Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species

Background In Antarctica, summer sunlight enables phototrophic microorganisms to drive primary production, thereby “feeding” ecosystems to enable their persistence through the long, dark winter months. In Ace Lake, a stratified marine-derived system in the Vestfold Hills of East Antarctica, a Chlorobium species of green sulphur bacteria (GSB) is the dominant phototroph, although its seasonal abundance changes more than 100-fold. Here, we analysed 413 Gb of Antarctic metagenome data including 59 Chlorobium metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from Ace Lake and nearby stratified marine basins to determine how genome variation and population structure across a 7-year period impacted ecosystem function. Results A single species, Candidatus Chlorobium antarcticum (most similar to Chlorobium phaeovibrioides DSM265) prevails in all three aquatic systems and harbours very little genomic variation (≥ 99% average nucleotide identity). A notable feature of variation that did exist related to the genomic capacity to biosynthesize cobalamin. The abundance of phylotypes with this capacity changed seasonally ~ 2-fold, consistent with the population balancing the value of a bolstered photosynthetic capacity in summer against an energetic cost in winter. The very high GSB concentration (> 108 cells ml−1 in Ace Lake) and seasonal cycle of cell lysis likely make Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum a major provider of cobalamin to the food web. Analysis of Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum viruses revealed the species to be infected by generalist (rather than specialist) viruses with a broad host range (e.g., infecting Gammaproteobacteria) that were present in diverse Antarctic lakes. The marked seasonal decrease in Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum abundance may restrict specialist viruses from establishing effective lifecycles, whereas generalist viruses may augment their proliferation using other hosts. Conclusion The factors shaping Antarctic microbial communities are gradually being defined. In addition to the cold, the annual variation in sunlight hours dictates which phototrophic species can grow and the extent to which they contribute to ecosystem processes. The Chlorobium population studied was inferred to provide cobalamin, in addition to carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulphur cycling, as critical ecosystem services. The specific Antarctic environmental factors and major ecosystem benefits afforded by this GSB likely explain why such a coherent population structure has developed in this Chlorobium species.

Study of microbial communities in redox zone of meromictic lakes isolated from the White Sea using spectral and molecular methods

Due to postglacial isostatic uplift many stratified lakes, at different stages of isolation, are located along the shores of the White Sea. In five lakes, located near the White Sea Biological Station of Moscow State University, salinity, temperature, pH, concentration of dissolved oxygen, redox potential, and illuminance were measured. Distribution of microorganisms and spectral properties of water layers were also studied. All the lakes had a narrow bright coloured layer in the redox zone caused by mass development of phototropic microorganisms. Light absorption and fluorescence spectra indicated algae containing chlorophyll a predominate in the red water layers while the colouration of green and brown layers is caused by green sulphur bacteria with bacteriochlorophylls d and e. Sunlight is completely absorbed in the redox zone because of the high density of algae and/or bacteria, resulting in aphotic conditions below. Coloured layers act as a specific biotope for special communities of microorganisms. Eukaryotes identified by the 18S rRNA gene included different species of mixotrophic algae and ciliates resistant to anoxia. The water layer colour and spectral characteristics (i.e. light absorption and fluorescence) of water in the redox zone can be considered indicators of the stage of lake isolation from the sea, with the red colour caused by cryptophyte alga Rhodomonas sp. bloom found in earlier stages and brown and green colours caused by green sulphur bacteria in later stages.

How it happened that a portion of a treatise entitled New Improvements of Planting and Gardening both Philosophical and Practical by Richard Bradley FRS, which dealt with blights of trees and plants, provided the first report of an environment that contained green sulphur photosynthetic bacteria

Richard Bradley proposed that biological agents caused infectious disease. He agreed that air could transmit disease, but it had to contain a living agent, either visible or microscopic. To dismiss the idea that air alone could cause disease he included evidence provided by Robert Balle about a toxic grotto near Lake Averna, close to Naples, whose fumes were lethal to animals and humans yet that lethality was not contagious and occurred quickly, not a characteristic of ‘pestilential fevers’. In this grotto the surface water was covered with a ‘green scum’, a layer of green sulphur photosynthetic bacteria that could live in that anoxic environment, which contained hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide gas and was accessible to visible light. This environment was a natural enrichment culture for these bacteria. It was the first time that the presence of these bacteria was disclosed in the scientific literature.

DEPOSITIONAL CONDITIONS OF THE NORTHERN ONSHORE PERTH BASIN (BASAL TRIASSIC)

An oil-source rock correlation has been established for the northern onshore Perth Basin (Western Australia) based on unusual aromatic and polar biomarkers attributed ultimately to a green sulphur bacterial source. Several of these biomarkers have been identified throughout the entire Sapropelic Interval of a proven petroleum source rock intersected within a recently discovered marine Permian- Triassic Perth Basin borehole (Hovea–3) and several Perth Basin crude oils. Today, green sulphur bacteria live in the anaerobic zones of stratified lakes or in marine environments with restricted water circulation, where the upper sulphide limit coincides with the lower limit of oxygen. The presence of photosynthetic pigments and carotenoids of green sulphur bacteria, or their diagenetic alteration products in sediments provide unequivocal evidence for photic zone euxinic conditions in the paleowater column. Multiple lines of evidence for photic zone euxinia and euxinic depositional conditions for the Hovea–3 source rock have been obtained from biomarker analyses. Photic zone euxinia is usually associated with the widespread deposition of organic-matter-rich sediments that constitute important source rocks for petroleum deposits that are being exploited today. With the exception of the Perth Basin, such organic-matter-rich sediments are virtually absent from Upper Permian and Lower Triassic sediments globally. Several lines of evidence indicate localised surface ocean productivity may have played a key role in the deposition of a petroleum source rock at this location, although photic zone euxinia was globally more widespread during the Permian-Triassic Superanoxic Event.