Molecular Monitoring of SRB Community Structure and Dynamics in Batch Experiments to Examine the Applicability of in situ Precipitation of Heavy Metals for Groundwater Remediation (15 pp)

Background, Aims and Scope   Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are known for their capacity to reduce and precipitate heavy metals (HM) as metal sulfides, offering the opportunity to create an in situ reactive zone for the treatment of heavy metal-contaminated groundwater, a process called in situ metal precipitation (ISMP). The applicability of the ISMP technology first has to be investigated at a laboratory scale before going into an on site application. The evaluation and optimization of the ISMP process is facilitated when physical/chemical analysis techniques are combined with molecular tools that specifically monitor the abundance, diversity and dynamics of the indigenous sulfate reducing microbial community. In this study, batch experiments were conducted in order to investigate the feasibility of ISMP as a groundwater remediation strategy for an industrial site contaminated with elevated levels of Zn, Cd, Co and Ni. Methods   The potential of different types of carbon source/ electron donor (lactate, acetate, methanol, ethanol, Hydrogen Release Compound?, molasses) to stimulate the sulfate reduction and metal precipitation activity of the naturally present (or indigenous) SRB community was explored. In addition, the effect of amending vitamin B12 and yeast extract was evaluated. The ISMP process was monitored by combining analytical analyzes of process parameters (SO42-concentration, heavy metal concentrations, pH, Eh) with molecular tools such as SRB subgroup and genus specific PCR, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and phylogenetic analysis of clone sequences, based on either the 16S rRNA or the dsr (dissimilatory sulfite reductase) gene. Results and Discussion   The efficiency of different carbon-sources to stimulate the ISMP process followed the order HRC 〉 molasses 〉 methanol 〉 lactate 〉 ethanol 〉 acetate. Within 10 weeks, the highest sulfate and metal removal efficiencies ranged from 85% to 99%. Addition of yeast extract boosted the ISMP process, whereas vitamin B12 negligibly affected SRB activity. Analysis of the sulfate reducing population by SRB subgroup and genus specific PCR demonstrated that members of the genus Desulfosporosinus dominated in all batch tests, while 16S rDNA DGGE profiles additionally revealed the presence in the microbial communities of non-sulfate reducing bacteria within the family Clostridium and the -proteobacteria. The dsrB-based DGGE profiles allowed us to assess the diversity and dynamics of the sulfate reducing community and added to a better understanding of the effects of different batch conditions on the ISMP process. Remarkably, all dsrB sequences affiliated with the dsrB gene sequence cluster found in Desulfotomaculum, which received their xenologous dsrB gene from the -proteobacteria. Conclusions   The batch experiments, which aimed at stimulating the activities of the indigenous SRB communities, demonstrated that these communities were present and that their activities could be used to obtain efficient in situ precipitation of the contaminating heavy metals. This opens the possibility to test this concept in the future as an on site demonstration as part of the groundwater strategy for the heavy metal contaminated site. Although batch setups are suitable for preliminary feasibility studies for ISMP, they do not reflect the in situ situation where sulfate and heavy metal and metalloid polluted groundwater are supplied continuously. A sulfate reducing strain JG32A was isolated from whose 16S rRNA gene affiliated with the genus Desulfosporosinus, while its dsrB gene sequence clustered with Desulfotomaculum dsrB gene sequences, which received their xenologous dsr genes from -proteobacteria. Therefore we hypothesize that the batch experiments enrich members of the Desulfosporosinus genus that possess a non-orthologous dsrB gene. Recommendation and Perspective   The next step towards an on site pilot test for ISMP will be the setup of a series of column experiments, with process conditions that are selected based on the above mentioned results. This will allow to define optimal ISMP process conditions and to test its long-term efficacy and sustainability before going into an on site bioremediation application. By applying the described molecular tools together with physical-chemical analyzes, it can be investigated whether the same SRB community is enriched and which type of C-source is most effective in promoting and sustaining its growth and sulfate-reduction activity.     

球等鞭金藻三级培养过程中细菌群落多样性分析

球等鞭金藻三级培养过程中生长差异明显,在完全灭菌的一级培养中生长最佳,在未灭菌的三级培养中生长最差。为揭示培养过程中藻际细菌群落多样性与其生长差异的相关性,以球等鞭金藻(Isochrysis galbana)为研究对象,利用Illumina HiSeq平台通过高通量测序的方法对球等鞭金藻三级培养过程中细菌群落多样性进行研究。结果表明,一、二、三级培养组之间的藻际细菌群落组成差异明显。Shannon和Simpson指数分析说明,一级培养组中细菌群落多样性显著低于二级和三级培养组。MetaStat分析发现,一级和三级培养组之间存在两株丰度显著差异的细菌,其中麦氏交替单胞菌(Alteromonas macleodii)在三级培养下丰度显著高于一级,而红球菌(Rhodococcus erythropolis)相反。进一步通过2216E平板涂布法分离并鉴定了麦氏交替单胞菌等17株球等鞭金藻藻际环境细菌;系统进化树构建结果显示,整个进化树分成13个分支,分别对应13个属,包括交替单胞属(Alteromonas)、假交替单胞属(Pseudoalteromonas)、海杆菌属(Marinobacter...     

Methanotrophy-driven accumulation of organic carbon in four paddy soils of Bangladesh

Biological methane oxidation is a crucial process in the global carbon cycle that reduces methane emissions from paddy fields and natural wetlands into the atmosphere.However,soil organic carbon accumulation associated with microbial methane oxidation is poorly understood.Therefore,to investigate methane-derived carbon incorporation into soil organic matter,paddy soils originated from different parent materials(Inceptisol,Entisol,and Alfisol) were collected after rice harvesting from four major rice-producing regions in Bangladesh.Following microcosm incubation with 5%(volume/volume)¹³ CH₄,soil¹³ C-atom abundances significantly increased from background level of 1.08% to 1.88%–2.78%,leading to a net methane-derived accumulation of soil organic carbon ranging from 120 to 307 mg kg^-1.Approximately 23.6%–60.0% of the methane consumed was converted to soil organic carbon during microbial methane oxidation.The phylogeny of¹³ C-labeled pmoA(enconding the alpha subunit of the particulate methane monooxygenase) and 16 S rRNA genes further revealed that canonical α(type II) and γ(type I) Proteobacteria were active methane oxidizers.Members within the Methylobacter-and Methylosarcina-affiliated type Ia lineages dominated active methane-oxidizing communities that were responsible for the majority of methane-derived carbon accumulation in all three paddy soils,while Methylocystis-affiliated type IIa lineage was the key contributor in one paddy soil of Inceptisol origin.These results suggest that methanotroph-mediated synthesis of biomass plays an important role in soil organic matter accumulation.This study thus supports the concept that methanotrophs not only consume the greenhouse gas methane but also serve as a key biotic factor in maintaining soil fertility.     

云南花生丛枝植原体secY基因序列分析及结构预测

目的 确定采自元谋地区自然表现丛枝病的小驳骨(Gendarussa vulgaris Nees)植株是否感染植原体。 方法 通过利用植原体16S组和亚组通用或半通用特异性引物分别对植原体16S rRNA、rp和secY基因序列进行PCR扩增、克隆及测序分析;此外还对secY蛋白的蛋白特性及其结构进行了分析和预测。 结果 本研究获得了基因片段长度分别为1 248 bp的16S rRNA基因(nested PCR)、1 171 bp 的rp基因和1 425 bp的secY基因。基于rp和secY基因核苷酸序列的同源性比对及构建的进化树推断的植原体遗传分化关系几乎与16S rRNA基因的推断相一致,均与植原体16S rII-A亚组各株系的遗传进化关系最为接近,但rp和secY基因序列比16S rRNA基因序列能够呈现出更大的遗传变异程度;此外,对secY蛋白进行了生物信息学分析和初步探讨,发现它具有10个明显且分布相对均匀的跨膜螺旋区域,无信号肽。 结论 小驳骨丛枝病(Gendarussa vulgaris witches’-broom phytoplasma,GvWB-YNym)是由植原体侵染而发生,该植原体株系被划分到16S rII-A亚组,相关的候选种为Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia;secY蛋白生物信息参数的分析表明：secY蛋白在感病小驳骨植株中以疏水性稳定跨膜蛋白的形式存在,含10个明显的疏水跨膜区域,该蛋白不存在信号肽。     

毛竹竹鞭内生细菌的特征及16S rDNA多样性分析

本研究利用传统的细菌分离方法,结合16S rDNA序列分析对毛竹竹鞭内生细菌的特征和多样性进行了分析。从福建省武夷山、将乐、长汀毛竹竹鞭中分离到34株内生细菌,初步归属于14属,20种。来源于不同地区的毛竹竹鞭内生细菌组成存在较大差异,其优势菌群为产碱杆菌属（Alcaligenes）和葡萄球菌属（Staphylococcus）。     

Size Does Matter: Application-driven Approaches for Soil Metagenomics

Metagenomic analyses can provide extensive information on the structure, composition, and predicted gene functions of diverse environmental microbial assemblages. Each environment presents its own unique challenges to metagenomic investigation and requires a specifically designed approach to accommodate physicochemical and biotic factors unique to each environment that can pose technical hurdles and/or bias the metagenomic analyses. In particular, soils harbor an exceptional diversity of prokaryotes that are largely undescribed beyond the level of ribotype and are a potentially vast resource for natural product discovery. The successful application of a soil metagenomic approach depends on selecting the appropriate DNA extraction, purification, and if necessary, cloning methods for the intended downstream analyses. The most important technical considerations in a metagenomic study include obtaining a sufficient yield of high-purity DNA representing the targeted microorganisms within an environmental sample or enrichment and (if required) constructing a metagenomic library in a suitable vector and host. Size does matter in the context of the average insert size within a clone library or the sequence read length for a high-throughput sequencing approach. It is also imperative to select the appropriate metagenomic screening strategy to address the specific question(s) of interest, which should drive the selection of methods used in the earlier stages of a metagenomic project (e.g., DNA size, to clone or not to clone). Here, we present both the promising and problematic nature of soil metagenomics and discuss the factors that should be considered when selecting soil sampling, DNA extraction, purification, and cloning methods to implement based on the ultimate study objectives.     

Members of soil bacterial communities sensitive to tillage and crop rotation

Pyrosequencing was used to study the effect of rotation and tillage on total bacterial communities. We designed primers to the bacterial 16s rDNA and amplified DNA from soil samples from a long-term tillage/rotation trial in Kansas for two seasons. The 2 × 2 factorial trial had two rotation treatments (wheat-wheat and wheat-soybean) and two tillage treatments (conventional and no-till). A total of 20,180 16s rDNA sequences were generated and 2337 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were assembled using a 97% similarity cut-off. The phylum Proteobacteria represented 38% of 299 identified taxa. The second most abundant phylum was Acidobacteria, making up 20% of the sequences, the majority of which were Acidobacteria Group 1. The phyla Actinobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes comprised 12% and 3.5% of the sequences. Other groups detected included TM7, Nitrospira, Verrucomicrobia, and Bacteroidetes. Some clusters of Acidobacteria Group 1 were more frequent in continuous wheat versus wheat-soybean rotation, some Acidobacteria Group 2 were more frequent in no-till, and some Acidobacteria Group 4 were more frequent in wheat-soybean rotation. These results were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Pyrosequencing provided taxonomic information about the overall bacterial community, and detected community shifts resulting from different cropping practices.     

Plot-scale manipulations of organic matter inputs to soils correlate with shifts in microbial community composition in a lowland tropical rain forest

Little is known about the organisms responsible for decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems, or how variations in their relative abundance may influence soil carbon (C) cycling. Here, we altered organic matter in situ by manipulating both litter and throughfall inputs to tropical rain forest soils, and then used qPCR and error-corrected bar-coded pyrosequencing to investigate how the resulting changes in soil chemical properties affected microbial community structure. The plot-scale manipulations drove significant changes in microbial community composition: Acidobacteria were present in greater relative abundance in litter removal plots than in double-litter plots, while Alphaproteobacteria were found in higher relative abundance in double-litter and throughfall reduction plots than in control or litter removal plots. In addition, the bacterial:archaeal ratio was higher in double-litter than no-litter plots. The relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were positively correlated with microbial biomass C and nitrogen (N), and soil N and C pools, while acidobacterial relative abundance was negatively correlated with these same factors. Bacterial:archaeal ratios were positively correlated with soil moisture, total soil C and N, extractable ammonium pools, and soil C:N ratios. Additionally, bacterial:archaeal ratios were positively related to the relative abundance of Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, and negatively correlated to the relative abundance of Nitrospira and Acidobacteria. Together, our results support the copiotrophic/oligotrophic model of soil heterotrophic microbes suggested by Fierer et al. (2007).     

Vineyard soil bacterial diversity and composition revealed by 16S rRNA genes: Differentiation by geographic features

Here, we examine soil-borne microbial biogeography as a function of the features that define an American Viticultural Area (AVA), a geographically delimited American wine grape-growing region, defined for its distinguishing features of climate, geology, soils, physical features (topography and water), and elevation. In doing so, we lay a foundation upon which to link the terroir of wine back to the soil-borne microbial communities. The objective of this study is to elucidate the hierarchy of drivers of soil bacterial community structure in wine grape vineyards in Napa Valley, California. We measured differences in the soil bacterial and archaeal community composition and diversity by sequencing the fourth variable region of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (16S V4 rDNA). Soil bacterial communities were structured with respect to soil properties and AVA, demonstrating the complexity of soil microbial biogeography at the landscape scale and within the single land-use type. Location and edaphic variables that distinguish AVAs were the strongest explanatory factors for soil microbial community structure. Notably, the relationship with TC and TN of the <53 μm and 53–250 μm soil fractions offers support for the role of bacterial community structure rather than individual taxa on fine soil organic matter content. We reason that AVA, climate, and topography each affect soil microbial communities through their suite of impacts on soil properties. The identification of distinctive soil microbial communities associated with a given AVA lends support to the idea that soil microbial communities form a key in linking wine terroir back to the biotic components of the soil environment, suggesting that the relationship between soil microbial communities and wine terroir should be examined further.     

多氯联苯复合污染土壤的土著微生物修复强化措施研究

通过室内模拟试验,以不同C源、C/N比、水分及通透性为调控因子,对多氯联苯(PCBs)长期复合污染土壤的土著微生物强化修复进行了初步研究。结果表明,PCBs长期复合污染土壤中,在土壤水分含量为田间持水量的60%时,加入淀粉、葡萄糖和琥珀酸钠均在一定程度上增加了细菌和真菌数量,从而促进土壤中PCBs的土著微生物降解。不同种类的C源对PCBs污染土壤的土著微生物降解效果存在明显差异,且其降解效果与C源的施用剂量密切相关。当淀粉加入量为C1.0g/kg土时,土壤中PCBs的降解效果较好,而葡萄糖和琥珀酸钠加入量为C0.2g/kg土时,PCBs的降解效果明显。土壤C/N比为10:1的处理效果优于C/N比为25:1和40:1。土壤人为翻动有利于PCBs污染土壤中细菌和真菌的生长,提高土著微生物的代谢活性,从而促进土壤中PCBs的自然降解。这为进一步探讨加速土壤中PCBs降解的最适条件和研发POPs污染土壤的生物修复技术提供了科学依据。