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Pal S, Yuvaraj R, Krishnan H, Venkatraman B, Abraham J, Gopinathan A. Unraveling radiation resistance strategies in two bacterial strains from the high background radiation area of Chavara-Neendakara: A comprehensive whole genome analysis. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304810. [PMID: 38857267 PMCID: PMC11164402 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
This paper reports the results of gamma irradiation experiments and whole genome sequencing (WGS) performed on vegetative cells of two radiation resistant bacterial strains, Metabacillus halosaccharovorans (VITHBRA001) and Bacillus paralicheniformis (VITHBRA024) (D10 values 2.32 kGy and 1.42 kGy, respectively), inhabiting the top-ranking high background radiation area (HBRA) of Chavara-Neendakara placer deposit (Kerala, India). The present investigation has been carried out in the context that information on strategies of bacteria having mid-range resistance for gamma radiation is inadequate. WGS, annotation, COG and KEGG analyses and manual curation of genes helped us address the possible pathways involved in the major domains of radiation resistance, involving recombination repair, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair and mismatch repair, and the antioxidant genes, which the candidate could activate to survive under ionizing radiation. Additionally, with the help of these data, we could compare the candidate strains with that of the extremely radiation resistant model bacterium Deinococccus radiodurans, so as to find the commonalities existing in their strategies of resistance on the one hand, and also the rationale behind the difference in D10, on the other. Genomic analysis of VITHBRA001 and VITHBRA024 has further helped us ascertain the difference in capability of radiation resistance between the two strains. Significantly, the genes such as uvsE (NER), frnE (protein protection), ppk1 and ppx (non-enzymatic metabolite production) and those for carotenoid biosynthesis, are endogenous to VITHBRA001, but absent in VITHBRA024, which could explain the former's better radiation resistance. Further, this is the first-time study performed on any bacterial population inhabiting an HBRA. This study also brings forward the two species whose radiation resistance has not been reported thus far, and add to the knowledge on radiation resistant capabilities of the phylum Firmicutes which are abundantly observed in extreme environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sowptika Pal
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Ramani Yuvaraj
- Radiological and Environmental Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Hari Krishnan
- Radiological and Environmental Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Balasubramanian Venkatraman
- Radiological and Environmental Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Jayanthi Abraham
- Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Anilkumar Gopinathan
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
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Botero J, Peeters C, De Canck E, Laureys D, Vandamme P. Eupransor demetentiae gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel fructophilic lactic acid bacterium from bumble bees. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74. [PMID: 38833293 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.006409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Strain LMG 33000T was isolated from a Bombus lapidarius gut sample. It shared the highest percentage 16S rRNA sequence identity, average amino acid identity, and amino acid identity of conserved genes with Convivina intestini LMG 28291T (95.86 %, 69.9 and 76.2 %, respectively), and the highest percentage OrthoANIu value with Fructobacillus fructosus DSM 20349T (71.4 %). Phylogenomic analyses by means of 107 or 120 conserved genes consistently revealed Convivina as nearest neighbour genus. The draft genome of strain LMG 33000T was 1.44 Mbp in size and had a DNA G+C content of 46.1 mol%. Genomic and physiological analyses revealed that strain LMG 33000T was a typical obligately fructophilic lactic acid bacterium that lacked the adhE and aldh genes and that did not produce ethanol during glucose or fructose metabolism. In contrast, Convivina species have the adhE and aldh genes in their genomes and produced ethanol from glucose and fructose metabolism, which is typical for heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria. Moreover, strain LMG 33000T exhibited catalase activity, an unusual characteristic among lactic acid bacteria, that is not shared with Convivina species. Given its position in the phylogenomic trees, and the difference in genomic percentage G+C content and in physiological and metabolic characteristics between strain LMG 33000T and Convivina species, we considered it most appropriate to classify strain LMG 33000T into a novel genus and species within the Lactobacillaceae family for which we propose the name Eupransor demetentiae gen. nov., sp. nov., with LMG 33000T (=CECT 30958T) as the type strain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Botero
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Charlotte Peeters
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Evelien De Canck
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - David Laureys
- Innovation Centre for Brewing & Fermentation, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Peter Vandamme
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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Irby I, Broddrick JT. Microbial adaptation to spaceflight is correlated with bacteriophage-encoded functions. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3474. [PMID: 38750067 PMCID: PMC11096397 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42104-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Evidence from the International Space Station suggests microbial populations are rapidly adapting to the spacecraft environment; however, the mechanism of this adaptation is not understood. Bacteriophages are prolific mediators of bacterial adaptation on Earth. Here we survey 245 genomes sequenced from bacterial strains isolated on the International Space Station for dormant (lysogenic) bacteriophages. Our analysis indicates phage-associated genes are significantly different between spaceflight strains and their terrestrial counterparts. In addition, we identify 283 complete prophages, those that could initiate bacterial lysis and infect additional hosts, of which 21% are novel. These prophage regions encode functions that correlate with increased persistence in extreme environments, such as spaceflight, to include antimicrobial resistance and virulence, DNA damage repair, and dormancy. Our results correlate microbial adaptation in spaceflight to bacteriophage-encoded functions that may impact human health in spaceflight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Irby
- Space Biosciences Research Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jared T Broddrick
- Space Biosciences Research Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.
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4
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Botero J, Peeters C, De Canck E, Laureys D, Wieme AD, Cleenwerck I, Depoorter E, Praet J, Michez D, Smagghe G, Vandamme P. A comparative genomic analysis of Fructobacillus evanidus sp. nov. from bumble bees. Syst Appl Microbiol 2024; 47:126505. [PMID: 38564984 DOI: 10.1016/j.syapm.2024.126505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The increase in studies on bee microbiomes is prompted by concerns over global pollinator declines. Bumble bees host core and non-core microbiota which may contribute to increased lifetime fitness. The presence of Fructobacillus in the gut microbiomes of bumble bee workers, or the replacement of core symbionts with Fructobacillus bacteria, has been considered a marker of dysbiosis. A phylogenomic analysis and functional genomic characterization of the genomes of 21 Fructobacillus isolates from bumble bees demonstrated that they represented four species, i.e. Fructobacillus cardui, Fructobacillus fructosus, Fructobacillus tropaeoli, and the novel species Fructobacillus evanidus sp. nov. Our results confirmed and substantiated the presence of two phylogenetically and functionally distinct Fructobacillus species clades that differ in genome size, percentage G + C content, the number of coding DNA sequences and metabolic characteristics. Clade 1 and clade 2 species differed in amino acid and, to a lesser extent, in carbohydrate metabolism, with F. evanidus and F. tropaeoli genomes featuring a higher number of complete metabolic pathways. While Fructobacillus genomes encoded genes that allow adhesion, biofilm formation, antibacterial activity and detoxification, other bacteria isolated from the bumble bee gut appeared better equipped to co-exist with the bumble bee host. The isolation and identification of multiple Fructobacillus species from several bumble bee gut samples in the present study also argued against a specific partnership between Fructobacillus species and their bumble bee hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Botero
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Charlotte Peeters
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Evelien De Canck
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - David Laureys
- Innovation Centre for Brewing & Fermentation, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Anneleen D Wieme
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ilse Cleenwerck
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Eliza Depoorter
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jessy Praet
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Denis Michez
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Place du parc 20, 7000 Mons, Belgium
| | - Guy Smagghe
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Peter Vandamme
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
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Figueroa JL, Redinbo A, Panyala A, Colby S, Friesen ML, Tiemann L, White RA. MerCat2: a versatile k-mer counter and diversity estimator for database-independent property analysis obtained from omics data. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2024; 4:vbae061. [PMID: 38745763 PMCID: PMC11090762 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Motivation MerCat2 ("Mer-Catenate2") is a versatile, parallel, scalable and modular property software package for robustly analyzing features in omics data. Using massively parallel sequencing raw reads, assembled contigs, and protein sequences from any platform as input, MerCat2 performs k-mer counting of any length k, resulting in feature abundance counts tables, quality control reports, protein feature metrics, and graphical representation (i.e. principal component analysis (PCA)). Results MerCat2 allows for direct analysis of data properties in a database-independent manner that initializes all data, which other profilers and assembly-based methods cannot perform. MerCat2 represents an integrated tool to illuminate omics data within a sample for rapid cross-examination and comparisons. Availability and implementation MerCat2 is written in Python and distributed under a BSD-3 license. The source code of MerCat2 is freely available at https://github.com/raw-lab/mercat2. MerCat2 is compatible with Python 3 on Mac OS X and Linux. MerCat2 can also be easily installed using bioconda: mamba create -n mercat2 -c conda-forge -c bioconda mercat2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose L Figueroa
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, North Carolina Research Center (NCRC), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Andrew Redinbo
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, North Carolina Research Center (NCRC), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Ajay Panyala
- High Performance Computing (HPC) Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, United States
| | - Sean Colby
- Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, United States
| | - Maren L Friesen
- Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, United States
| | - Lisa Tiemann
- Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States
| | - Richard Allen White
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, North Carolina Research Center (NCRC), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER), The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
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Espinoza JL, Phillips A, Prentice MB, Tan GS, Kamath PL, Lloyd KG, Dupont CL. Unveiling the Microbial Realm with VEBA 2.0: A modular bioinformatics suite for end-to-end genome-resolved prokaryotic, (micro)eukaryotic, and viral multi-omics from either short- or long-read sequencing. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.08.583560. [PMID: 38559265 PMCID: PMC10979853 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.08.583560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The microbiome is a complex community of microorganisms, encompassing prokaryotic (bacterial and archaeal), eukaryotic, and viral entities. This microbial ensemble plays a pivotal role in influencing the health and productivity of diverse ecosystems while shaping the web of life. However, many software suites developed to study microbiomes analyze only the prokaryotic community and provide limited to no support for viruses and microeukaryotes. Previously, we introduced the Viral Eukaryotic Bacterial Archaeal (VEBA) open-source software suite to address this critical gap in microbiome research by extending genome-resolved analysis beyond prokaryotes to encompass the understudied realms of eukaryotes and viruses. Here we present VEBA 2.0 with key updates including a comprehensive clustered microeukaryotic protein database, rapid genome/protein-level clustering, bioprospecting, non-coding/organelle gene modeling, genome-resolved taxonomic/pathway profiling, long-read support, and containerization. We demonstrate VEBA's versatile application through the analysis of diverse case studies including marine water, Siberian permafrost, and white-tailed deer lung tissues with the latter showcasing how to identify integrated viruses. VEBA represents a crucial advancement in microbiome research, offering a powerful and accessible platform that bridges the gap between genomics and biotechnological solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh L. Espinoza
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Genomic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Allan Phillips
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Genomic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | | | - Gene S. Tan
- Department of Genomic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Pauline L. Kamath
- School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - Karen G. Lloyd
- Microbiology Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37917, USA
| | - Chris L. Dupont
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Genomic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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Figueroa III JL, Dhungel E, Bellanger M, Brouwer CR, White III RA. MetaCerberus: distributed highly parallelized HMM-based processing for robust functional annotation across the tree of life. Bioinformatics 2024; 40:btae119. [PMID: 38426351 PMCID: PMC10955254 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION MetaCerberus is a massively parallel, fast, low memory, scalable annotation tool for inference gene function across genomes to metacommunities. MetaCerberus provides an elusive HMM/HMMER-based tool at a rapid scale with low memory. It offers scalable gene elucidation to major public databases, including KEGG (KO), COGs, CAZy, FOAM, and specific databases for viruses, including VOGs and PHROGs, from single genomes to metacommunities. RESULTS MetaCerberus is 1.3× as fast on a single node than eggNOG-mapper v2 on 5× less memory using an exclusively HMM/HMMER mode. In a direct comparison, MetaCerberus provides better annotation of viruses, phages, and archaeal viruses than DRAM, Prokka, or InterProScan. MetaCerberus annotates more KOs across domains when compared to DRAM, with a 186× smaller database, and with 63× less memory. MetaCerberus is fully integrated for automatic analysis of statistics and pathways using differential statistic tools (i.e. DESeq2 and edgeR), pathway enrichment (GAGE R), and pathview R. MetaCerberus provides a novel tool for unlocking the biosphere across the tree of life at scale. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION MetaCerberus is written in Python and distributed under a BSD-3 license. The source code of MetaCerberus is freely available at https://github.com/raw-lab/metacerberus compatible with Python 3 and works on both Mac OS X and Linux. MetaCerberus can also be easily installed using bioconda: mamba create -n metacerberus -c bioconda -c conda-forge metacerberus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose L Figueroa III
- North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
- Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER) Research Center, Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Eliza Dhungel
- North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
| | - Madeline Bellanger
- North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
- Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER) Research Center, Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Cory R Brouwer
- North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
| | - Richard Allen White III
- North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States
- Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER) Research Center, Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
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Bhattarai B, Bhattacharjee AS, Coutinho FH, Goel R. Investigating the viral ecology and contribution to the microbial ecology in full-scale mesophilic anaerobic digesters. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 349:140743. [PMID: 37984648 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
In an attempt to assess the diversity of viruses and their potential to modulate the metabolism of functional microorganisms in anaerobic digesters, we collected digestate from three mesophilic anaerobic digesters in full-scale wastewater treatment plants treating real municipal wastewater. The reads were analyzed using bioinformatics algorithms to elucidate viral diversity, identify their potential role in modulating the metabolism of functional microorganisms, and provide essential genomic information for the potential use of virus-mediated treatment in controlling the anaerobic digester microbiome. We found that Siphoviridae was the dominant family in mesophilic anaerobic digesters, followed by Myoviridae and Podoviridae. Lysogeny was prevalent in mesophilic anaerobic digesters as the majority of metagenome-assembled genomes contained at least one viral genome within them. One virus within the genome of an acetoclastic methanogen (Methanothrix soehngenii) was observed with a gene (fwdE) acquired via lateral transfer from hydrogenotrophic methanogens. The virus-mediated acquisition of fwdE gene enables possibility of mixotrophic methanogenesis in Methanothrix soehngenii. This evidence highlighted that lysogeny provides fitness advantage to methanogens in anaerobic digesters by adding flexibility to changing substrates. Similarly, we found auxiliary metabolic genes, such as cellulase and alpha glucosidase, of bacterial origin responsible for sludge hydrolysis in viruses. Additionally, we discovered novel viral genomes and provided genomic information on viruses infecting acidogenic, acetogenic, and pathogenic bacteria that can potentially be used for virus-mediated treatment to deal with the souring problem in anaerobic digesters and remove pathogens from biosolids before land application. Collectively, our study provides a genome-level understanding of virome in conjunction with the microbiome in anaerobic digesters that can be used to optimize the anaerobic digestion process for efficient biogas generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bishav Bhattarai
- The University of Utah, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 110 S Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States.
| | - Ananda Shankar Bhattacharjee
- Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States; USDA-ARS, United States Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Felipe H Coutinho
- Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Institute of Marine Sciences, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICM-CISC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ramesh Goel
- The University of Utah, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 110 S Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States.
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Kyei-Baffour ES, Owusu-Boateng K, Isawumi A, Mosi L. Pseudogenomic insights into the evolution of Mycobacterium ulcerans. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:87. [PMID: 38253991 PMCID: PMC10802024 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10001-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Buruli ulcer (BU) disease, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU), and characterized by necrotic ulcers is still a health problem in Africa and Australia. The genome of the bacterium has several pseudogenes due to recent evolutionary events and environmental pressures. Pseudogenes are genetic elements regarded as nonessential in bacteria, however, they are less studied due to limited available tools to provide understanding of their evolution and roles in MU pathogenicity. RESULTS This study developed a bioinformatic pipeline to profile the pseudogenomes of sequenced MU clinical isolates from different countries. One hundred and seventy-two MU genomes analyzed revealed that pseudogenomes of African strains corresponded to the two African lineages 1 and 2. Pseudogenomes were lineage and location specific and African lineage 1 was further divided into A and B. Lineage 2 had less relaxation in positive selection than lineage 1 which may signify different evolutionary points. Based on the Gil-Latorre model, African MU strains may be in the latter stages of evolutionary adaption and are adapting to an environment rich in metabolic resources with a lower temperature and decreased UV radiation. The environment fosters oxidative metabolism and MU may be less reliant on some secondary metabolites. In-house pseudogenomes from Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire were different from other African strains, however, they were identified as African strains. CONCLUSION Our bioinformatic pipeline provides pseudogenomic insights to complement other whole genome analyses, providing a better view of the evolution of the genome of MU and suggest an adaptation model which is important in understanding transmission. MU pseudogene profiles vary based on lineage and country, and an apparent reduction in insertion sequences used for the detection of MU which may adversely affect the sensitivity of diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwin Sakyi Kyei-Baffour
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Kwabena Owusu-Boateng
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- Department of Microbial Sciences, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK
| | - Abiola Isawumi
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
| | - Lydia Mosi
- West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
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Bucci L, Ghiotto G, Zampieri G, Raga R, Favaro L, Treu L, Campanaro S. Adaptation of Anaerobic Digestion Microbial Communities to High Ammonium Levels: Insights from Strain-Resolved Metagenomics. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:580-590. [PMID: 38114447 PMCID: PMC10785762 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c07737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Ammonia release from proteinaceous feedstocks represents the main inhibitor of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process, which can result in a decreased biomethane yield or even complete failure of the process. The present study focused on the adaptation of mesophilic AD communities to a stepwise increase in the concentration of ammonium chloride in synthetic medium with casein used as the carbon source. An adaptation process occurring over more than 20 months allowed batch reactors to reach up to 20 g of NH4+ N/L without collapsing in acidification nor ceasing methane production. To decipher the microbial dynamics occurring during the adaptation and determine the genes mostly exposed to selective pressure, a combination of biochemical and metagenomics analyses was performed, reconstructing the strains of key species and tracking them over time. Subsequently, the adaptive metabolic mechanisms were delineated by following the single nucleotide variants (SNVs) characterizing the strains and prioritizing the associated genes according to their function. An in-depth exploration of the archaeon Methanoculleus bourgensis vb3066 and the putative syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria Acetomicrobium sp. ma133 identified positively selected SNVs on genes involved in stress adaptation. The intraspecies diversity with multiple coexisting strains in a temporal succession pattern allows us to detect the presence of an additional level of diversity within the microbial community beyond the species level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Bucci
- Department
of Biology (DIBIO), University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ghiotto
- Department
of Biology (DIBIO), University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Guido Zampieri
- Department
of Biology (DIBIO), University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Roberto Raga
- Department
of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (ICEA), University of Padova, Via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Favaro
- Department
of Agronomy Food Natural Resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova,
Campus Agripolis, Viale dell’Università
16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
| | - Laura Treu
- Department
of Biology (DIBIO), University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Campanaro
- Department
of Biology (DIBIO), University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
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11
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Gaspari M, Ghiotto G, Centurion VB, Kotsopoulos T, Santinello D, Campanaro S, Treu L, Kougias PG. Decoding Microbial Responses to Ammonia Shock Loads in Biogas Reactors through Metagenomics and Metatranscriptomics. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:591-602. [PMID: 38112274 PMCID: PMC10785759 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c07840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
The presence of elevated ammonia levels is widely recognized as a significant contributor to process inhibition in biogas production, posing a common challenge for biogas plant operators. The present study employed a combination of biochemical, genome-centric metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data to investigate the response of the biogas microbiome to two shock loads induced by single pulses of elevated ammonia concentrations (i.e., 1.5 g NH4+/LR and 5 g NH4+/LR). The analysis revealed a microbial community of high complexity consisting of 364 Metagenome Assembled Genomes (MAGs). The hydrogenotrophic pathway was the primary route for methane production during the entire experiment, confirming its efficiency even at high ammonia concentrations. Additionally, metatranscriptomic analysis uncovered a metabolic shift in the methanogens Methanothrix sp. MA6 and Methanosarcina flavescens MX5, which switched their metabolism from the acetoclastic to the CO2 reduction route during the second shock. Furthermore, multiple genes associated with mechanisms for maintaining osmotic balance in the cell were upregulated, emphasizing the critical role of osmoprotection in the rapid response to the presence of ammonia. Finally, this study offers insights into the transcriptional response of an anaerobic digestion community, specifically focusing on the mechanisms involved in recovering from ammonia-induced stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gaspari
- Soil
and Water Resources Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation
Dimitra, Thermi, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece
- Department
of Hydraulics, Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, School of
Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
| | - Gabriele Ghiotto
- Department
of Biology, University of Padova, Padova 35121, Italy
| | | | - Thomas Kotsopoulos
- Department
of Hydraulics, Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, School of
Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
| | | | | | - Laura Treu
- Department
of Biology, University of Padova, Padova 35121, Italy
| | - Panagiotis G. Kougias
- Soil
and Water Resources Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation
Dimitra, Thermi, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece
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12
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Bhattacharjee AS, Phan D, Zheng C, Ashworth D, Schmidt M, Men Y, Ferreira JFS, Muir G, Hasan NA, Ibekwe AM. Dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes through soil-plant-earthworm continuum in the food production environment. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 183:108374. [PMID: 38101104 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Treated municipal wastewater (TMW) can provide a reliable source of irrigation water for crops, which is especially important in arid areas where water resources are limited or prone to drought. Nonetheless, TMW may contain residual antibiotics, potentially exposing the crops to these substances. The goal of this study was to investigate the dissemination of antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs) in the soil-plant-earthworm continuum after irrigation of spinach and radish plants with TMW containing trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfapyridine in a greenhouse experiment, followed by feeding of earthworms with harvested plant materials. Our results showed that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were enriched in the soil-plant-earthworm microbiomes irrigated with TMW and TMW spiked with higher concentrations of antibiotics. The number of ARGs and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) enrichment varied with plant type, with spinach harboring a significantly higher amount of ARGs and ARB compared to radish. Our data showed that bulk and rhizosphere soils of spinach and radish plants irrigated with MilliQ water, TMW, TMW10, or TMW100 had significant differences in bacterial community (p < 0.001), ARG (p < 0.001), and virulence factor gene (VFG) (p < 0.001) diversities. The abundance of ARGs significantly decreased from bulk soil to rhizosphere to phyllosphere and endosphere. Using metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs), we recovered many bacterial MAGs and a near complete genome (>90 %) of bacterial MAG of genus Leclercia adecarboxylata B from the fecal microbiome of earthworm that was fed harvested radish tubers and spinach leaves grown on TMW10 irrigated waters, and this bacterium has been shown to be an emerging pathogen causing infection in immunocompromised patients that may lead to health complications and death. Therefore, crops irrigated with TMW containing residual antibiotics and ARGs may lead to increased incidences of enrichment of ARB in the soil-plant-earthworm continuum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ananda S Bhattacharjee
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Duc Phan
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Chujing Zheng
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Daniel Ashworth
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Michael Schmidt
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Yujie Men
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Jorge F S Ferreira
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | | | - Nur A Hasan
- EzBiome, Gaithersburg, MD, USA; Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Abasiofiok M Ibekwe
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA.
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13
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Zhernakova DV, Wang D, Liu L, Andreu-Sánchez S, Zhang Y, Ruiz-Moreno AJ, Peng H, Plomp N, Del Castillo-Izquierdo Á, Gacesa R, Lopera-Maya EA, Temba GS, Kullaya VI, van Leeuwen SS, Xavier RJ, de Mast Q, Joosten LAB, Riksen NP, Rutten JHW, Netea MG, Sanna S, Wijmenga C, Weersma RK, Zhernakova A, Harmsen HJM, Fu J. Host genetic regulation of human gut microbial structural variation. Nature 2024; 625:813-821. [PMID: 38172637 PMCID: PMC10808065 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06893-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Although the impact of host genetics on gut microbial diversity and the abundance of specific taxa is well established1-6, little is known about how host genetics regulates the genetic diversity of gut microorganisms. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of associations between human genetic variation and gut microbial structural variation in 9,015 individuals from four Dutch cohorts. Strikingly, the presence rate of a structural variation segment in Faecalibacterium prausnitzii that harbours an N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) utilization gene cluster is higher in individuals who secrete the type A oligosaccharide antigen terminating in GalNAc, a feature that is jointly determined by human ABO and FUT2 genotypes, and we could replicate this association in a Tanzanian cohort. In vitro experiments demonstrated that GalNAc can be used as the sole carbohydrate source for F. prausnitzii strains that carry the GalNAc-metabolizing pathway. Further in silico and in vitro studies demonstrated that other ABO-associated species can also utilize GalNAc, particularly Collinsella aerofaciens. The GalNAc utilization genes are also associated with the host's cardiometabolic health, particularly in individuals with mucosal A-antigen. Together, the findings of our study demonstrate that genetic associations across the human genome and bacterial metagenome can provide functional insights into the reciprocal host-microbiome relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daria V Zhernakova
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Daoming Wang
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pediatrics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Lei Liu
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sergio Andreu-Sánchez
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pediatrics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Yue Zhang
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pediatrics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Angel J Ruiz-Moreno
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pediatrics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Haoran Peng
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Niels Plomp
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ángela Del Castillo-Izquierdo
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ranko Gacesa
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Esteban A Lopera-Maya
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Godfrey S Temba
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, Moshi, Tanzania
- Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Vesla I Kullaya
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, Moshi, Tanzania
- Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Moshi, Tanzania
| | - Sander S van Leeuwen
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ramnik J Xavier
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Quirijn de Mast
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Leo A B Joosten
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Medical Genetics, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Niels P Riksen
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Joost H W Rutten
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Mihai G Netea
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Immunology and Metabolism, Life and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Human Genomics Laboratory, Craiova University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania
| | - Serena Sanna
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Cisca Wijmenga
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Rinse K Weersma
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Alexandra Zhernakova
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Hermie J M Harmsen
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Jingyuan Fu
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Genetics, Groningen, The Netherlands.
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pediatrics, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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14
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Dekham K, Jones SM, Jitrakorn S, Charoonnart P, Thadtapong N, Intuy R, Dubbs P, Siripattanapipong S, Saksmerprome V, Chaturongakul S. Functional and genomic characterization of a novel probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonii KD1 against shrimp WSSV infection. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21610. [PMID: 38062111 PMCID: PMC10703779 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47897-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
White Spot syndrome virus (WSSV) causes rapid shrimp mortality and production loss worldwide. This study demonstrates potential use of Lactobacillus johnsonii KD1 as an anti-WSSV agent for post larva shrimp cultivation and explores some potential mechanisms behind the anti-WSSV properties. Treatment of Penaeus vannamei shrimps with L. johnsonii KD1 prior to oral challenge with WSSV-infected tissues showed a significantly reduced mortality. In addition, WSSV copy numbers were not detected and shrimp immune genes were upregulated. Genomic analysis of L. johnsonii KD1 based on Illumina and Nanopore platforms revealed a 1.87 Mb chromosome and one 15.4 Kb plasmid. Only one antimicrobial resistance gene (ermB) in the chromosome was identified. Phylogenetic analysis comparing L. johnsonii KD1 to other L. johnsonii isolates revealed that L. johnsonii KD1 is closely related to L. johnsonii GHZ10a isolated from wild pigs. Interestingly, L. johnsonii KD1 contains isolate-specific genes such as genes involved in a type I restriction-modification system and CAZymes belonging to the GT8 family. Furthermore, genes coding for probiotic survival and potential antimicrobial/anti-viral metabolites such as a homolog of the bacteriocin helveticin-J were found. Protein-protein docking modelling suggests the helveticin-J homolog may be able to block VP28-PmRab7 interactions and interrupt WSSV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanokwan Dekham
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Samuel Merryn Jones
- School of Biosciences, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NZ, UK
| | - Sarocha Jitrakorn
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand
- Center of Excellence for Shrimp Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Centex Shrimp), Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Patai Charoonnart
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand
- Center of Excellence for Shrimp Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Centex Shrimp), Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Nalumon Thadtapong
- Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand
| | - Rattanaporn Intuy
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Padungsri Dubbs
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | | | - Vanvimon Saksmerprome
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand.
- Center of Excellence for Shrimp Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Centex Shrimp), Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
| | - Soraya Chaturongakul
- Molecular Medical Biosciences Cluster, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand.
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15
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Jesser KJ, Trueba G, Konstantinidis KT, Levy K. Why are so many enteric pathogen infections asymptomatic? Pathogen and gut microbiome characteristics associated with diarrhea symptoms and carriage of diarrheagenic E. coli in northern Ecuador. Gut Microbes 2023; 15:2281010. [PMID: 37992406 PMCID: PMC10730187 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2281010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
A high proportion of enteric infections, including those caused by diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC), are asymptomatic for diarrhea. The factors responsible for the development of diarrhea symptoms, or lack thereof, remain unclear. Here, we used DEC isolate genome and whole stool microbiome data from a case-control study of diarrhea in Ecuador to examine factors associated with diarrhea symptoms accompanying DEC carriage. We investigated i) pathogen abundance, ii) gut microbiome characteristics, and iii) strain-level pathogen characteristics from DEC infections with diarrhea symptoms (symptomatic infections) and without diarrhea symptoms (asymptomatic infections). We also included data from individuals with and without diarrhea who were not infected with DEC (uninfected cases and controls). i) E. coli relative abundance in the gut microbiome was highly variable, but higher on-average in individuals with symptomatic compared to asymptomatic DEC infections. Similarly, the number and relative abundances of virulence genes in the gut were higher in symptomatic than asymptomatic DEC infections. ii) Measures of microbiome diversity were similar regardless of diarrhea symptoms or DEC carriage. Proteobacterial families that have been described as pathobionts were enriched in symptomatic infections and uninfected cases, whereas potentially beneficial taxa, including the Bacteroidaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae, were more abundant in individuals without diarrhea. An analysis of high-level gene functions recovered in metagenomes revealed that genes that were differentially abundant by diarrhea and DEC infection status were more abundant in symptomatic than asymptomatic DEC infections. iii) DEC isolates from symptomatic versus asymptomatic individuals showed no significant differences in virulence or accessory gene content, and there was no phylogenetic signal associated with diarrhea symptoms. Together, these data suggest signals that distinguish symptomatic from asymptomatic DEC infections. In particular, the abundance of E. coli, the virulence gene content of the gut microbiome, and the taxa present in the gut microbiome have an apparent role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey J Jesser
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Gabriel Trueba
- Instituto de Microbiología, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Karen Levy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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16
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Carter EL, Constantinidou C, Alam MT. Applications of genome-scale metabolic models to investigate microbial metabolic adaptations in response to genetic or environmental perturbations. Brief Bioinform 2023; 25:bbad439. [PMID: 38048080 PMCID: PMC10694557 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Environmental perturbations are encountered by microorganisms regularly and will require metabolic adaptations to ensure an organism can survive in the newly presenting conditions. In order to study the mechanisms of metabolic adaptation in such conditions, various experimental and computational approaches have been used. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) are one of the most powerful approaches to study metabolism, providing a platform to study the systems level adaptations of an organism to different environments which could otherwise be infeasible experimentally. In this review, we are describing the application of GEMs in understanding how microbes reprogram their metabolic system as a result of environmental variation. In particular, we provide the details of metabolic model reconstruction approaches, various algorithms and tools for model simulation, consequences of genetic perturbations, integration of '-omics' datasets for creating context-specific models and their application in studying metabolic adaptation due to the change in environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Lucy Carter
- Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7HL, UK
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17
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Qiao N, Bechtner J, Cnockaert M, Depoorter E, Díaz-Muñoz C, Vandamme P, De Vuyst L, Gänzle MG. Comparative genomic analysis of Periweissella and the characterization of novel motile species. Appl Environ Microbiol 2023; 89:e0103423. [PMID: 37728921 PMCID: PMC10617413 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01034-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The genus Periweissella was proposed as a novel genus in the Lactobacillaceae in 2022. However, the phylogenetic relationship between Periweissella and other heterofermentative lactobacilli, and the genetic and physiological properties of this genus remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the phylogenetic relationship between Periweissella and the two closest genera, Weissella and Furfurilactobacillus, by the phylogenetic analysis and calculation of (core gene) pairwise average amino acid identity. Targeted genomic analysis showed that fructose bisphosphate aldolase was only present in the genome of Pw. cryptocerci. Mannitol dehydrogenase was found in genomes of Pw. beninensis, Pw. fabaria, and Pw. fabalis. Untargeted genomic analysis identified the presence of flagellar genes in Periweissella but not in other closely related genera. Phenotypes related to carbohydrate fermentation and motility matched the genotypes. Motility genes were organized in a single operon and the proteins shared a high amino acid similarity in the genus Periweissella. The relatively low similarity of motility operons between Periweissella and other motile lactobacilli indicated the acquisition of motility by the ancestral species. Our findings facilitate the phylogenetic, genetic, and phenotypic understanding of the genus Periweissella.ImportanceThe genus Periweissella is a heterofermentative genus in the Lactobacillaceae which includes predominantly isolates from cocoa fermentations in tropical climates. Despite the relevance of the genus in food fermentations, genetic and physiological properties of the genus are poorly characterized and genome sequences became available only after 2020. This study characterized strains of the genus by functional genomic analysis, and by determination of metabolic and physiological traits. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Periweissella is the evolutionary link between rod-shaped heterofermentative lactobacilli and the coccoid Leuconostoc clade with the genera Weissella and Furfurilactobacillus as closest relatives. Periweissella is the only heterofermentative genus in the Lactobacillaceae which comprises predominantly motile strains. The genomic, physiological, and metabolic characterization of Periweissella may facilitate the potential use of strains of the genus as starter culture in traditional or novel food fermentations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanzhen Qiao
- Department of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Julia Bechtner
- Department of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Margo Cnockaert
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Laboratory of Microbiology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Eliza Depoorter
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Laboratory of Microbiology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Christian Díaz-Muñoz
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Peter Vandamme
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Laboratory of Microbiology, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Luc De Vuyst
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Michael G. Gänzle
- Department of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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18
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Li H, Bhattarai B, Barber M, Goel R. Stringent Response of Cyanobacteria and Other Bacterioplankton during Different Stages of a Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:16016-16032. [PMID: 37819800 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
We conducted a field study to investigate the role of stringent response in cyanobacteria and coexisting bacterioplankton during nutrient-deprived periods at various stages of bloom in a freshwater lake (Utah Lake) for the first time. Using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics analyses, we examined the cyanobacterial ecology and expression of important functional genes related to stringent response, N and P metabolism, and regulation. Our findings mark a significant advancement in understanding the mechanisms by which toxic cyanobacteria survive and proliferate during nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitations. We successfully identified and analyzed the metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of the dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria, namely, Dolichospermum circinale, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae UKL13-PB, Planktothrix agardhii, and Microcystis aeruginosa. By mapping RNA-seq data to the coding sequences of the MAGs, we observed that these four prevalent cyanobacteria species activated multiple functions to adapt to the depletion of inorganic nutrients. During and after the blooms, the four dominant cyanobacteria species expressed high levels of transcripts related to toxin production, such as microcystins (mcy), anatoxins (ana), and cylindrospermopsins (cyr). Additionally, genes associated with polyphosphate (poly-P) storage and the stringent response alarmone (p)ppGpp synthesis/hydrolysis, including ppk, relA, and spoT, were highly activated in both cyanobacteria and bacterioplankton. Under N deficiency, the main N pathways shifted from denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction in bacterioplankton toward N2-fixing and assimilatory nitrate reduction in certain cyanobacteria with a corresponding shift in the community composition. P deprivation triggered a stringent response mediated by spoT-dependent (p)ppGpp accumulation and activation of the Pho regulon in both cyanobacteria and bacterioplankton, facilitating inorganic and organic P uptake. The dominant cyanobacterial MAGs exhibited the presence of multiple alkaline phosphatase (APase) transcripts (e.g., phoA in Dolichospermum, phoX in Planktothrix, and Microcystis), suggesting their ability to synthesize and release APase enzymes to convert ambient organic P into bioavailable forms. Conversely, transcripts associated with bacterioplankton-dominated pathways like denitrification were low and did not align with the occurrence of intense cyanoHABs. The strong correlations observed among N, P, stringent response metabolisms and the succession of blooms caused by dominant cyanobacterial species provide evidence that the stringent response, induced by nutrient limitation, may activate unique N and P functions in toxin-producing cyanobacteria, thereby sustaining cyanoHABs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanyan Li
- Institute for Environmental Genomics, The University of Oklahoma, 101 David L Boren Blvd, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, United States
| | - Bishav Bhattarai
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, 110 S Central Campus, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Michael Barber
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, 110 S Central Campus, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Ramesh Goel
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, 110 S Central Campus, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
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Samantray D, Tanwar AS, Murali TS, Brand A, Satyamoorthy K, Paul B. A Comprehensive Bioinformatics Resource Guide for Genome-Based Antimicrobial Resistance Studies. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2023; 27:445-460. [PMID: 37861712 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2023.0140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
The use of high-throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatic tools has greatly transformed microbial genome research. With the help of sophisticated computational tools, it has become easier to perform whole genome assembly, identify and compare different species based on their genomes, and predict the presence of genes responsible for proteins, antimicrobial resistance, and toxins. These bioinformatics resources are likely to continuously improve in quality, become more user-friendly to analyze the multiple genomic data, efficient in generating information and translating it into meaningful knowledge, and enhance our understanding of the genetic mechanism of AMR. In this manuscript, we provide an essential guide for selecting the popular resources for microbial research, such as genome assembly and annotation, antibiotic resistance gene profiling, identification of virulence factors, and drug interaction studies. In addition, we discuss the best practices in computer-oriented microbial genome research, emerging trends in microbial genomic data analysis, integration of multi-omics data, the appropriate use of machine-learning algorithms, and open-source bioinformatics resources for genome data analytics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debyani Samantray
- Department of Bioinformatics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Ankit Singh Tanwar
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Thokur Sreepathy Murali
- Department of Biotechnology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Angela Brand
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Department of Health Information, Prasanna School of Public Health (PSPH), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Kapaettu Satyamoorthy
- SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara (SDM) University, Dharwad, India
| | - Bobby Paul
- Department of Bioinformatics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
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20
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de Almeida FM, de Campos TA, Pappas Jr GJ. Scalable and versatile container-based pipelines for de novo genome assembly and bacterial annotation. F1000Res 2023; 12:1205. [PMID: 37970066 PMCID: PMC10646344 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.139488.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Advancements in DNA sequencing technology have transformed the field of bacterial genomics, allowing for faster and more cost effective chromosome level assemblies compared to a decade ago. However, transforming raw reads into a complete genome model is a significant computational challenge due to the varying quality and quantity of data obtained from different sequencing instruments, as well as intrinsic characteristics of the genome and desired analyses. To address this issue, we have developed a set of container-based pipelines using Nextflow, offering both common workflows for inexperienced users and high levels of customization for experienced ones. Their processing strategies are adaptable based on the sequencing data type, and their modularity enables the incorporation of new components to address the community's evolving needs. Methods: These pipelines consist of three parts: quality control, de novo genome assembly, and bacterial genome annotation. In particular, the genome annotation pipeline provides a comprehensive overview of the genome, including standard gene prediction and functional inference, as well as predictions relevant to clinical applications such as virulence and resistance gene annotation, secondary metabolite detection, prophage and plasmid prediction, and more. Results: The annotation results are presented in reports, genome browsers, and a web-based application that enables users to explore and interact with the genome annotation results. Conclusions: Overall, our user-friendly pipelines offer a seamless integration of computational tools to facilitate routine bacterial genomics research. The effectiveness of these is illustrated by examining the sequencing data of a clinical sample of Klebsiella pneumoniae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe Marques de Almeida
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Molecular, Universidade de Brasilia, Brasília, FD, 70910-900, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Tatiana Amabile de Campos
- Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Microbiana, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil
| | - Georgios Joannis Pappas Jr
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Molecular, Universidade de Brasilia, Brasília, FD, 70910-900, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil
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21
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Sombolestani AS, Bongaerts D, Depoorter E, Cleenwerck I, Wieme AD, Britton SJ, Weckx S, De Vuyst L, Vandamme P. Brytella acorum gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel acetic acid bacterium from sour beverages. Syst Appl Microbiol 2023; 46:126440. [PMID: 37429096 DOI: 10.1016/j.syapm.2023.126440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Polyphasic taxonomic and comparative genomic analyses revealed that a series of lambic beer isolates including strain LMG 32668T and the kombucha isolate LMG 32879 represent a novel species among the acetic acid bacteria, with Acidomonas methanolica as the nearest phylogenomic neighbor with a valid name. Overall genomic relatedness indices and phylogenomic and physiological analyses revealed that this novel species was best classified in a novel genus for which we propose the name Brytella acorum gen. nov., sp. nov., with LMG 32668T (=CECT 30723T) as the type strain. The B. acorum genomes encode a complete but modified tricarboxylic acid cycle, and complete pentose phosphate, pyruvate oxidation and gluconeogenesis pathways. The absence of 6-phosphofructokinase which rendered the glycolysis pathway non-functional, and an energy metabolism that included both aerobic respiration and oxidative fermentation are typical metabolic characteristics of acetic acid bacteria. Neither genome encodes nitrogen fixation or nitrate reduction genes, but both genomes encode genes for the biosynthesis of a broad range of amino acids. Antibiotic resistance genes or virulence factors are absent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atena Sadat Sombolestani
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dries Bongaerts
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Eliza Depoorter
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ilse Cleenwerck
- BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Anneleen D Wieme
- BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Scott J Britton
- Department of Research & Development, Brewery Duvel Moortgat, 2870 Puurs-Sint-Amands, Belgium; International Centre for Brewing and Distilling, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics, and Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom
| | - Stefan Weckx
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Luc De Vuyst
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Peter Vandamme
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
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22
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Graña-Miraglia L, Morales-Lizcano N, Wang PW, Hwang DM, Yau YCW, Waters VJ, Guttman DS. Predictive modeling of antibiotic eradication therapy success for new-onset Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infections in children with cystic fibrosis. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011424. [PMID: 37672526 PMCID: PMC10506723 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) lung infections are the leading cause of mortality among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients; therefore, the eradication of new-onset Pa lung infections is an important therapeutic goal that can have long-term health benefits. The use of early antibiotic eradication therapy (AET) has been shown to clear the majority of new-onset Pa infections, and it is hoped that identifying the underlying basis for AET failure will further improve treatment outcomes. Here we generated machine learning models to predict AET outcomes based on pathogen genomic data. We used a nested cross validation design, population structure control, and recursive feature selection to improve model performance and showed that incorporating population structure control was crucial for improving model interpretation and generalizability. Our best model, controlling for population structure and using only 30 recursively selected features, had an area under the curve of 0.87 for a holdout test dataset. The top-ranked features were generally associated with motility, adhesion, and biofilm formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucía Graña-Miraglia
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nadia Morales-Lizcano
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Pauline W. Wang
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - David M. Hwang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laboratory Medicine and Molecular Diagnostics, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yvonne C. W. Yau
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, Division of Microbiology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Valerie J. Waters
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Translational Medicine, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - David S. Guttman
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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23
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Buzzanca D, Kerkhof PJ, Alessandria V, Rantsiou K, Houf K. Arcobacteraceae comparative genome analysis demonstrates genome heterogeneity and reduction in species isolated from animals and associated with human illness. Heliyon 2023; 9:e17652. [PMID: 37449094 PMCID: PMC10336517 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 06/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The Arcobacteraceae family groups Gram-negative bacterial species previously included in the family Campylobacteraceae. These species of which some are considered foodborne pathogens, have been isolated from different environmental niches and hosts. They have been isolated from various types of foods, though predominantly from food of animal origin, as well as from stool of humans with enteritis. Their different abilities to survive in different hosts and environments suggest an evolutionary pressure with consequent variation in their genome content. Moreover, their different physiological and genomic characteristics led to the recent proposal to create new genera within this family, which is however criticized due to the lack of discriminatory features and biological and clinical relevance. Aims of the present study were to assess the Arcobacteraceae pangenome, and to characterize existing similarities and differences in 20 validly described species. For this, analysis has been conducted on the genomes of the corresponding type strains obtained by Illumina sequencing, applying several bioinformatic tools. Results of the present study do not support the proposed division into different genera and revealed the presence of pangenome partitions with numbers comparable to other Gram-negative bacteria genera, such as Campylobacter. Different gene class compositions in animal and human-associated species are present, including a higher percentage of virulence-related gene classes such as cell motility genes. The adaptation to environmental and/or host conditions of some species was identified by the presence of specific genes. Furthermore, a division into pathogenic and non-pathogenic species is suggested, which can support future research on food safety and public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Buzzanca
- Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Heidestraat 19, Merelbeke, Belgium
- Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy
| | - Pieter-Jan Kerkhof
- Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Heidestraat 19, Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Valentina Alessandria
- Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy
| | - Kalliopi Rantsiou
- Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA), University of Turin, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy
| | - Kurt Houf
- Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Heidestraat 19, Merelbeke, Belgium
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Karel Lodewijk Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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24
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Chafra F, Borim Correa F, Oni F, Konu Karakayalı Ö, Stadler PF, Nunes da Rocha U. StandEnA: a customizable workflow for standardized annotation and generating a presence-absence matrix of proteins. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2023; 3:vbad069. [PMID: 37448812 PMCID: PMC10336186 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbad069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
Motivation Several genome annotation tools standardize annotation outputs for comparability. During standardization, these tools do not allow user-friendly customization of annotation databases; limiting their flexibility and applicability in downstream analysis. Results StandEnA is a user-friendly command-line tool for Linux that facilitates the generation of custom databases by retrieving protein sequences from multiple databases. Directed by a user-defined list of standard names, StandEnA retrieves synonyms to search for corresponding sequences in a set of public databases. Custom databases are used in prokaryotic genome annotation to generate standardized presence-absence matrices and reference files containing standard database identifiers. To showcase StandEnA, we applied it to six metagenome-assembled genomes to analyze three different pathways. Availability and implementation StandEnA is an open-source software available at https://github.com/mdsufz/StandEnA. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Advances online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatma Chafra
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Felipe Borim Correa
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany
- Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Center of Bioinformatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig 04107, Germany
| | - Faith Oni
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany
- Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Center of Bioinformatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig 04107, Germany
| | - Özlen Konu Karakayalı
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
- Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
- UNAM-Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Peter F Stadler
- Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Center of Bioinformatics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig 04107, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics, German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Competence Center for Scalable Data Services and Solutions, Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases (LIFE), University of Leipzig, Leipzig 04109, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- Institute for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad National de Colombia, Sede Bogotá 111711, Colombia
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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25
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Ibekwe AM, Bhattacharjee AS, Phan D, Ashworth D, Schmidt MP, Murinda SE, Obayiuwana A, Murry MA, Schwartz G, Lundquist T, Ma J, Karathia H, Fanelli B, Hasan NA, Yang CH. Potential reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance in livestock waste and treated wastewater that can be disseminated to agricultural land. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 872:162194. [PMID: 36781130 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Livestock manure, dairy lagoon effluent, and treated wastewater are known reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and virulence factor genes (VFGs), and their application to agricultural farmland could be a serious public health threat. However, their dissemination to agricultural lands and impact on important geochemical pathways such as the nitrogen (N) cycle have not been jointly explored. In this study, shotgun metagenomic sequencing and analyses were performed to examine the diversity and composition of microbial communities, ARGs, VFGs, and N cycling genes in different livestock manure/lagoon and treated wastewater collected from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and a municipal wastewater treatment plant along the west coast of the United States. Multivariate analysis showed that diversity indices of bacterial taxa from the different microbiomes were not significantly different based on InvSimpson (P = 0.05), but differences in ARG mechanisms were observed between swine manure and other microbiome sources. Comparative resistome profiling showed that ARGs in microbiome samples belonged to four core resistance classes: aminoglycosides (40-55 %), tetracyclines (30-45 %), beta-lactam-resistance (20-35 %), macrolides (18-30 %), and >50 % of the VFGs that the 24 microbiomes harbored were phyletically affiliated with two bacteria, Bacteroidetes fragilis and Enterobacter aerogenes. Network analysis based on Spearman correlation showed co-occurrence patterns between several genes such as transporter-gene and regulator, efflux pump and involved-in-polymyxin- resistance, aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, and macrolide with VFGs and bacterial taxa such as Firmicutes, Candidatus Themoplasmatota, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Metabolic reconstruction of metagenome-assembled genome (MAGs) analysis showed that the most prevalent drug resistance mechanisms were associated with carbapenem resistance, multidrug resistance (MDR), and efflux pump. Bacteroidales was the main taxa involved in dissimilatory nitrate reduction (DNRA) in dairy lagoon effluent. This study demonstrates that the dissemination of waste from these sources can increase the spread of ARGs, ARB, and VFGs into agricultural lands, negatively impacting both soil and human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abasiofiok M Ibekwe
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA.
| | - Ananda S Bhattacharjee
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Duc Phan
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, 92507, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Ashworth
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Michael P Schmidt
- US Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
| | - Shelton E Murinda
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA
| | - Amarachukwu Obayiuwana
- Department of Biological Sciences, Augustine University Ilara-Epe, Lagos State 106101, Nigeria
| | - Marcia A Murry
- Biological Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA
| | - Gregory Schwartz
- BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department, College of Agriculture, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
| | - Tryg Lundquist
- Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
| | - Jincai Ma
- College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, PR China
| | | | | | - Nur A Hasan
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA; EzBiome Inc, MD, USA
| | - Ching-Hong Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
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26
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Lugli GA, Fontana F, Tarracchini C, Milani C, Mancabelli L, Turroni F, Ventura M. MEGAnnotator2: a pipeline for the assembly and annotation of microbial genomes. MICROBIOME RESEARCH REPORTS 2023; 2:15. [PMID: 38058405 PMCID: PMC10696586 DOI: 10.20517/mrr.2022.21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
The reconstruction of microbial genome sequences by bioinformatic pipelines and the consequent functional annotation of their genes' repertoire are fundamental activities aiming at unveiling their biological mechanisms, such as metabolism, virulence factors, and antimicrobial resistances. Here, we describe the development of the MEGAnnotator2 pipeline able to manage all next-generation sequencing methodologies producing short- and long-read DNA sequences. Starting from raw sequencing data, the updated pipeline can manage multiple analyses leading to the assembly of high-quality genome sequences and the functional classification of their genetic repertoire, providing the user with a useful report constituting features and statistics related to the microbial genome. The updated pipeline is fully automated from the installation to the delivery of the output, thus requiring minimal bioinformatics knowledge to be executed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Andrea Lugli
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
| | - Federico Fontana
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
| | - Chiara Tarracchini
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
| | - Christian Milani
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
- Microbiome Research Hub, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
| | - Leonardo Mancabelli
- Microbiome Research Hub, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma 43125, Italy
| | - Francesca Turroni
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
- Microbiome Research Hub, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
| | - Marco Ventura
- Laboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
- Microbiome Research Hub, University of Parma, Parma 43124, Italy
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27
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Botero J, Sombolestani AS, Cnockaert M, Peeters C, Borremans W, De Vuyst L, Vereecken NJ, Michez D, Smagghe G, Bonilla-Rosso G, Engel P, Vandamme P. A phylogenomic and comparative genomic analysis of Commensalibacter, a versatile insect symbiont. Anim Microbiome 2023; 5:25. [PMID: 37120592 PMCID: PMC10149009 DOI: 10.1186/s42523-023-00248-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To understand mechanisms of adaptation and plasticity of pollinators and other insects a better understanding of diversity and function of their key symbionts is required. Commensalibacter is a genus of acetic acid bacterial symbionts in the gut of honey bees and other insect species, yet little information is available on the diversity and function of Commensalibacter bacteria. In the present study, whole-genome sequences of 12 Commensalibacter isolates from bumble bees, butterflies, Asian hornets and rowan berries were determined, and publicly available genome assemblies of 14 Commensalibacter strains were used in a phylogenomic and comparative genomic analysis. RESULTS The phylogenomic analysis revealed that the 26 Commensalibacter isolates represented four species, i.e. Commensalibacter intestini and three novel species for which we propose the names Commensalibacter melissae sp. nov., Commensalibacter communis sp. nov. and Commensalibacter papalotli sp. nov. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the four Commensalibacter species had similar genetic pathways for central metabolism characterized by a complete tricarboxylic acid cycle and pentose phosphate pathway, but their genomes differed in size, G + C content, amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate-utilizing enzymes. The reduced genome size, the large number of species-specific gene clusters, and the small number of gene clusters shared between C. melissae and other Commensalibacter species suggested a unique evolutionary process in C. melissae, the Western honey bee symbiont. CONCLUSION The genus Commensalibacter is a widely distributed insect symbiont that consists of multiple species, each contributing in a species specific manner to the physiology of the holobiont host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Botero
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Atena Sadat Sombolestani
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Margo Cnockaert
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Charlotte Peeters
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Wim Borremans
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Luc De Vuyst
- Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Nicolas J Vereecken
- Agroecology Lab, Université libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe CP 264/02, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Denis Michez
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Place du parc 20, 7000, Mons, Belgium
| | - Guy Smagghe
- Laboratory of Agrozoology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - German Bonilla-Rosso
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Philipp Engel
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Peter Vandamme
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
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Smythe P, Wilkinson HN. The Skin Microbiome: Current Landscape and Future Opportunities. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24043950. [PMID: 36835363 PMCID: PMC9963692 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Our skin is the largest organ of the body, serving as an important barrier against the harsh extrinsic environment. Alongside preventing desiccation, chemical damage and hypothermia, this barrier protects the body from invading pathogens through a sophisticated innate immune response and co-adapted consortium of commensal microorganisms, collectively termed the microbiota. These microorganisms inhabit distinct biogeographical regions dictated by skin physiology. Thus, it follows that perturbations to normal skin homeostasis, as occurs with ageing, diabetes and skin disease, can cause microbial dysbiosis and increase infection risk. In this review, we discuss emerging concepts in skin microbiome research, highlighting pertinent links between skin ageing, the microbiome and cutaneous repair. Moreover, we address gaps in current knowledge and highlight key areas requiring further exploration. Future advances in this field could revolutionise the way we treat microbial dysbiosis associated with skin ageing and other pathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paisleigh Smythe
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
- Skin Research Centre, Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Holly N. Wilkinson
- Centre for Biomedicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
- Skin Research Centre, Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
- Correspondence:
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Sarhan MS, Wurst C, Tzankov A, Bircher AJ, Wittig H, Briellmann T, Augsburger M, Hotz G, Zink A, Maixner F. A nontuberculous mycobacterium could solve the mystery of the lady from the Franciscan church in Basel, Switzerland. BMC Biol 2023; 21:9. [PMID: 36747166 PMCID: PMC9903526 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-022-01509-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In 1975, the mummified body of a female has been found in the Franciscan church in Basel, Switzerland. Molecular and genealogic analyses unveiled her identity as Anna Catharina Bischoff (ACB), a member of the upper class of post-reformed Basel, who died at the age of 68 years, in 1787. The reason behind her death is still a mystery, especially that toxicological analyses revealed high levels of mercury, a common treatment against infections at that time, in different body organs. The computed tomography (CT) and histological analysis showed bone lesions in the femurs, the rib cage, and the skull, which refers to a potential syphilis case. RESULTS Although we could not detect any molecular signs of the syphilis-causing pathogen Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, we realized high prevalence of a nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) species in brain tissue sample. The genome analysis of this NTM displayed richness of virulence genes and toxins, and similarity to other infectious NTM, known to infect immunocompromised patients. In addition, it displayed potential resistance to mercury compounds, which might indicate a selective advantage against the applied treatment. This suggests that ACB might have suffered from an atypical mycobacteriosis during her life, which could explain the mummy's bone lesion and high mercury concentrations. CONCLUSIONS The study of this mummy exemplifies the importance of employing differential diagnostic approaches in paleopathological analysis, by combining classical anthropological, radiological, histological, and toxicological observations with molecular analysis. It represents a proof-of-concept for the discovery of not-yet-described ancient pathogens in well-preserved specimens, using de novo metagenomic assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed S Sarhan
- Eurac Research - Institute for Mummy Studies, 39100, Bolzano, Italy.
| | - Christina Wurst
- Eurac Research - Institute for Mummy Studies, 39100, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Alexandar Tzankov
- Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, 4031, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas J Bircher
- Department of Allergology, University Hospital Basel, 4031, Basel, Switzerland
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Holger Wittig
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Briellmann
- Citizen Science Basel; formerly Institute of Forensic Medicine, Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Marc Augsburger
- University Center of Legal Medicine, Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Gerhard Hotz
- Natural History Museum Basel, 4051, Basel, Switzerland
- Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Albert Zink
- Eurac Research - Institute for Mummy Studies, 39100, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Frank Maixner
- Eurac Research - Institute for Mummy Studies, 39100, Bolzano, Italy.
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Long-Read Sequencing Improves Recovery of Picoeukaryotic Genomes and Zooplankton Marker Genes from Marine Metagenomes. mSystems 2022; 7:e0059522. [PMID: 36448813 PMCID: PMC9765425 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00595-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Long-read sequencing offers the potential to improve metagenome assemblies and provide more robust assessments of microbial community composition and function than short-read sequencing. We applied Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) CCS (circular consensus sequencing) HiFi shotgun sequencing to 14 marine water column samples and compared the results with those for short-read metagenomes from the corresponding environmental DNA samples. We found that long-read metagenomes varied widely in quality and biological information. The community compositions of the corresponding long- and short-read metagenomes were frequently dissimilar, suggesting higher stochasticity and/or bias associated with PacBio sequencing. Long reads provided few improvements to the assembly qualities, gene annotations, and prokaryotic metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) binning results. However, only long reads produced high-quality eukaryotic MAGs and contigs containing complete zooplankton marker gene sequences. These results suggest that high-quality long-read metagenomes can improve marine community composition analyses and provide important insight into eukaryotic phyto- and zooplankton genetics, but the benefits may be outweighed by the inconsistent data quality. IMPORTANCE Ocean microbes provide critical ecosystem services, but most remain uncultivated. Their communities can be studied through shotgun metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatic analyses, including binning draft microbial genomes. However, most sequencing to date has been done using short-read technology, which rarely yields genome sequences of key microbes like SAR11. Long-read sequencing can improve metagenome assemblies but is hampered by technological shortcomings and high costs. In this study, we compared long- and short-read sequencing of marine metagenomes. We found a wide range of long-read metagenome qualities and minimal improvements to microbiome analyses. However, long reads generated draft genomes of eukaryotic algal species and provided full-length marker gene sequences of zooplankton species, including krill and copepods. These results suggest that long-read sequencing can provide greater genetic insight into the wide diversity of eukaryotic phyto- and zooplankton that interact as part of and with the marine microbiome.
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Singh AK, Kumari M, Sharma N, Rai AK, Singh SP. Metagenomic views on taxonomic and functional profiles of the Himalayan Tsomgo cold lake and unveiling its deterzome potential. Curr Genet 2022; 68:565-579. [PMID: 35927361 DOI: 10.1007/s00294-022-01247-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cold habitat is considered a potential source for detergent industry enzymes. This study aims at the metagenomic investigation of Tsomgo lake for taxonomic and functional annotation, unveiling the deterzome potential of the residing microbiota at this site. The present investigation revealed molecular profiling of microbial community structure and functional potential of the high-altitude Tsomgo lake samples of two different temperatures, harvested during March and August. Bacteria were found to be the most dominant phyla, with traces of genomic pieces of evidence belonging to archaea, viruses, and eukaryotes. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were noted to be the most abundant bacterial phyla in the cold lake. In-depth metagenomic investigation of the cold aquatic habitat revealed novel genes encoding detergent enzymes, amylase, protease, and lipase. Further, metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) belonging to the psychrophilic bacterium, Arthrobacter alpinus, were constructed from the metagenomic data. The annotation depicted the presence of detergent enzymes and genes for low-temperature adaptation in Arthrobacter alpinus. Psychrophilic microbial isolates were screened for lipase, protease, and amylase activities to further strengthen the metagenomic findings. A novel strain of Acinetobacter sp. was identified with the dual enzymatic activity of protease and amylase. The bacterial isolates exhibited hydrolyzing activity at low temperatures. This metagenomic study divulged novel genomic resources for detergent industry enzymes, and the bacterial isolates secreting cold-active amylase, lipase, and protease enzymes. The findings manifest that Tsomgo lake is a potential bioresource of cold-active enzymes, vital for various industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashutosh Kumar Singh
- Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (DBT-CIAB), Sector 81, SAS Nagar, Mohali, India
- Department of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
| | - Megha Kumari
- Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (DBT-IBSD), Regional Centre, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim, India
| | - Nitish Sharma
- Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (DBT-CIAB), Sector 81, SAS Nagar, Mohali, India
| | - Amit Kumar Rai
- Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (DBT-IBSD), Regional Centre, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
| | - Sudhir P Singh
- Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (DBT-CIAB), Sector 81, SAS Nagar, Mohali, India.
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Ebrahimian F, De Bernardini N, Tsapekos P, Treu L, Zhu X, Campanaro S, Karimi K, Angelidaki I. Effect of pressure on biomethanation process and spatial stratification of microbial communities in trickle bed reactors under decreasing gas retention time. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2022; 361:127701. [PMID: 35905873 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The current study investigated the effect of elevating gas pressure on biomethanation in trickle-bed reactors (TBRs). The increased pressure led to successful biomethanation (CH4 > 90 %) at a gas retention time (GRT) of 21 min, due to the improved transfer rates of H2 and CO2. On the contrary, the non-pressurized TBR performance was reduced at GRTs shorter than 40 min. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the microbial populations collected from the lower and middle parts of the reactor under the same GRT were more homogeneous compared with those developed in the upper layer. Comparison with previous experiments suggest that microbial stratification is mainly driven by the nutrient provision strategy. Methanobacterium species was the most dominant methanogen and it was mainly associated with the bottom and middle parts of TBRs. Overall, the increased pressure did not affect markedly the microbial composition, while the GRT was the most important parameter shaping the microbiomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farinaz Ebrahimian
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby DK-2800, Denmark; Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
| | - Nicola De Bernardini
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via U. Bassi 58/b, 35121 Padova, Italy
| | - Panagiotis Tsapekos
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby DK-2800, Denmark.
| | - Laura Treu
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via U. Bassi 58/b, 35121 Padova, Italy
| | - Xinyu Zhu
- School of Engineering, Westlake University, No.18, Shilongshan Road, Cloud Town, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
| | - Stefano Campanaro
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via U. Bassi 58/b, 35121 Padova, Italy
| | - Keikhosro Karimi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran; Department of Chemical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Irini Angelidaki
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby DK-2800, Denmark
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Dissecting the role of the human microbiome in COVID-19 via metagenome-assembled genomes. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5235. [PMID: 36068270 PMCID: PMC9446638 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32991-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), primarily a respiratory disease caused by infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is often accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms. However, little is known about the relation between the human microbiome and COVID-19, largely due to the fact that most previous studies fail to provide high taxonomic resolution to identify microbes that likely interact with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we used whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing data together with assembly and binning strategies to reconstruct metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from 514 COVID-19 related nasopharyngeal and fecal samples in six independent cohorts. We reconstructed a total of 11,584 medium-and high-quality microbial MAGs and obtained 5403 non-redundant MAGs (nrMAGs) with strain-level resolution. We found that there is a significant reduction of strain richness for many species in the gut microbiome of COVID-19 patients. The gut microbiome signatures can accurately distinguish COVID-19 cases from healthy controls and predict the progression of COVID-19. Moreover, we identified a set of nrMAGs with a putative causal role in the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and revealed their functional pathways that potentially interact with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Finally, we demonstrated that the main findings of our study can be largely validated in three independent cohorts. The presented results highlight the importance of incorporating the human gut microbiome in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease progression. Here, using whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing data from patients with COVID-19 and controls, the authors reconstruct 11,584 microbial metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) including 5,403 non-redundant MAGs, revealing microbiota and metabolic pathways associations with SARS-CoV-2 infection at strain-level resolution.
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Anatilimnocola floriformis sp. nov., a novel member of the family Pirellulaceae from a boreal lake, and emended description of the genus Anatilimnocola. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 2022; 115:1253-1264. [DOI: 10.1007/s10482-022-01769-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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Selection of Anabaena sp. PCC 7938 as a Cyanobacterium Model for Biological ISRU on Mars. Appl Environ Microbiol 2022; 88:e0059422. [PMID: 35862672 PMCID: PMC9361815 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00594-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Crewed missions to Mars are expected to take place in the coming decades. After short-term stays, a permanent presence will be desirable to enable a wealth of scientific discoveries. This will require providing crews with life-support consumables in amounts that are too large to be imported from Earth. Part of these consumables could be produced on site with bioprocesses, but the feedstock should not have to be imported. A solution under consideration lies in using diazotrophic, rock-weathering cyanobacteria as primary producers: fed with materials naturally available on site, they would provide the nutrients required by other organisms. This concept has recently gained momentum but progress is slowed by a lack of consistency across contributing teams, and notably of a shared model organism. With the hope to address this issue, we present the work performed to select our current model. We started with preselected strains from the Nostocaceae family. After sequencing the genome of Anabaena sp. PCC 7938-the only one not yet available-we compared the strains' genomic data to determine their relatedness and provide insights into their physiology. We then assessed and compared relevant features: chiefly, their abilities to utilize nutrients from Martian regolith, their resistance to perchlorates (toxic compounds present in the regolith), and their suitability as feedstock for secondary producers (here a heterotrophic bacterium and a higher plant). This led to the selection of Anabaena sp. PCC 7938, which we propose as a model cyanobacterium for the development of bioprocesses based on Mars's natural resources. IMPORTANCE The sustainability of crewed missions to Mars could be increased by biotechnologies which are connected to resources available on site via primary producers: diazotrophic, rock-leaching cyanobacteria. Indeed, this could greatly reduce the mass of payloads to be imported from Earth. The concept is gaining momentum but progress is hindered by a lack of consistency across research teams. We consequently describe the selection process that led to the choice of our model strain, demonstrate its relevance to the field, and propose it as a shared model organism. We expect this contribution to support the development of cyanobacterium-based biotechnologies on Mars.
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Comparative Genomic Analysis of Antarctic Pseudomonas Isolates with 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Transformation Capabilities Reveals Their Unique Features for Xenobiotics Degradation. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13081354. [PMID: 36011267 PMCID: PMC9407559 DOI: 10.3390/genes13081354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The nitroaromatic explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a highly toxic and persistent environmental pollutant. Since physicochemical methods for remediation are poorly effective, the use of microorganisms has gained interest as an alternative to restore TNT-contaminated sites. We previously demonstrated the high TNT-transforming capability of three novel Pseudomonas spp. isolated from Deception Island, Antarctica, which exceeded that of the well-characterized TNT-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas putida KT2440. In this study, a comparative genomic analysis was performed to search for the metabolic functions encoded in the genomes of these isolates that might explain their TNT-transforming phenotype, and also to look for differences with 21 other selected pseudomonads, including xenobiotics-degrading species. Comparative analysis of xenobiotic degradation pathways revealed that our isolates have the highest abundance of key enzymes related to the degradation of fluorobenzoate, TNT, and bisphenol A. Further comparisons considering only TNT-transforming pseudomonads revealed the presence of unique genes in these isolates that would likely participate directly in TNT-transformation, and others involved in the β-ketoadipate pathway for aromatic compound degradation. Lastly, the phylogenomic analysis suggested that these Antarctic isolates likely represent novel species of the genus Pseudomonas, which emphasizes their relevance as potential agents for the bioremediation of TNT and other xenobiotics.
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Menezes O, Kocaman K, Wong S, Rios-Valenciana EE, Baker EJ, Hatt JK, Zhao J, Madeira CL, Krzmarzick MJ, Spain JC, Sierra-Alvarez R, Konstantinidis KT, Field JA. Quinone Moieties Link the Microbial Respiration of Natural Organic Matter to the Chemical Reduction of Diverse Nitroaromatic Compounds. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:9387-9397. [PMID: 35704431 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c01329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Insensitive munitions compounds (IMCs) are emerging nitroaromatic contaminants developed by the military as safer-to-handle alternatives to conventional explosives. Biotransformation of nitroaromatics via microbial respiration has only been reported for a limited number of substrates. Important soil microorganisms can respire natural organic matter (NOM) by reducing its quinone moieties to hydroquinones. Thus, we investigated the NOM respiration combined with the abiotic reduction of nitroaromatics by the hydroquinones formed. First, we established nitroaromatic concentration ranges that were nontoxic to the quinone respiration. Then, an enrichment culture dominated by Geobacter anodireducens could indirectly reduce a broad array of nitroaromatics by first respiring NOM components or the NOM surrogate anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS). Without quinones, no nitroaromatic tested was reduced except for the IMC 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO). Thus, the quinone respiration expanded the spectrum of nitroaromatics susceptible to transformation. The system functioned with very low quinone concentrations because NOM was recycled by the nitroaromatic reduction. A metatranscriptomic analysis demonstrated that the microorganisms obtained energy from quinone or NTO reduction since respiratory genes were upregulated when AQDS or NTO was the electron acceptor. The results indicated microbial NOM respiration sustained by the nitroaromatic-dependent cycling of quinones. This process can be applied as a nitroaromatic remediation strategy, provided that a quinone pool is available for microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osmar Menezes
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Kumru Kocaman
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Stanley Wong
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Erika E Rios-Valenciana
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Eliot J Baker
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Janet K Hatt
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Jianshu Zhao
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
| | - Camila L Madeira
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Mark J Krzmarzick
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, United States
| | - Jim C Spain
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
- Center for Environmental Diagnostics & Bioremediation, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida 32514, United States
| | - Reyes Sierra-Alvarez
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Konstantinos T Konstantinidis
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Jim A Field
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
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Lindner BG, Suttner B, Zhu KJ, Conrad RE, Rodriguez-R LM, Hatt JK, Brown J, Konstantinidis KT. Toward shotgun metagenomic approaches for microbial source tracking sewage spills based on laboratory mesocosms. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 210:117993. [PMID: 34979467 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about the genomic diversity of the microbial communities associated with raw municipal wastewater (sewage), including whether microbial populations specific to sewage exist and how such populations could be used to improve source attribution and apportioning in contaminated waters. Herein, we used the influent of three wastewater treatment plants in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) to perturb laboratory freshwater mesocosms, simulating sewage contamination events, and followed these mesocosms with shotgun metagenomics over a 7-day observational period. We describe 15 abundant non-redundant bacterial metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) ubiquitous within all sewage inocula yet absent from the unperturbed freshwater control at our analytical limit of detection. Tracking the dynamics of the populations represented by these MAGs revealed varied decay kinetics, depending on (inferred) phenotypes, e.g., anaerobes decayed faster than aerobes under the well-aerated incubation conditions. Notably, a portion of these populations showed decay patterns similar to those of common markers, Enterococcus and HF183. Despite the apparent decay of these populations, the abundance of β-lactamase encoding genes remained high throughout incubation relative to the control. Lastly, we constructed genomic libraries representing several different fecal sources and outline a bioinformatic approach which leverages these libraries for identifying and apportioning contamination signal among multiple probable sources using shotgun metagenomic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blake G Lindner
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Brittany Suttner
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Kevin J Zhu
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Roth E Conrad
- Ocean Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, ES&T Building, Room 3321, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Luis M Rodriguez-R
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Department of Microbiology and Digital Science Center (DiSC), University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Tyrol 6020, Austria
| | - Janet K Hatt
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Joe Brown
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
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Bornemann TLV, Adam PS, Probst AJ. Reconstruction of Archaeal Genomes from Short-Read Metagenomes. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2522:487-527. [PMID: 36125772 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2445-6_33] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
As the majority of biological diversity remains unexplored and uncultured, investigating it requires culture-independent approaches. Archaea in particular suffer from a multitude of issues that make their culturing problematic, from them being frequently members of the rare biosphere, to low growth rates, to them thriving under very specific and often extreme environmental and community conditions that are difficult to replicate. OMICs techniques are state of the art approaches that allow direct high-throughput investigations of environmental samples at all levels from nucleic acids to proteins, lipids, and secondary metabolites. Metagenomics, as the foundation for other OMICs techniques, facilitates the identification and functional characterization of the microbial community members and can be combined with other methods to provide insights into the microbial activities, both on the RNA and protein levels. In this chapter, we provide a step-by-step workflow for the recovery of archaeal genomes from metagenomes, starting from raw short-read sequences. This workflow can be applied to recover bacterial genomes as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Till L V Bornemann
- Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
| | - Panagiotis S Adam
- Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Alexander J Probst
- Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
- Centre of Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
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Blakeley-Ruiz JA, Kleiner M. Considerations for Constructing a Protein Sequence Database for Metaproteomics. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:937-952. [PMID: 35242286 PMCID: PMC8861567 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mass spectrometry-based metaproteomics has emerged as a prominent technique for interrogating the functions of specific organisms in microbial communities, in addition to total community function. Identifying proteins by mass spectrometry requires matching mass spectra of fragmented peptide ions to a database of protein sequences corresponding to the proteins in the sample. This sequence database determines which protein sequences can be identified from the measurement, and as such the taxonomic and functional information that can be inferred from a metaproteomics measurement. Thus, the construction of the protein sequence database directly impacts the outcome of any metaproteomics study. Several factors, such as source of sequence information and database curation, need to be considered during database construction to maximize accurate protein identifications traceable to the species of origin. In this review, we provide an overview of existing strategies for database construction and the relevant studies that have sought to test and validate these strategies. Based on this review of the literature and our experience we provide a decision tree and best practices for choosing and implementing database construction strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Alfredo Blakeley-Ruiz
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Corresponding authors at: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
| | - Manuel Kleiner
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Corresponding authors at: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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Maatouk M, Ibrahim A, Rolain JM, Merhej V, Bittar F. Small and Equipped: the Rich Repertoire of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Candidate Phyla Radiation Genomes. mSystems 2021; 6:e0089821. [PMID: 34874773 PMCID: PMC8651080 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00898-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbes belonging to Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) have joined the tree of life as a new branch, thanks to the intensive application of metagenomics and sequencing technologies. CPR have been eventually identified by 16S rRNA analysis, and they represent more than 26% of microbial diversity. Despite their ultrasmall size, reduced genome, and metabolic pathways which mainly depend on exosymbiotic or exoparasitic relationships with the bacterial host, CPR microbes were found to be abundant in almost all environments. They can be considered survivors in highly competitive circumstances within microbial communities. However, their defense mechanisms and phenotypic characteristic remain poorly explored. Here, we conducted a thorough in silico analysis on 4,062 CPR genomes to search for antibiotic resistance (AR)-like enzymes using BLASTp and functional domain predictions against an exhaustive consensus AR database and conserved domain database (CDD), respectively. Our findings showed that a rich reservoir of divergent AR-like genes (n = 30,545 hits, mean = 7.5 hits/genome [0 to 41]) were distributed across the 13 CPR superphyla. These AR-like genes encode 89 different enzymes that are associated with 14 different chemical classes of antimicrobials. Most hits found (93.6%) were linked to glycopeptide, beta-lactam, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS), tetracycline, and aminoglycoside resistance. Moreover, two AR profiles were discerned for the Microgenomates group and "Candidatus Parcubacteria," which were distinct between them and differed from all other CPR superphyla. CPR cells seem to be active players during microbial competitive interactions; they are well equipped for microbial combat in different habitats, which ensures their natural survival and continued existence. IMPORTANCE To our knowledge, this study is one of the few studies that characterize the defense systems in the CPR group and describes the first repertoire of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes. The use of a BLAST approach with lenient criteria followed by a careful examination of the functional domains has yielded a variety of enzymes that mainly give three different mechanisms of action of resistance. Our genome analysis showed the existence of a rich reservoir of CPR resistome, which is associated with different antibiotic families. Moreover, this analysis revealed the hidden face of the reduced-genome CPR, particularly their weaponry with AR genes. These data suggest that CPR are competitive players in the microbial war, and they can be distinguished by specific AR profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamad Maatouk
- Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France
- IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Ahmad Ibrahim
- Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France
- IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Jean-Marc Rolain
- Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France
- IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Vicky Merhej
- Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France
- IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Fadi Bittar
- Aix-Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France
- IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
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Cantalapiedra CP, Hernández-Plaza A, Letunic I, Bork P, Huerta-Cepas J. eggNOG-mapper v2: Functional Annotation, Orthology Assignments, and Domain Prediction at the Metagenomic Scale. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:5825-5829. [PMID: 34597405 PMCID: PMC8662613 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 990] [Impact Index Per Article: 330.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Even though automated functional annotation of genes represents a fundamental step in most genomic and metagenomic workflows, it remains challenging at large scales. Here, we describe a major upgrade to eggNOG-mapper, a tool for functional annotation based on precomputed orthology assignments, now optimized for vast (meta)genomic data sets. Improvements in version 2 include a full update of both the genomes and functional databases to those from eggNOG v5, as well as several efficiency enhancements and new features. Most notably, eggNOG-mapper v2 now allows for: 1) de novo gene prediction from raw contigs, 2) built-in pairwise orthology prediction, 3) fast protein domain discovery, and 4) automated GFF decoration. eggNOG-mapper v2 is available as a standalone tool or as an online service at http://eggnog-mapper.embl.de.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos P Cantalapiedra
- Centro de Biotecnologia y Genomica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Hernández-Plaza
- Centro de Biotecnologia y Genomica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Peer Bork
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit, Heidelberg, Germany.,Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Yonsei Frontier Lab (YFL), Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jaime Huerta-Cepas
- Centro de Biotecnologia y Genomica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
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Cantalapiedra CP, Hernández-Plaza A, Letunic I, Bork P, Huerta-Cepas J. eggNOG-mapper v2: Functional Annotation, Orthology Assignments, and Domain Prediction at the Metagenomic Scale. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:5825-5829. [PMID: 34597405 DOI: 10.1101/2021.06.03.446934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Even though automated functional annotation of genes represents a fundamental step in most genomic and metagenomic workflows, it remains challenging at large scales. Here, we describe a major upgrade to eggNOG-mapper, a tool for functional annotation based on precomputed orthology assignments, now optimized for vast (meta)genomic data sets. Improvements in version 2 include a full update of both the genomes and functional databases to those from eggNOG v5, as well as several efficiency enhancements and new features. Most notably, eggNOG-mapper v2 now allows for: 1) de novo gene prediction from raw contigs, 2) built-in pairwise orthology prediction, 3) fast protein domain discovery, and 4) automated GFF decoration. eggNOG-mapper v2 is available as a standalone tool or as an online service at http://eggnog-mapper.embl.de.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos P Cantalapiedra
- Centro de Biotecnologia y Genomica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Hernández-Plaza
- Centro de Biotecnologia y Genomica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Peer Bork
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Yonsei Frontier Lab (YFL), Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jaime Huerta-Cepas
- Centro de Biotecnologia y Genomica de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus de Montegancedo-UPM, Madrid, Spain
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Almeida OGG, Gimenez MP, De Martinis ECP. Comparative pangenomic analyses and biotechnological potential of cocoa-related Acetobacter senegalensis strains. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 2021; 115:111-123. [PMID: 34817761 DOI: 10.1007/s10482-021-01684-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Acetobacter senegalensis belongs to the group of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) that present potential biotechnological applications, for production of D-gluconate, cellulose and acetic acid. AAB can overcome heat and acid stresses by using strategies involving the overexpression of heat-shock proteins and enzymes from the complex pyrroquinoline-ADH, besides alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH). Nonetheless, the isolation of A. senegalensis and other AAB from food may be challenging due to presence of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) cells and due to uncertainties about nutritional requirements. To contribute for a better understanding of the ecology of AAB, this paper reports on the pangenome analysis of five strains of A. senegalensis recently isolated from a Brazilian spontaneous cocoa fermentation. The results showed biosynthetic clusters exclusively found in some cocoa-related AAB, such as those related to terpene pathways, which are important for flavour development. Genes related to oxidative stress were conserved in all the genomes, with multiple clusters. Moreover, there were genes coding for ADH and putative ABC transporters distributed in core, shell and cloud genomes, while chaperonin-encoding genes were present only in the core and soft-core genomes. Regarding quorum sensing, a response regulator gene was in the shell genome, and the gene encoding for acyl-homoserine lactone efflux protein was in the soft-core genome. There were quorum quenching-related genes, mainly encoding for lactonases, but also for acylases. Moreover, A. senegalensis did not have determinants of virulence or antibiotic resistance, which are good traits for strains intended to be applied in food fermentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- O G G Almeida
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida do Café s/n, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14040-903, Brazil
| | - M P Gimenez
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida do Café s/n, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14040-903, Brazil
| | - E C P De Martinis
- Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida do Café s/n, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, 14040-903, Brazil.
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Vlasova A, Hermoso Pulido T, Camara F, Ponomarenko J, Guigó R. FA-nf: A Functional Annotation Pipeline for Proteins from Non-Model Organisms Implemented in Nextflow. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12101645. [PMID: 34681040 PMCID: PMC8535801 DOI: 10.3390/genes12101645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional annotation allows adding biologically relevant information to predicted features in genomic sequences, and it is, therefore, an important procedure of any de novo genome sequencing project. It is also useful for proofreading and improving gene structural annotation. Here, we introduce FA-nf, a pipeline implemented in Nextflow, a versatile computational workflow management engine. The pipeline integrates different annotation approaches, such as NCBI BLAST+, DIAMOND, InterProScan, and KEGG. It starts from a protein sequence FASTA file and, optionally, a structural annotation file in GFF format, and produces several files, such as GO assignments, output summaries of the abovementioned programs and final annotation reports. The pipeline can be broken easily into smaller processes for the purpose of parallelization and easily deployed in a Linux computational environment, thanks to software containerization, thus helping to ensure full reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Vlasova
- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS), Jordi Girona, 29, 08034 Barcelona, Spain;
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac, 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Toni Hermoso Pulido
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (F.C.); (J.P.); (R.G.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Francisco Camara
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (F.C.); (J.P.); (R.G.)
| | - Julia Ponomarenko
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (F.C.); (J.P.); (R.G.)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Roderic Guigó
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (F.C.); (J.P.); (R.G.)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
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Bhattarai B, Bhattacharjee AS, Coutinho FH, Goel RK. Viruses and Their Interactions With Bacteria and Archaea of Hypersaline Great Salt Lake. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:701414. [PMID: 34650523 PMCID: PMC8506154 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.701414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Viruses play vital biogeochemical and ecological roles by (a) expressing auxiliary metabolic genes during infection, (b) enhancing the lateral transfer of host genes, and (c) inducing host mortality. Even in harsh and extreme environments, viruses are major players in carbon and nutrient recycling from organic matter. However, there is much that we do not yet understand about viruses and the processes mediated by them in the extreme environments such as hypersaline habitats. The Great Salt Lake (GSL) in Utah, United States is a hypersaline ecosystem where the biogeochemical role of viruses is poorly understood. This study elucidates the diversity of viruses and describes virus–host interactions in GSL sediments along a salinity gradient. The GSL sediment virosphere consisted of Haloviruses (32.07 ± 19.33%) and members of families Siphoviridae (39.12 ± 19.8%), Myoviridae (13.7 ± 6.6%), and Podoviridae (5.43 ± 0.64%). Our results demonstrate that salinity alongside the concentration of organic carbon and inorganic nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) governs the viral, bacteria, and archaeal diversity in this habitat. Computational host predictions for the GSL viruses revealed a wide host range with a dominance of viruses that infect Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. Identification of auxiliary metabolic genes for photosynthesis (psbA), carbon fixation (rbcL, cbbL), formaldehyde assimilation (SHMT), and nitric oxide reduction (NorQ) shed light on the roles played by GSL viruses in biogeochemical cycles of global relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bishav Bhattarai
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Ananda S Bhattacharjee
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Felipe H Coutinho
- Departamento de Producción Vegetal y Microbiología, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, Spain
| | - Ramesh K Goel
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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Cooley NP, Wright ES. Accurate annotation of protein coding sequences with IDTAXA. NAR Genom Bioinform 2021; 3:lqab080. [PMID: 34541527 PMCID: PMC8445202 DOI: 10.1093/nargab/lqab080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The observed diversity of protein coding sequences continues to increase far more rapidly than knowledge of their functions, making classification algorithms essential for assigning a function to proteins using only their sequence. Most pipelines for annotating proteins rely on searches for homologous sequences in databases of previously annotated proteins using BLAST or HMMER. Here, we develop a new approach for classifying proteins into a taxonomy of functions and demonstrate its utility for genome annotation. Our algorithm, IDTAXA, was more accurate than BLAST or HMMER at assigning sequences to KEGG ortholog groups. Moreover, IDTAXA correctly avoided classifying sequences with novel functions to existing groups, which is a common error mode for classification approaches that rely on E-values as a proxy for confidence. We demonstrate IDTAXA's utility for annotating eukaryotic and prokaryotic genomes by assigning functions to proteins within a multi-level ontology and applied IDTAXA to detect genome contamination in eukaryotic genomes. Finally, we re-annotated 8604 microbial genomes with known antibiotic resistance phenotypes to discover two novel associations between proteins and antibiotic resistance. IDTAXA is available as a web tool (http://DECIPHER.codes/Classification.html) or as part of the open source DECIPHER R package from Bioconductor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas P Cooley
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA
| | - Erik S Wright
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA
- Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA
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48
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Maturana JL, Cárdenas JP. Insights on the Evolutionary Genomics of the Blautia Genus: Potential New Species and Genetic Content Among Lineages. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:660920. [PMID: 33981291 PMCID: PMC8107234 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.660920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Blautia, a genus established in 2008, is a relevantly abundant taxonomic group present in the microbiome of human and other mammalian gastrointestinal (GI) tracts. Several described (or proposed) Blautia species are available at this date. However, despite the increasing level of knowledge about Blautia, its diversity is still poorly understood. The increasing availability of Blautia genomic sequences in the public databases opens the possibility to study this genus from a genomic perspective. Here we report the pangenome analysis and the phylogenomic study of 225 Blautia genomes available in RefSeq. We found 33 different potential species at the genomic level, 17 of them previously undescribed; we also confirmed by genomic standards the status of 4 previously proposed new Blautia species. Comparative genomic analyses suggest that the Blautia pangenome is open, with a relatively small core genome (∼ 700-800 gene families). Utilizing a set of representative genomes, we performed a gene family gain/loss model for the genus, showing that despite terminal nodes suffered more massive gene gain events than internal nodes (i.e., predicted ancestors), some ancestors were predicted to have gained an important number of gene families, some of them associated with the possible acquisition of metabolic abilities. Gene loss events remained lower than gain events in most cases. General aspects regarding pangenome composition and gene gain/loss events are discussed, as well as the proposition of changes in the taxonomic assignment of B. coccoides TY and the proposition of a new species, "B. pseudococcoides.".
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Affiliation(s)
- José Luis Maturana
- Centro de Genómica y Bioinformática, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan P. Cárdenas
- Centro de Genómica y Bioinformática, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Escuela de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
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