


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