Diversity and Distribution of Archaea in the Mangrove Sediment of Sundarbans

Comparative metagenomic analysis from Sundarbans ecosystems advances our understanding of microbial communities and their functional roles

The Sundarbans mangrove, located at the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest. These mangroves are also one of the most striking sources of microbial diversity, essential in productivity, conservation, nutrient cycling, and rehabilitation. Hence, the main objective of this study was to use metagenome analysis and provide detailed insight into microbial communities and their functional roles in the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem. A comparative analysis was also done with a non-mangrove region of the Sundarbans ecosystem to assess the capability of the environmental parameters to explain the variation in microbial community composition. The study found several dominant bacteria, viz., Alphaproteobacteria, Actinomycetota, Bacilli, Clostridia, Desulfobacterota, Gammaproteobacteria, and Nitrospira, from the mangrove region. The mangrove sampling site reports several salt-tolerant bacteria like Alkalibacillus haloalkaliphilus, Halomonas anticariensis, and Salinivibrio socompensis. We found some probiotic species, viz., Bacillus clausii, Lactobacillus curvatus, Vibrio mediterranei and Vibrio fluvialis, from the Sundarbans mangrove. Nitrifying bacteria in Sundarbans soils were Nitrococcus mobilis, Nitrosococcus oceani, Nitrosomonas halophila, Nitrospirade fluvii, and others. Methanogenic archaea, viz., Methanoculleus marisnigri, Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii, and Methanolacinia petrolearia, were highly abundant in the mangroves as compared to the non-mangrove soils. The identified methanotrophic bacterial species, viz., Methylobacter tundripaludum, Methylococcus capsulatus, Methylophaga thiooxydans, and Methylosarcina lacus are expected to play a significant role in the degradation of methane in mangrove soil. Among the bioremediation bacterial species identified, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Pseudomonas mendocina, Paracoccus denitrificans, and Shewanella putrefaciens play a significant role in the remediation of environmental pollution. Overall, our study shows for the first time that the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world, has a wide range of methanogenic archaea, methanotrophs, pathogenic, salt-tolerant, probiotic, nitrifying, and bioremediation bacteria.

Seasonal Change of Sediment Microbial Communities and Methane Emission in Young and Old Mangrove Forests in Xuan Thuy National Park

Microbial communities in mangrove forests have recently been intensively investigated to explain the ecosystem function of mangroves. In this study, the soil microbial communities under young (<11 years-old) and old (>17 years-old) mangroves have been studied during dry and wet seasons. In addition, biogeochemical properties of sediments and methane emission from the two different mangrove ages were measured. The results showed that young and old mangrove soil microbial communities were significantly different on both seasons. Seasons seem to affect microbial communities more than the mangrove age does. Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi were two top abundant phyla showing >15%. Physio-chemical properties of sediment samples showed no significant difference between mangrove ages, seasons, nor depth levels, except for TOC showing significant difference between the two seasons. The methane emission rates from the mangroves varied depending on seasons and ages of the mangrove. However, this did not show significant correlation with the microbial community shifts, suggesting that abundance of methanogens was not the driving factor for mangrove soil microbial communities.

Bioactive molecules from haloarchaea: Scope and prospects for industrial and therapeutic applications

Marine environments and salty inland ecosystems encompass various environmental conditions, such as extremes of temperature, salinity, pH, pressure, altitude, dry conditions, and nutrient scarcity. The extremely halophilic archaea (also called haloarchaea) are a group of microorganisms requiring high salt concentrations (2-6 M NaCl) for optimal growth. Haloarchaea have different metabolic adaptations to withstand these extreme conditions. Among the adaptations, several vesicles, granules, primary and secondary metabolites are produced that are highly significant in biotechnology, such as carotenoids, halocins, enzymes, and granules of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). Among halophilic enzymes, reductases play a significant role in the textile industry and the degradation of hydrocarbon compounds. Enzymes like dehydrogenases, glycosyl hydrolases, lipases, esterases, and proteases can also be used in several industrial procedures. More recently, several studies stated that carotenoids, gas vacuoles, and liposomes produced by haloarchaea have specific applications in medicine and pharmacy. Additionally, the production of biodegradable and biocompatible polymers by haloarchaea to store carbon makes them potent candidates to be used as cell factories in the industrial production of bioplastics. Furthermore, some haloarchaeal species can synthesize nanoparticles during heavy metal detoxification, thus shedding light on a new approach to producing nanoparticles on a large scale. Recent studies also highlight that exopolysaccharides from haloarchaea can bind the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This review explores the potential of haloarchaea in the industry and biotechnology as cellular factories to upscale the production of diverse bioactive compounds.

Non-negligible roles of archaea in coastal carbon biogeochemical cycling

Coastal zones are among the world's most productive ecosystems. They store vast amounts of organic carbon, as 'blue carbon' reservoirs, and impact global climate change. Archaeal communities are integral components of coastal microbiomes but their ecological roles are often overlooked. However, archaeal diversity, metabolism, evolution, and interactions, revealed by recent studies using rapidly developing cutting-edge technologies, place archaea as important players in coastal carbon biogeochemical cycling. We here summarize the latest advances in the understanding of archaeal carbon cycling processes in coastal ecosystems, specifically, archaeal involvement in CO₂ fixation, organic biopolymer transformation, and methane metabolism. We also showcase the potential to use of archaeal communities to increase carbon sequestration and reduce methane production, with implications for mitigating climate change.

Draft genome sequences of hydrocarbon degrading Haloferax sp. AB510, Haladaptatus sp. AB618 and Haladaptatus sp. AB643 isolated from the estuarine sediments of Sundarban mangrove forests, India

The present study reports the draft genomes of three hydrocarbon-degrading haloarchaeal strains Haloferax sp. AB510, Haladaptatus sp. AB618 and Haladaptatus sp. AB643 that were isolated from the estuarine sediments of Sundarban mangrove forests, India. All three genomes had a high GC content of around 60%, characteristic of the haloarchaea. The Haloferax sp. AB510 genome was around 3.9 Mb in size and consisted of 4567 coding sequences and 54 RNAs. The Haladaptatus sp. AB618 and Haladaptatus sp. AB643 genomes were comparatively larger and around 4.8 Mb each. The AB618 and AB643 genomes comprised 5279 and 5304 coding sequences and 60 and 59 RNAs, respectively. All three of the genomes encoded several genes that attributed to their survival in the presence of hydrocarbons in their native habitats. Functional annotation and curation of the sequenced genomes suggested that the Haloferax sp. AB510 strain utilized the gentisate pathway of aromatic compound degradation. While the Haladaptatus sp. AB618 and Haladaptatus sp. AB643 strains possessed the freedom of utilizing both the gentisate and the catechol pathways for degrading aromatic hydrocarbons.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-022-03273-5.

Metagenomic insights into surface water microbial communities of a South Asian mangrove ecosystem

Estuaries are one of the most productive ecosystems and their productivity is maintained by resident microbial communities. Recent alterations driven by climate change have further escalated these stressors leading to the propagation of traits such as antibiotic resistance and heavy metal resistance in microbial communities. Surface water samples from eleven stations along the Thakuran and Matla estuaries of the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) of Sundarbans mangrove located in South Asia were sampled in monsoon (June) 2019 to elucidate resident microbial communities based on Nanopore sequencing. Metagenomic analyses revealed the widespread dominance of Proteobacteria across all the stations along with a high abundance of Firmicutes. Other phyla, including Euryarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria showed site-specific trends in abundance. Further taxonomic affiliations showed Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria to be dominant classes with high abundances of Bacilli in SBR_Stn58 and SBR_Stn113. Among the eukaryotic communities, the most abundant classes included Prasinophyceae, Saccharyomycetes and Sardariomycetes. Functional annotation showed metabolic activities such as carbohydrate, amino acid, nitrogen and phosphorus metabolisms to be uniformly distributed across all the studied stations. Pathways such as stress response, sulphur metabolism and motility-associated genes appeared in low abundances in SBR. Functional traits such as antibiotic resistance showed overwhelming dominance of genes involved in multidrug resistance along with widespread resistance towards commonly used antibiotics including Tetracycline, glycopeptide and aminoglycoside. Metal resistance genes including arsenic, nickel and copper were found in comparable abundances across the studied stations. The prevalence of ARG and MRG might indicate presence of pollutants and hint toward deteriorating ecosystem health status of Sundarbans mangrove.

Microbial diversity and ecological interactions of microorganisms in the mangrove ecosystem: Threats, vulnerability, and adaptations

Mangroves are among the world's most productive ecosystems and a part of the "blue carbon" sink. They act as a connection between the terrestrial and marine ecosystems, providing habitat to countless organisms. Among these, microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, archaea, fungi, phytoplankton, and protozoa) play a crucial role in this ecosystem. Microbial cycling of major nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur) helps maintain the high productivity of this ecosystem. However, mangrove ecosystems are being disturbed by the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases within the atmosphere. Both the anthropogenic and natural factors contribute to the upsurge of greenhouse gas concentration, resulting in global warming. Changing climate due to global warming and the increasing rate of human interferences such as pollution and deforestation are significant concerns for the mangrove ecosystem. Mangroves are susceptible to such environmental perturbations. Global warming, human interventions, and its consequences are destroying the ecosystem, and the dreadful impacts are experienced worldwide. Therefore, the conservation of mangrove ecosystems is necessary for protecting them from the changing environment-a step toward preserving the globe for better living. This review highlights the importance of mangroves and their microbial components on a global scale and the degree of vulnerability of the ecosystems toward anthropic and climate change factors. The future scenario of the mangrove ecosystem and the resilience of plants and microbes have also been discussed.

Seasonal Dynamics of Bathyarchaeota-Dominated Benthic Archaeal Communities Associated with Seagrass (Zostera japonica) Meadows

Little is known about the seasonal dynamic of archaeal communities and their potential ecological functions in temperate seagrass ecosystems. In this study, seasonal changes in diversity, community structure, and potential metabolic functions of benthic archaea in surface sediments of two seagrass meadows along the northern Bohai Sea in China were investigated using Miseq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and Tax4Fun2 functional prediction. Overall, Crenarchaeota (mainly Bathy-15, Bathy-8, and Bathy-6) dominated, followed by Thermoplasmatota, Asgardarchaeota, and Halobacterota, in terms of alpha diversities and relative abundance. Significant seasonal changes in the entire archaeal community structure were observed. The major phyla Methanobacteria, Nitrosopumilales, and genus Methanolobus had higher proportions in spring, while MBG-D and Bathyarchaeota were more abundant in summer and autumn, respectively. Alpha diversities (Shannon and Simpson) were the highest in summer and the lowest in autumn (ANOVA test, p < 0.05). Salinity, total organic carbon, and total organic nitrogen were the most significant factors influencing the entire archaeal community. Higher cellulose and hemicellulose degradation potentials occurred in summer, while methane metabolism potentials were higher in winter. This study indicated that season had strong effects in modulating benthic archaeal diversity and functional potentials in the temperate seagrass ecosystems.

Biogeography, Assembly Patterns, Driving Factors, and Interactions of Archaeal Community in Mangrove Sediments

Archaea are a major part of Earth's life. They are believed to play important roles in nutrient biogeochemical cycling in the mangrove. However, only a few studies on the archaeal community in mangroves have been reported. In particular, the assembly processes and interaction patterns that impact the archaeal communities in mangroves have not been investigated to date. Here, the biogeography, assembly patterns, and driving factors of archaeal communities in seven representative mangroves across southeastern China were systematically analyzed. The analysis revealed that the archaeal community is more diverse in surface sediments than in subsurface sediments, and more diverse in mangroves at low latitudes than at high latitudes, with Woesearchaeota and Bathyarchaeota as the most diverse and most abundant phyla, respectively. Beta nearest-taxon index analysis suggested a determinant role of homogeneous selection on the overall archaeon community in all mangroves and in each individual mangrove. In addition, the conditionally rare taxon community was strongly shaped by homogeneous selection, while stochastic processes shaped the dominant taxon and always-rare taxon communities. Further, a moderate effect of environmental selection on the archaeal community was noted, with the smallest effect on the always-rare taxon community. Mangrove location, mean annual temperature, and salinity were the major factors that greatly affected the community composition. Finally, network analysis revealed comprehensive cooccurrence relationships in the archaeal community, with a crucial role of Bathyarchaeota. This study expands the understanding of the biogeography, assembly patterns, driving factors, and cooccurrence relationships of the mangrove archaeal community and inspires functional exploration of archaeal resources in mangrove sediments. IMPORTANCE As a key microbial community component with important ecological roles, archaea merit the attention of biologists and ecologists. The mechanisms controlling microbial community diversity, composition, and biogeography are central to microbial ecology but poorly understood. Mangroves are located at the land-ocean interface and are an ideal environment for examining the above questions. We here provided the first-ever overview of archaeal community structure and biogeography in mangroves located along an over-9,000-km coastline of southeastern China. We observed that archaeal diversity in low-latitude mangroves was higher than that in high-latitude mangroves. Furthermore, our data indicated that homogeneous selection strongly controlled the assembly of the overall and conditionally rare taxon communities in mangrove sediments, while the dominant taxon and always-rare taxon communities were mainly controlled by dispersal limitation.

Diversity, metabolism and cultivation of archaea in mangrove ecosystems

Mangroves comprise a globally significant intertidal ecosystem that contains a high diversity of microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria and archaea. Archaea is a major domain of life that plays important roles in biogeochemical cycles in these ecosystems. In this review, the potential roles of archaea in mangroves are briefly highlighted. Then, the diversity and metabolism of archaeal community of mangrove ecosystems across the world are summarized and Bathyarchaeota, Euryarchaeota, Thaumarchaeota, Woesearchaeota, and Lokiarchaeota are confirmed as the most abundant and ubiquitous archaeal groups. The metabolic potential of these archaeal groups indicates their important ecological function in carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycling. Finally, some cultivation strategies that could be applied to uncultivated archaeal lineages from mangrove wetlands are suggested, including refinements to traditional cultivation methods based on genomic and transcriptomic information, and numerous innovative cultivation techniques such as single-cell isolation and high-throughput culturing (HTC). These cultivation strategies provide more opportunities to obtain previously uncultured archaea.

Comparing Sediment Microbiomes in Contaminated and Pristine Wetlands along the Coast of Yucatan

Microbial communities are important players in coastal sediments for the functioning of the ecosystem and the regulation of biogeochemical cycles. They also have great potential as indicators of environmental perturbations. To assess how microbial communities can change their composition and abundance along coastal areas, we analyzed the composition of the microbiome of four locations of the Yucatan Peninsula using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. To this end, sediment from two conserved (El Palmar and Bocas de Dzilam) and two contaminated locations (Sisal and Progreso) from the coast northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula in three different years, 2017, 2018 and 2019, were sampled and sequenced. Microbial communities were found to be significantly different between the locations. The most noticeable difference was the greater relative abundance of Planctomycetes present at the conserved locations, versus FBP group found with greater abundance in contaminated locations. In addition to the difference in taxonomic groups composition, there is a variation in evenness, which results in the samples of Bocas de Dzilam and Progreso being grouped separately from those obtained in El Palmar and Sisal. We also carry out the functional prediction of the metabolic capacities of the microbial communities analyzed, identifying differences in their functional profiles. Our results indicate that landscape of the coastal microbiome of Yucatan sediment shows changes along the coastline, reflecting the constant dynamics of coastal environments and their impact on microbial diversity.

Temperature and salinity drive comammox community composition in mangrove ecosystems across southeastern China

Complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) microorganisms are newly recognized nitrifying bacteria found in natural and engineered ecosystems. Mangrove ecosystems are hotspots for nitrogen cycling, but the knowledge of comammox diversity and abundance, and particularly, driving factors, in these ecosystems is scarce. We here used deep sequencing to investigate comammox diversity in six mangrove ecosystems across southeastern China. Our results showed that comammox microorganisms in mangrove sediments were extremely diverse. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a novel comammox group within clade A that formed a distinct cluster for which no reference sequence existed, implying their potential uniqueness. Quantitative PCR demonstrated that comammox abundance was slightly higher than that of the canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria but significantly lower than that of ammonia-oxidizing archaea, indicating they are not the dominant ammonia oxidizers in mangrove ecosystems. Finally, variation partition analysis revealed a significant decrease in similarity of comammox communities along the geographical distance, and a pronounced effect of the geographic factors and sediment attributes on the composition of comammox microorganisms and the abundance variations of ammonia oxidizers. Temperature and salinity were the most important contributing factors that shaped the comammox community. Further, detection of diverse comammox microorganisms in extremely high-salinity sediments suggested that this community could adapt to high salinity environments, which indicates salinity may not be a critical factor resulting in the absence of comammox microorganisms in open-ocean environments. This study expanded the current understanding of the diversity and niche preference of comammox in mangrove ecosystems, and further enhanced our understanding of adaptation potential of comammox communities.

Role of environmental factors in shaping the soil microbiome

The soil microbiome comprises one of the most important and complex components of all terrestrial ecosystems as it harbors millions of microbes including bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses, and protozoa. Together, these microbes and environmental factors contribute to shaping the soil microbiome, both spatially and temporally. Recent advances in genomic and metagenomic analyses have enabled a more comprehensive elucidation of the soil microbiome. However, most studies have described major modulators such as fungi and bacteria while overlooking other soil microbes. This review encompasses all known microbes that may exist in a particular soil microbiome by describing their occurrence, abundance, diversity, distribution, communication, and functions. Finally, we examined the role of several abiotic factors involved in the shaping of the soil microbiome.

Electrical current generation from a continuous flow macrophyte biocathode sediment microbial fuel cell (mSMFC) during the degradation of pollutants in urban river sediment

A new type of sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) with floating macrophyte Limnobium laevigatum, Pistia stratiotes, or Lemna minor L. biocathode was constructed and assessed in three phases at different hydraulic retention time (HRT) for electrical current generation during the degradation of urban river sediment. The results showed a highest voltage output of 0.88 ± 0.1 V, maximum power density of 80.22 mW m^-3, highest columbic efficiency of 15.3%, normalized energy recovery of 0.030 kWh m^-3, and normalized energy production of 0.005 kWh m^-3 in the Lemna minor L. SMFC during phase 3 at HRT of 48 h, respectively. Highest removal efficiencies of total chemical oxygen demand of 80%, nitrite of 99%, ammonia of 93%, and phosphorus of 94% were achieved in Lemna minor L. system, and 99% of nitrate removal and 99% of sulfate removal were achieved in Pistia stratiotes and Limnobium laevigatum system during the SMFC operation, respectively. Pistia stratiotes exhibited the highest growth in terms of biomass and tap root system of 29.35 g and 12.2 cm to produce the maximum dissolved oxygen of 16.85 ± 0.2 mg L^-1 compared with other macrophytes. The predominant bacterial phylum Proteobacteria of 62.86% and genus Exiguobacterium of 17.48% were identified in Limnobium laevigatum system, while the class Gammaproteobacteria of 28.77% was observed in the control SMFC. The integration of technologies with the continuous flow operation shows promising prospect in the remediation of polluted urban river sediments along with the generation of electrical current.

Insights on aquatic microbiome of the Indian Sundarbans mangrove areas

BACKGROUND

Anthropogenic perturbations have strong impact on water quality and ecological health of mangrove areas of Indian Sundarbans. Diversity in microbial community composition is important causes for maintaining the health of the mangrove ecosystem. However, microbial communities of estuarine water in Indian Sundarbans mangrove areas and environmental determinants that contribute to those communities were seldom studied.

METHODS

Nevertheless, this study attempted first to report bacterial and archaeal communities simultaneously in the water from Matla River and Thakuran River of Maipith coastal areas more accurately using 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon approaches. Attempt also been made to assess the capability of the environmental parameters for explaining the variation in microbial community composition.

RESULTS

Our investigation indicates the dominancy of halophilic marine bacteria from families Flavobacteriaceae and OM1 clade in the water with lower nutrient load collected from costal regions of a small Island of Sundarban Mangroves (ISM). At higher eutrophic conditions, changes in bacterial communities in Open Marine Water (OMW) were detected, where some of the marine hydrocarbons degrading bacteria under families Oceanospirillaceae and Spongiibacteraceae were dominated. While most abundant bacterial family Rhodobacteracea almost equally (18% of the total community) dominated in both sites. Minor variation in the composition of archaeal community was also observed between OMW and ISM. Redundancy analysis indicates a combination of total nitrogen and dissolved inorganic nutrients for OMW and for ISM, salinity and total nitrogen was responsible for explaining the changes in their respective microbial community composition.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study contributes the first conclusive overview on how do multiple environmental/anthropogenic stressors (salinity, pollution, eutrophication, land-use) affect the Sundarban estuary water and consequently the microbial communities in concert. However, systematic approaches with more samples for evaluating the effect of environmental pollutions on mangrove microbial communities are recommended.

Prokaryotic Diversity in Mangrove Sediments across Southeastern China Fundamentally Differs from That in Other Biomes

Mangroves, as a blue carbon reservoir, provide an environment for a variety of microorganisms. Mangroves lie in special locations connecting coastal and estuarine areas and experience fluctuating conditions, which are expected to intensify with climate change, creating a need to better understand the relative roles of stochastic and deterministic processes in shaping microbial community assembly. Here, a study of microbial communities inhabiting mangrove sediments across southeastern China, spanning mangroves in six nature reserves, was conducted. We performed high-throughput DNA sequencing of these samples and compared them with data of 1,370 sediment samples collected from the Earth Microbiome Project (EMP) to compare the microbial diversity of mangroves with that of other biomes. Our results showed that prokaryotic alpha diversity in mangroves was significantly higher than that in other biomes and that microbial beta diversity generally clustered according to biome types. The core operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in mangroves were mostly assigned to Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Euryarchaeota The majority of beta nearest-taxon index values were higher than 2, indicating that community assembly in mangroves was better explained through a deterministic process than through a stochastic process. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) and total organic carbon (TOC) were main deterministic factors explaining variation in the microbial community. This study fills a gap in addressing the unique microbial diversity of mangrove ecosystems and their microbial community assembly mechanisms.IMPORTANCE Understanding the underlying mechanisms of microbial community assembly patterns is a vital issue in microbial ecology. Mangroves, as an important and special ecosystem, provide a unique environment for examining the relative importance of stochastic and deterministic processes. We made the first global-scale comparison and found that microbial diversity was significantly different in mangrove sediments compared to that of other biomes. Furthermore, our results suggest that a deterministic process is more important in shaping microbial community assembly in mangroves.

Archaeal community variation in the Qinhuangdao coastal aquaculture zone revealed by high-throughput sequencing

The differences in archaeal diversity and community composition in the sediments and waters of the Qinhuangdao coastal aquaculture zone were investigated. Furthermore, the associations between dominant archaeal taxa with geographic and environmental variables were evaluated. High-throughput sequencing of archaeal 16S rRNA genes yielded a total of 176,211 quality-filtered reads and 1,178 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) overall. The most abundant phylum and class among all communities were Thaumarchaeota and Nitrososphaeria, respectively. Beta diversity analysis indicated that community composition was divided into two groups according to the habitat type (i.e., sediments or waters). Only 9.8% OTUs were shared by communities from the two habitats, while 73.9% and 16.3% of the OTUs were unique to sediment or water communities, respectively. Furthermore, the relative abundances of the dominant OTUs differed with habitat type. Investigations of relationships between dominant OTUs and environmental variables indicated that some dominant OTUs were more sensitive to variation in environmental factors, which could be due to individual taxonomic differences in lifestyles and biological processes. Overall, the investigation of archaeal community variation within the Qinhuangdao coastal aquaculture zone provides an important baseline understanding of the microbial ecology in this important ecosystem.

Vertical Distribution of Bathyarchaeotal Communities in Mangrove Wetlands Suggests Distinct Niche Preference of Bathyarchaeota Subgroup 6

Bathyarchaeota is a diverse, abundant, and widespread archaeal phylum that may play an important role in global carbon cycling. The vertical distribution of Bathyarchaeota and environmental impact on bathyarchaeotal community in deep-sea and lake sediments are known; however, little information is available on Bathyarchaeota in eutrophic and brackish environments, such as mangrove wetlands. In the current study, we investigated the bathyarchaeotal community in the mangrove ecosystem of Futian Nature Reserve, Shenzhen. By slicing the profile into 2-cm layers from the surface to bottom, 110 sediment samples were obtained from three mangrove and three mud flat profiles. High-throughput sequencing of archaeal 16S rRNA genes, quantification of bathyarchaeotal 16S rRNA genes with optimized quantitative primers, and the ensuing statistical analyses revealed the vertical distribution of Bathyarchaeota in the mangrove ecosystem, indicating that Bathyarchaeota was the dominant archaeal phylum therein, with Bathyarchaeota subgroups 6, 8, 15, and 17 as the most abundant subgroups. The abundance of Bathyarchaeota was higher in the mangrove than in the mud flat and other oligotrophic or freshwater habitats. Total organic carbon (TOC) and nitric oxide were significantly correlated with the abundance of Bathyarchaeota, and pH was the major factor shaping the community composition. Further, the data suggested that Bathyarchaeota subgroup 6 preferentially dwelled in slightly acidic, high TOC, and subsurface environments, indicating a potentially distinct role in the global geochemical cycle. These findings expand the knowledge of the distribution and niche preference of Bathyarchaeota, emphasizing the need for continuous characterization of bathyarchaeotal subgroups.

Anthropogenic influence shapes the distribution of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in the sediment of Sundarban estuary in India

The abundance and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes as emerging environmental contaminants have become a significant and growing threat to human and environmental health. Traditionally, investigations of antibiotic resistance have been confined to a subset of clinically relevant antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. During the last decade it became evident that the environmental microbiota possesses an enormous number and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes, some of which are very similar to the genes circulating in pathogenic microbiota. Recent studies demonstrate that aquatic ecosystems are potential reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Therefore, these aquatic ecosystems serve as potential sources for their transmission of ARGs to human pathogens. An assessment of such risks requires a better understanding of the level and variability of the natural resistance background and the extent of the anthropogenic impact. We have analyzed eight sediment samples from Sundarban mangrove ecosystem in India, collected at sampling stations with different histories of anthropogenic influences, and analyzed the relative abundance of the bla_TEM gene using quantitative real-time PCR. The bla_TEM gene abundance strongly correlated with the respective anthropogenic influences (polyaromatic hydrocarbon, heavy metals etc.) of the sampling stations. Besides, 18 multidrug-resistant (ampicillin, kanamycin, vancomycin, and tetracycline resistant) bacterial strains (ARBs) were isolated and characterized. Moreover, the effect of different antibiotics on the biofilm forming ability of the isolates was evaluated quantitatively under a variety of experimental regimes. This is the first report of preservation and possible dissemination of ARGs in the mangrove ecosystem.

Taxonomic diversity of bacteria from mangrove sediments of Goa: metagenomic and functional analysis

The present study compared the taxonomic diversity and evaluated the functional attributes of the bacterial species from Mandovi and Zuari mangrove sediments, Goa, using paired-end amplicon sequencing of 16S rDNA and culture-based analyses, respectively. 16S rDNA sequencing revealed Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria as the dominant phyla in both the sediments. However, the abundance of these phyla significantly differed between the samples. Bacteroidetes from Mandovi sediment, and Acidobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes from Zuari sediment were the other exclusive major phyla. Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, and WS3 were the minor phyla observed in both. However, a significant difference in the distribution of minor phyla and lower bacterial taxa under each phylum was noted between the sediments, indicating that the resident microbial flora completely differed between them. This was further validated by high values from distance matrix analyses between the samples. In addition, the pathogenic Vibrio sp. was recorded exclusively in Mandovi sediment, while higher abundance of ecologically important bacterial classes including Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Bacilli was observed in Zuari sediment. Taken together, the data indicated that Zuari sediment was taxonomically richer than Mandovi sediment, while a greater incidence of anthropogenic activities occurred in the latter. This observation was further validated by non-parametric richness estimators which were found to be higher for Zuari sediment. The cultured bacterial isolates, all identified as Firmicutes, were tested for activities related to biofertilization and production of enzymes to be used for bioremediation and chemotherapeutic applications. Higher number of bacterial isolates from Mandovi was found to produce indole-acetic-acid, tannase, xylanase, and glutaminase enzymes, and could solubilize phosphate. In contrast, higher proportion of bacterial isolates from Zuari sediment were capable of producing amylase, cellulase, gelatinase, laccase, lipase, protease, and asparaginase enzymes, emphasizing the fact that the Zuari mangrove sediment is a rich reservoir for economically and biotechnologically important bacterial species.

Comparative mangrove metagenome reveals global prevalence of heavy metals and antibiotic resistome across different ecosystems

The mangrove ecosystem harbors a complex microbial community that plays crucial role in biogeochemical cycles. In this study, we analyzed mangrove sediments from India using de novo whole metagenome next generation sequencing (NGS) and compared their taxonomic and functional community structures to mangrove metagenomics samples from Brazil and Saudi Arabia. The most abundant phyla in the mangroves of all three countries was Proteobacteria, followed by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. A total of 1,942 genes were found to be common across all the mangrove sediments from each of the three countries. The mangrove resistome consistently showed high resistance to fluoroquinolone and acriflavine. A comparative study of the mangrove resistome with other ecosystems shows a higher frequency of heavy metal resistance in mangrove and terrestrial samples. Ocean samples had a higher abundance of drug resistance genes with fluoroquinolone and methicillin resistance genes being as high as 28.178% ± 3.619 and 10.776% ± 1.823. Genes involved in cobalt-zinc-cadmium resistance were higher in the mangrove (23.495% ± 4.701) and terrestrial (27.479% ± 4.605) ecosystems. Our comparative analysis of samples collected from a variety of habitats shows that genes involved in resistance to both heavy metals and antibiotics are ubiquitous, irrespective of the ecosystem examined.

Comparative genomic inference suggests mixotrophic lifestyle for Thorarchaeota

Thorarchaeota are a new archaeal phylum within the Asgard superphylum, whose ancestors have been proposed to play possible ecological roles in cellular evolution. However, little is known about the lifestyles of these uncultured archaea. To provide a better resolution of the ecological roles and metabolic capacity of Thorarchaeota, we obtained Thorarchaeota genomes reconstructed from metagenomes of different depth layers in mangrove and mudflat sediments. These genomes from deep anoxic layers suggest the presence of Thorarchaeota with the potential to degrade organic matter, fix inorganic carbon, reduce sulfur/sulfate and produce acetate. In particular, Thorarchaeota may be involved in ethanol production, nitrogen fixation, nitrite reduction, and arsenic detoxification. Interestingly, these Thorarchaeotal genomes are inferred to contain the tetrahydromethanopterin and tetrahydrofolate Wood-Ljungdahl (WL) pathways for CO₂ reduction, and the latter WL pathway appears to have originated from bacteria. These archaea are predicted to be able to use various inorganic and organic carbon sources, possessing genes inferred to encode ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-like proteins (normally without RuBisCO activity) and a near-complete Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. The existence of eukaryotic selenocysteine insertion sequences and many genes for proteins previously considered eukaryote-specific in Thorarchaeota genomes provide new insights into their evolutionary roles in the origin of eukaryotic cellular complexity. Resolving the metabolic capacities of these enigmatic archaea and their origins will enhance our understanding of the origins of eukaryotes and their roles in ecosystems.

Effective rhizoinoculation and biofilm formation by arsenic immobilizing halophilic plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) isolated from mangrove rhizosphere: A step towards arsenic rhizoremediation

Arsenic (As) uptake by plants is largely influenced by the presence of microbial consortia and their interactions with As. In the coastal region of Bengal deltaic plain of Eastern India, the As-contaminated groundwater is frequently used for irrigation purposes resulting in an elevated level of soil As in agricultural lands. The health hazards associated with As necessitates development of cost-effective remediation strategies to reclaim contaminated agricultural lands. Among the available technologies developed in recent times, bioremediation using bacteria has been found to be the most propitious. In this study, two As-resistant halophilic bacterial strains Kocuria flava AB402 and Bacillus vietnamensis AB403 were isolated, identified and characterized from mangrove rhizosphere of Sundarban. The isolates, AB402 and AB403, could tolerate 35mM and 20mM of arsenite, respectively. The effect of As on the exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis, biofilm formation, and root association was evaluated for both the bacterial strains. Arsenic adsorption on the cell surfaces and intracellular accumulation in both the bacterial strains were promising under culture conditions. Moreover, both the strains when used as inoculum, not only promoted the growth of rice seedlings but also decreased As uptake and accumulation in plants.

Stratified Bacterial and Archaeal Community in Mangrove and Intertidal Wetland Mudflats Revealed by High Throughput 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing

The stratified distribution of bacterial and archaeal communities has been detected in many sediment profiles from various natural environments. A better understanding of microbial composition and diversity pattern in coastal mangrove wetlands in relation to physicochemical and spatial-temporal influences could provide more insights into the ecological functions of microbes in coastal wetlands. In this study, seasonal variations of microbial communities within sediment profiles from two sediment types (mangrove forest and intertidal mudflats) at three sampling locations in coastal Mai Po wetland were characterized using MiSeq high throughput sequencing and 16S rRNA quantitative PCR methods. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance showed clear decreasing trends with increasing depth for all sites, seasonality and sediment types. There is a weak seasonal dynamic of bacterial and archaeal community abundance in both seasons. Seasonality imposed more influence on the beta diversity pattern of bacterial community than archaeal community. The five most abundant phyla within bacterial and archaeal community remain stable between two distinctive seasons. Sediment depth and seasonality are the most influential factors affecting bacterial community composition and diversity. The pH is the most influential factor on shaping the archaeal community. Stratified distribution of bacterial community including aerobic and anaerobic bacterial taxa is largely represented in the surface layers and the subsurface layers, respectively. For archaeal stratification, Thaumarchaeota Marine Group I is the dominant member in surface sediments while Bathyarchaeota and MBG-B dominate in subsurface sediments. Such stratified distribution patterns are irrespective of sediment types, sampling locations or seasonality, but significantly correlated to the sediment depth, which might be shaped by oxygen availability and the distribution of other terminal electron accepters along the depth profile.

Diversity of methanogenic archaea in freshwater sediments of lacustrine ecosystems

About half of the global methane (CH₄ ) emission is contributed by the methanogenic archaeal communities leading to a significant increase in global warming. This unprecedented situation has increased the ever growing necessity of evaluating the control measures for limiting CH₄ emission to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, research endeavors on the diversity and functional interactions of methanogens are not extensive till date. We anticipate that the study of the diversity of methanogenic community is paramount for understanding the metabolic processes in freshwater lake ecosystems. Although there are several disadvantages of conventional culture-based methods for determining the diversity of methanogenic archaeal communities, in order to understand their ecological roles in natural environments it is required to culture the microbes. Recently different molecular techniques have been developed for determining the structure of methanogenic archaeal communities thriving in freshwater lake ecosystem. The two gene based cloning techniques required for this purpose are 16S rRNA and methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA) in addition to the recently developed metagenomics approaches and high throughput next generation sequencing efforts. This review discusses the various methods of culture-dependent and -independent measures of determining the diversity of methanogen communities in lake sediments in lieu of the different molecular approaches and inter-relationships of diversity of methanogenic archaea.

The Distribution Pattern of Sediment Archaea Community of the Poyang Lake, the Largest Freshwater Lake in China

Archaea plays an important role in the global geobiochemical circulation of various environments. However, much less is known about the ecological role of archaea in freshwater lake sediments. Thus, investigating the structure and diversity of archaea community is vital to understand the metabolic processes in freshwater lake ecosystems. In this study, sediment physicochemical properties were combined with the results from 16S rRNA clone library-sequencing to examine the sediment archaea diversity and the environmental factors driving the sediment archaea community structures. Seven sites were chosen from Poyang Lake, including two sites from the main lake body and five sites from the inflow river estuaries. Our results revealed high diverse archaea community in the sediment of Poyang Lake, including Bathyarchaeota (45.5%), Euryarchaeota (43.1%), Woesearchaeota (3.6%), Pacearchaeota (1.7%), Thaumarchaeota (1.4%), suspended Lokiarchaeota (0.7%), Aigarchaeota (0.2%), and Unclassified Archaea (3.8%). The archaea community compositions differed among sites, and sediment property had considerable influence on archaea community structures and distribution, especially total organic carbon (TOC) and metal lead (Pb) (p < 0.05). This study provides primary profile of sediment archaea distribution in freshwater lakes and helps to deepen our understanding of lake sediment microbes.

Spatial Variations of the Methanogenic Communities in the Sediments of Tropical Mangroves

Methane production by methanogens in mangrove sediments is known to contribute significantly to global warming, but studies on the shift of methanogenic community in response to anthropogenic contaminations were still limited. In this study, the effect of anthropogenic activities in the mangrove sediments along the north and south coastlines of Singapore were investigated by pyrosequencing of the mcrA gene. Our results showed that hydrogenotrophic, acetoclastic and methylotrophic methanogens coexist in the sediments. The predominance of the methylotrophic Methanosarcinales reflects the potential for high methane production as well as the possible availability of low acetate and high methylated C-1 compounds as substrates. A decline in the number of acetoclastic/methylotrophic methanogens in favor of hydrogenotrophic methanogens was observed along a vertical profile in Sungei Changi, which was contaminated by heavy metals. The diversity of methanogens in the various contaminated stations was significantly different from that in a pristine St. John's Island. The spatial variation in the methanogenic communities among the different stations was more distinct than those along the vertical profiles at each station. We suggest that the overall heterogeneity of the methanogenic communities residing in the tropical mangrove sediments might be due to the accumulated effects of temperature and concentrations of nitrate, cobalt, and nickel.

Mangrove succession enriches the sediment microbial community in South China

Sediment microorganisms help create and maintain mangrove ecosystems. Although the changes in vegetation during mangrove forest succession have been well studied, the changes in the sediment microbial community during mangrove succession are poorly understood. To investigate the changes in the sediment microbial community during succession of mangroves at Zhanjiang, South China, we used phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and the following chronosequence from primary to climax community: unvegetated shoal; Avicennia marina community; Aegiceras corniculatum community; and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza + Rhizophora stylosa community. The PLFA concentrations of all sediment microbial groups (total microorganisms, fungi, gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and actinomycetes) increased significantly with each stage of mangrove succession. Microbial PLFA concentrations in the sediment were significantly lower in the wet season than in the dry season. Regression and ordination analyses indicated that the changes in the microbial community with mangrove succession were mainly associated with properties of the aboveground vegetation (mainly plant height) and the sediment (mainly sediment organic matter and total nitrogen). The changes in the sediment microbial community can probably be explained by increases in nutrients and microhabitat heterogeneity during mangrove succession.

Bacterial diversity assessment of pristine mangrove microbial community from Dhulibhashani, Sundarbans using 16S rRNA gene tag sequencing

The global knowledge of microbial diversity and function in Sundarbans ecosystem is still scarce, despite global advancement in understanding the microbial diversity. In the present study, we have analyzed the diversity and distribution of bacteria in the tropical mangrove sediments of Sundarbans using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Metagenome is comprised of 1,53,926 sequences with 108.8 Mbp data and with 55 ± 2% G + C content. Metagenome sequence data are available at NCBI under the Bioproject database with accession no. PRJNA245459. Bacterial community metagenome sequences were analyzed by MG-RAST software representing the presence of 56,547 species belonging to 44 different phyla. The taxonomic analysis revealed the dominance of phyla Proteobacteria within our dataset. Further taxonomic analysis revealed abundance of Bacteroidetes, Acidobactreia, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Nitrospirae, Cyanobacteria, Planctomycetes and Fusobacteria group as the predominant bacterial assemblages in this largely pristine mangrove habitat. The distribution of different community datasets obtained from four sediment samples originated from one sampling station at two different depths providing better understanding of the sediment bacterial diversity and its relationship to the ecosystem dynamics of this pristine mangrove sediment of Dhulibhashani in, Sundarbans.