Metagenomes of the picoalga Bathycoccus from the Chile coastal upwelling

Fossil-calibrated molecular clock data enable reconstruction of steps leading to differentiated multicellularity and anisogamy in the Volvocine algae

BACKGROUND

Throughout its nearly four-billion-year history, life has undergone evolutionary transitions in which simpler subunits have become integrated to form a more complex whole. Many of these transitions opened the door to innovations that resulted in increased biodiversity and/or organismal efficiency. The evolution of multicellularity from unicellular forms represents one such transition, one that paved the way for cellular differentiation, including differentiation of male and female gametes. A useful model for studying the evolution of multicellularity and cellular differentiation is the volvocine algae, a clade of freshwater green algae whose members range from unicellular to colonial, from undifferentiated to completely differentiated, and whose gamete types can be isogamous, anisogamous, or oogamous. To better understand how multicellularity, differentiation, and gametes evolved in this group, we used comparative genomics and fossil data to establish a geologically calibrated roadmap of when these innovations occurred.

RESULTS

Our ancestral-state reconstructions, show that multicellularity arose independently twice in the volvocine algae. Our chronograms indicate multicellularity evolved during the Carboniferous-Triassic periods in Goniaceae + Volvocaceae, and possibly as early as the Cretaceous in Tetrabaenaceae. Using divergence time estimates we inferred when, and in what order, specific developmental changes occurred that led to differentiated multicellularity and oogamy. We find that in the volvocine algae the temporal sequence of developmental changes leading to differentiated multicellularity is much as proposed by David Kirk, and that multicellularity is correlated with the acquisition of anisogamy and oogamy. Lastly, morphological, molecular, and divergence time data suggest the possibility of cryptic species in Tetrabaenaceae.

CONCLUSIONS

Large molecular datasets and robust phylogenetic methods are bringing the evolutionary history of the volvocine algae more sharply into focus. Mounting evidence suggests that extant species in this group are the result of two independent origins of multicellularity and multiple independent origins of cell differentiation. Also, the origin of the Tetrabaenaceae-Goniaceae-Volvocaceae clade may be much older than previously thought. Finally, the possibility of cryptic species in the Tetrabaenaceae provides an exciting opportunity to study the recent divergence of lineages adapted to live in very different thermal environments.

Effects of Cold-Surge-Induced Nearshore Seawater Icing on the Eukaryotic Microalgal Community in Aoshan Bay, Qingdao

Climate change has led to frequent cold surges in mid-latitudes, resulting in sudden temperature drops and icing of nearshore seawater, which may be affecting the eukaryotic microalgal community. In this paper, we investigated the differences between a eukaryotic microalgal community in sea ice and in seawater during the seawater freezing, due to the cold surge in Aoshan Bay, Qingdao, China, in January 2021. The results showed that the eukaryotic microalgal community in the sea ice and in the seawater was similar in composition at the phylum and genus levels, but that its relative abundances differed. In the seawater, the eukaryotic microalgal genera were dominated by Chaetoceros, while its relative abundance was significantly lower in the sea ice, probably because the cold-surge-induced seawater icing existed only for a short period of time, and Chaetoceros had not yet adapted to the rapid environmental changes in the sea ice. The relative abundance of Bathycoccus in the sea ice was higher, and showed a significant positive correlation with nitrite and silicate, while the relative abundance of Micromonas in the sea ice was also significantly higher than in the seawater, which may be related to the elevated CO₂ concentration in the sea ice. This study demonstrates that although the seawater icing due to the cold surge was short, it may have affected the seawater eukaryotic microalgal community, to a certain extent.

The pico-sized Mamiellophyceae and a novel Bathycoccus clade from the summer plankton of Russian Arctic Seas and adjacent waters

Global climate changes and anthropogenic activity greatly impact Arctic marine biodiversity including phytoplankton which contribute greatly to atmospheric oxygen production. Thus the study of microalgae has rising topicality. Class Mamiellophyceae is an important component of phototrophic picoplankton. To gain more knowledge about Mamiellophyceae distribution and diversity special studies were performed in such remote areas as the Russian Arctic seas. A metabarcoding of pico-sized Mamiellophyceae was undertaken by high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene sequence V4 region from samples collected in July-September 2017 in the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas, and in the adjacent waters of the Norwegian Sea. Our study is the first to show that Mamiellophyceae among the summer picoplankton of Russian Arctic seas are diverse and represented by 16 algae species/phylotypes. We discovered a new candidate species of Bathycoccus assigned to a new Bathycoccus clade A-uncultured Bathycoccus Kara 2017. It was found that several Micromonas species can co-exist, with Micromonas polaris dominating north of 72°N. The presence of Ostreococcus tauri, Ostreococcus lucimarinus and Ostreococcus mediterraneus at high latitudes beyond 65°N was documented for the first time, similar to findings for some other taxa. Our results will be important for obtaining a global view of Mamiellophyceae community dynamics.

Annual phytoplankton dynamics in coastal waters from Fildes Bay, Western Antarctic Peninsula

Year-round reports of phytoplankton dynamics in the West Antarctic Peninsula are rare and mainly limited to microscopy and/or pigment-based studies. We analyzed the phytoplankton community from coastal waters of Fildes Bay in the West Antarctic Peninsula between January 2014 and 2015 using metabarcoding of the nuclear and plastidial 18/16S rRNA gene from both size-fractionated and flow cytometry sorted samples. Overall 14 classes of photosynthetic eukaryotes were present in our samples with the following dominating: Bacillariophyta (diatoms), Pelagophyceae and Dictyochophyceae for division Ochrophyta, Mamiellophyceae and Pyramimonadophyceae for division Chlorophyta, Haptophyta and Cryptophyta. Each metabarcoding approach yielded a different image of the phytoplankton community with for example Prymnesiophyceae more prevalent in plastidial metabarcodes and Mamiellophyceae in nuclear ones. Diatoms were dominant in the larger size fractions and during summer, while Prymnesiophyceae and Cryptophyceae were dominant in colder seasons. Pelagophyceae were particularly abundant towards the end of autumn (May). In addition of Micromonas polaris and Micromonas sp. clade B3, both previously reported in Arctic waters, we detected a new Micromonas 18S rRNA sequence signature, close to, but clearly distinct from M. polaris, which potentially represents a new clade specific of the Antarctic. These results highlight the need for complementary strategies as well as the importance of year-round monitoring for a comprehensive description of phytoplankton communities in Antarctic coastal waters.

Transcriptome reconstruction and functional analysis of eukaryotic marine plankton communities via high-throughput metagenomics and metatranscriptomics

Large-scale metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data analyses are often restricted by their gene-centric approach, limiting the ability to understand organismal and community biology. De novo assembly of large and mosaic eukaryotic genomes from complex meta-omics data remains a challenging task, especially in comparison with more straightforward bacterial and archaeal systems. Here, we use a transcriptome reconstruction method based on clustering co-abundant genes across a series of metagenomic samples. We investigated the co-abundance patterns of ∼37 million eukaryotic unigenes across 365 metagenomic samples collected during the Tara Oceans expeditions to assess the diversity and functional profiles of marine plankton. We identified ∼12,000 co-abundant gene groups (CAGs), encompassing ∼7 million unigenes, including 924 metagenomics-based transcriptomes (MGTs, CAGs larger than 500 unigenes). We demonstrated the biological validity of the MGT collection by comparing individual MGTs with available references. We identified several key eukaryotic organisms involved in dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) biosynthesis and catabolism in different oceanic provinces, thus demonstrating the potential of the MGT collection to provide functional insights on eukaryotic plankton. We established the ability of the MGT approach to capture interspecies associations through the analysis of a nitrogen-fixing haptophyte-cyanobacterial symbiotic association. This MGT collection provides a valuable resource for analyses of eukaryotic plankton in the open ocean by giving access to the genomic content and functional potential of many ecologically relevant eukaryotic species.

Photosynthetic Picoeukaryotes Diversity in the Underlying Ice Waters of the White Sea, Russia

The White Sea is a unique basin combining features of temperate and arctic seas. The current state of its biocenoses can serve as a reference point in assessing the expected desalination of the ocean as a result of climate change. A metagenomic study of under-ice ice photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPEs) was undertaken by Illumina high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rDNA V4 region from probes collected in March 2013 and 2014. The PPE biomass in samples was 0.03–0.17 µg C·L−1 and their abundance varied from 10 cells·mL−1 to 140 cells·mL−1. There were representatives of 16 algae genera from seven classes and three supergroups, but Chlorophyta, especially Mamiellophyceae, dominated. The most represented genera were Micromonas and Mantoniella. For the first time, the predominance of Mantoniella (in four samples) and Bolidophyceae (in one sample) was observed in under-ice water. It can be assumed that a change in environmental conditions will lead to a considerable change in the structure of arctic PPE communities.

Genome Resolved Biogeography of Mamiellales

Among marine phytoplankton, Mamiellales encompass several species from the genera Micromonas, Ostreococcus and Bathycoccus, which are important contributors to primary production. Previous studies based on single gene markers described their wide geographical distribution but led to discussion because of the uneven taxonomic resolution of the method. Here, we leverage genome sequences for six Mamiellales species, two from each genus Micromonas, Ostreococcus and Bathycoccus, to investigate their distribution across 133 stations sampled during the Tara Oceans expedition. Our study confirms the cosmopolitan distribution of Mamiellales and further suggests non-random distribution of species, with two triplets of co-occurring genomes associated with different temperatures: Ostreococcuslucimarinus, Bathycoccusprasinos and Micromonaspusilla were found in colder waters, whereas Ostreococcus spp. RCC809, Bathycoccus spp. TOSAG39-1 and Micromonascommoda were more abundant in warmer conditions. We also report the distribution of the two candidate mating-types of Ostreococcus for which the frequency of sexual reproduction was previously assumed to be very low. Indeed, both mating types were systematically detected together in agreement with either frequent sexual reproduction or the high prevalence of a diploid stage. Altogether, these analyses provide novel insights into Mamiellales' biogeography and raise novel testable hypotheses about their life cycle and ecology.

Investigating microbial associations from sequencing survey data with co-correspondence analysis

Microbial communities, which drive major ecosystem functions, consist of a wide range of interacting species. Understanding how microbial communities are structured and the processes underlying this is crucial to interpreting ecosystem responses to global change but is challenging as microbial interactions cannot usually be directly observed. Multiple efforts are currently focused to combine next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques with refined statistical analysis (e.g., network analysis, multivariate analysis) to characterize the structures of microbial communities. However, most of these approaches consider a single table of sequencing data measured for several samples. Technological advances now make it possible to collect NGS data on different taxonomic groups simultaneously for the same samples, allowing us to analyse a pair of tables. Here, an analytical framework based on co-correspondence analysis (CoCA) is proposed to study the distributions, assemblages and interactions between two microbial communities. We show the ability of this approach to highlight the relationships between two microbial communities, using two data sets exhibiting various types of interactions. CoCA identified strong association patterns between autotrophic and heterotrophic microbial eukaryote assemblages, on the one hand, and between microalgae and viruses, on the other. We demonstrate also how CoCA can be used, complementary to network analysis, to reorder co-occurrence networks and thus investigate the presence of patterns in ecological networks.

Single cell ecogenomics reveals mating types of individual cells and ssDNA viral infections in the smallest photosynthetic eukaryotes

Planktonic photosynthetic organisms of the class Mamiellophyceae include the smallest eukaryotes (less than 2 µm), are globally distributed and form the basis of coastal marine ecosystems. Eight complete fully annotated 13-22 Mb genomes from three genera, Ostreococcus, Bathycoccus and Micromonas, are available from previously isolated clonal cultured strains and provide an ideal resource to explore the scope and challenges of analysing single cell amplified genomes (SAGs) isolated from a natural environment. We assembled data from 12 SAGs sampled during the Tara Oceans expedition to gain biological insights about their in situ ecology, which might be lost by isolation and strain culture. Although the assembled nuclear genomes were incomplete, they were large enough to infer the mating types of four Ostreococcus SAGs. The systematic occurrence of sequences from the mitochondria and chloroplast, representing less than 3% of the total cell's DNA, intimates that SAGs provide suitable substrates for detection of non-target sequences, such as those of virions. Analysis of the non-Mamiellophyceae assemblies, following filtering out cross-contaminations during the sequencing process, revealed two novel 1.6 and 1.8 kb circular DNA viruses, and the presence of specific Bacterial and Oomycete sequences suggests that these organisms might co-occur with the Mamiellales. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Single cell ecology'.

Combining morphology, behaviour and genomics to understand the evolution and ecology of microbial eukaryotes

Microbial eukaryotes (protists) are structurally, developmentally and behaviourally more complex than their prokaryotic cousins. This complexity makes it more difficult to translate genomic and metagenomic data into accurate functional inferences about systems ranging all the way from molecular and cellular levels to global ecological networks. This problem can be traced back to the advent of the cytoskeleton and endomembrane systems at the origin of eukaryotes, which endowed them with a range of complex structures and behaviours that still largely dominate how they evolve and interact within microbial communities. But unlike the diverse metabolic properties that evolved within prokaryotes, the structural and behavioural characteristics that strongly define how protists function in the environment cannot readily be inferred from genomic data, since there is generally no simple correlation between a gene and a discrete activity or function. A deeper understanding of protists at both cellular and ecological levels, therefore, requires not only high-throughput genomics but also linking such data to direct observations of natural history and cell biology. This is challenging since these observations typically require cultivation, which is lacking for most protists. Potential remedies with current technology include developing a more phylogenetically diverse range of model systems to better represent the diversity, as well as combining high-throughput, single-cell genomics with microscopic documentation of the subject cells to link sequence with structure and behaviour. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Single cell ecology'.

Novel diversity within marine Mamiellophyceae (Chlorophyta) unveiled by metabarcoding

Mamiellophyceae (unicellular green algae) are a key phytoplankton group in coastal waters. Although extensively studied over the last 20 years, the overall oceanic distribution of the major species/clades is still poorly known. To address this problem, we analyzed the 2014 Ocean Sampling Day (OSD) metabarcoding dataset providing sequences from the V4 hypervariable region of the 18S rRNA gene for 157 samples collected at 143 mostly coastal stations. Mamiellophyceae were found at nearly all OSD stations and represented 55% of the green microalgae (Chlorophyta) reads. We performed phylogenetic analyses of unique OSD metabarcodes (amplicon single variants, ASVs) and GenBank reference sequences from cultures and from the environment, focusing on the four most represented genera: Ostreococcus (45% of the Mamiellophyceae reads), Micromonas (34%), Bathycoccus (10%) and Mantoniella (8.7%). These analyses uncovered novel diversity within each genus except Bathycoccus. In Ostreococcus, a new clade (E) was the second most represented clade after Ostreococcus "lucimarinus". Micromonas could be separated into nine clades, exceeding the six species and candidate species already described. Finally, we found two new environmental clades within Mantoniella. Each Mamiellophyceae clade had a specific distribution in the OSD dataset suggesting that they are adapted to different ecological niches.

Taxonomic profiles in metagenomic analyses of free-living microbial communities in the Ofunato Bay

The Ofunato Bay in Iwate Prefecture, Japan is a deep coastal bay located at the center of the Sanriku Rias Coast and considered an economically and environmentally important asset. Here, we describe the first whole genome sequencing (WGS) study on the microbial community of the bay, where surface water samples were collected from three stations along its length to cover the entire bay; we preliminarily sequenced a 0.2 μm filter fraction among sequentially size-fractionated samples of 20.0, 5.0, 0.8 and 0.2 μm filters, targeting the free-living fraction only. From the 0.27-0.34 Gb WGS library, 0.9 × 10⁶-1.2 × 10⁶ reads from three sampling stations revealed 29 bacterial phyla (~80% of assigned reads), 3 archaeal phyla (~4%) and 59 eukaryotic phyla (~15%). Microbial diversity obtained from the WGS approach was compared with 16S rRNA gene results by mining WGS metagenomes, and we found similar estimates. The most frequently recovered bacterial sequences were Proteobacteria, predominantly comprised of 18.0-19.6% Planktomarina (Family Rhodobacteraceae) and 13.7-17.5% Candidatus Pelagibacter (Family Pelagibacterales). Other dominant bacterial genera, including Polaribacter (3.5-6.1%), Flavobacterium (1.8-2.6%), Sphingobacterium (1.4-1.6%) and Cellulophaga (1.4-2.0%), were members of Bacteroidetes and likely associated with the degradation and turnover of organic matter. The Marine Group I Archaea Nitrosopumilus was also detected. Remarkably, eukaryotic green alga Bathycoccus, Ostreococcus and Micromonas accounted for 8.8-15.2%, 3.6-4.9% and 2.1-3.1% of total read counts, respectively, highlighting their potential roles in the phytoplankton bloom after winter mixing.

Genome-reconstruction for eukaryotes from complex natural microbial communities

Microbial eukaryotes are integral components of natural microbial communities, and their inclusion is critical for many ecosystem studies, yet the majority of published metagenome analyses ignore eukaryotes. In order to include eukaryotes in environmental studies, we propose a method to recover eukaryotic genomes from complex metagenomic samples. A key step for genome recovery is separation of eukaryotic and prokaryotic fragments. We developed a k-mer-based strategy, EukRep, for eukaryotic sequence identification and applied it to environmental samples to show that it enables genome recovery, genome completeness evaluation, and prediction of metabolic potential. We used this approach to test the effect of addition of organic carbon on a geyser-associated microbial community and detected a substantial change of the community metabolism, with selection against almost all candidate phyla bacteria and archaea and for eukaryotes. Near complete genomes were reconstructed for three fungi placed within the Eurotiomycetes and an arthropod. While carbon fixation and sulfur oxidation were important functions in the geyser community prior to carbon addition, the organic carbon-impacted community showed enrichment for secreted proteases, secreted lipases, cellulose targeting CAZymes, and methanol oxidation. We demonstrate the broader utility of EukRep by reconstructing and evaluating relatively high-quality fungal, protist, and rotifer genomes from complex environmental samples. This approach opens the way for cultivation-independent analyses of whole microbial communities.

Quantitative biogeography of picoprasinophytes establishes ecotype distributions and significant contributions to marine phytoplankton

Bathycoccus and Ostreococcus are broadly distributed marine picoprasinophyte algae. We enumerated small phytoplankton using flow cytometry and qPCR assays for phylogenetically distinct Bathycoccus clades BI and BII and Ostreococcus clades OI and OII. Among 259 photic-zone samples from transects and time-series, Ostreococcus maxima occurred in the North Pacific coastal upwelling for OI (36 713 ± 1485 copies ml^-1 ) and the Kuroshio Front for OII (50 189 ± 561 copies ml^-1 ) and the two overlapped only in frontal regions. The Bathycoccus overlapped more often with maxima along Line-P for BI (10 667 ± 1299 copies ml^-1 ) and the tropical Atlantic for BII (4125 ± 339 copies ml^-1 ). Only BII and OII were detected at warm oligotrophic sites, accounting for 34 ± 13% of 1589 ± 448 eukaryotic phytoplankton cells ml^-1 (annual average) at Station ALOHA's deep chlorophyll maximum. Significant distributional and molecular differences lead us to propose that Bathycoccus clade BII represents a separate species which tolerates higher temperature oceanic conditions than Bathycoccus prasinos (BI). Morphological differences were not evident, but quick-freeze deep-etch electron microscopy provided insight into Bathycoccus scale formation. Our results highlight the importance of quantitative seasonal abundance data for inferring ecological distributions and demonstrate significant, differential picoprasinophyte contributions in mesotrophic and open-ocean waters.

Complete mitochondrial genomes of prasinophyte algae Pyramimonas parkeae and Cymbomonas tetramitiformis

Mitochondria are archetypal eukaryotic organelles that were acquired by endosymbiosis of an ancient species of alpha-proteobacteria by the last eukaryotic common ancestor. The genetic information contained within the mitochondrial genome has been an important source of information for resolving relationships among eukaryotic taxa. In this study, we utilized mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes to explore relationships among prasinophytes. Prasinophytes are represented by diverse early-diverging green algae whose physical structures and genomes have the potential to elucidate the traits of the last common ancestor of the Viridiplantae (or Chloroplastida). We constructed de novo mitochondrial genomes for two prasinophyte algal species, Pyramimonas parkeae and Cymbomonas tetramitiformis, representing the prasinophyte clade. Comparisons of genome structure and gene order between these species and to those of other prasinophytes revealed that the mitochondrial genomes of P. parkeae and C. tetramitiformis are more similar to each other than to other prasinophytes, consistent with other molecular inferences of the close relationship between these two species. Phylogenetic analyses using the inferred amino acid sequences of mitochondrial and chloroplast protein-coding genes resolved a clade consisting of P. parkeae and C. tetramitiformis; and this group (representing the prasinophyte clade I) branched with the clade II, consistent with previous studies based on the use of nuclear gene markers.

Seasonal patterns in Arctic prasinophytes and inferred ecology of Bathycoccus unveiled in an Arctic winter metagenome

Prasinophytes occur in all oceans but rarely dominate phytoplankton populations. In contrast, a single ecotype of the prasinophyte Micromonas is frequently the most abundant photosynthetic taxon reported in the Arctic from summer through autumn. However, seasonal dynamics of prasinophytes outside of this period are little known. To address this, we analyzed high-throughput V4 18S rRNA amplicon data collected from November to July in the Amundsen Gulf Region, Beaufort Sea, Arctic. Surprisingly during polar sunset in November and December, we found a high proportion of reads from both DNA and RNA belonging to another prasinophyte, Bathycoccus. We then analyzed a metagenome from a December sample and the resulting Bathycoccus metagenome assembled genome (MAG) covered ~90% of the Bathycoccus Ban7 reference genome. In contrast, only ~20% of a reference Micromonas genome was found in the metagenome. Our phylogenetic analysis of marker genes placed the Arctic Bathycoccus in the B1 coastal clade. In addition, substitution rates of 129 coding DNA sequences were ~1.6% divergent between the Arctic MAG and coastal Chilean upwelling MAGs and 17.3% between it and a South East Atlantic open ocean MAG in the B2 Clade. The metagenomic analysis also revealed a winter viral community highly skewed toward viruses targeting Micromonas, with a much lower diversity of viruses targeting Bathycoccus. Overall a combination of Micromonas being relatively less able to maintain activity under dark winter conditions and viral suppression of Micromonas may have contributed to the success of Bathycoccus in the Amundsen Gulf during winter.

Accessing the genomic information of unculturable oceanic picoeukaryotes by combining multiple single cells

Pico-sized eukaryotes play key roles in the functioning of marine ecosystems, but we still have a limited knowledge on their ecology and evolution. The MAST-4 lineage is of particular interest, since it is widespread in surface oceans, presents ecotypic differentiation and has defied culturing efforts so far. Single cell genomics (SCG) are promising tools to retrieve genomic information from these uncultured organisms. However, SCG are based on whole genome amplification, which normally introduces amplification biases that limit the amount of genomic data retrieved from a single cell. Here, we increase the recovery of genomic information from two MAST-4 lineages by co-assembling short reads from multiple Single Amplified Genomes (SAGs) belonging to evolutionary closely related cells. We found that complementary genomic information is retrieved from different SAGs, generating co-assembly that features >74% of genome recovery, against about 20% when assembled individually. Even though this approach is not aimed at generating high-quality draft genomes, it allows accessing to the genomic information of microbes that would otherwise remain unreachable. Since most of the picoeukaryotes still remain uncultured, our work serves as a proof-of-concept that can be applied to other taxa in order to extract genomic data and address new ecological and evolutionary questions.

Survey of the green picoalga Bathycoccus genomes in the global ocean

Bathycoccus is a cosmopolitan green micro-alga belonging to the Mamiellophyceae, a class of picophytoplankton that contains important contributors to oceanic primary production. A single species of Bathycoccus has been described while the existence of two ecotypes has been proposed based on metagenomic data. A genome is available for one strain corresponding to the described phenotype. We report a second genome assembly obtained by a single cell genomics approach corresponding to the second ecotype. The two Bathycoccus genomes are divergent enough to be unambiguously distinguishable in whole DNA metagenomic data although they possess identical sequence of the 18S rRNA gene including in the V9 region. Analysis of 122 global ocean whole DNA metagenome samples from the Tara-Oceans expedition reveals that populations of Bathycoccus that were previously identified by 18S rRNA V9 metabarcodes are only composed of these two genomes. Bathycoccus is relatively abundant and widely distributed in nutrient rich waters. The two genomes rarely co-occur and occupy distinct oceanic niches in particular with respect to depth. Metatranscriptomic data provide evidence for gain or loss of highly expressed genes in some samples, suggesting that the gene repertoire is modulated by environmental conditions.

A Viral Immunity Chromosome in the Marine Picoeukaryote, Ostreococcus tauri

Micro-algae of the genus Ostreococcus and related species of the order Mamiellales are globally distributed in the photic zone of world's oceans where they contribute to fixation of atmospheric carbon and production of oxygen, besides providing a primary source of nutrition in the food web. Their tiny size, simple cells, ease of culture, compact genomes and susceptibility to the most abundant large DNA viruses in the sea render them attractive as models for integrative marine biology. In culture, spontaneous resistance to viruses occurs frequently. Here, we show that virus-producing resistant cell lines arise in many independent cell lines during lytic infections, but over two years, more and more of these lines stop producing viruses. We observed sweeping over-expression of all genes in more than half of chromosome 19 in resistant lines, and karyotypic analyses showed physical rearrangements of this chromosome. Chromosome 19 has an unusual genetic structure whose equivalent is found in all of the sequenced genomes in this ecologically important group of green algae.

We propose that chromosome 19 of O. tauri is specialized in defence against viral attack, a constant threat for all planktonic life, and that the most likely cause of resistance is the over-expression of numerous predicted glycosyltransferase genes. O. tauri thus provides an amenable model for molecular analysis of genome evolution under environmental stress and for investigating glycan-mediated host-virus interactions, such as those seen in herpes, influenza, HIV, PBCV and mimivirus.

Diversity and oceanic distribution of prasinophytes clade VII, the dominant group of green algae in oceanic waters

Prasinophytes clade VII is a group of pico/nano-planktonic green algae (division Chlorophyta) for which numerous ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences have been retrieved from the marine environment in the last 15 years. A large number of strains have also been isolated but have not yet received a formal taxonomic description. A phylogenetic analysis of available strains using both the nuclear 18S and plastidial 16S rRNA genes demonstrates that this group composes at least 10 different clades: A1-A7 and B1-B3. Analysis of sequences from the variable V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene collected during the Tara Oceans expedition and in the frame of the Ocean Sampling Day consortium reveal that clade VII is the dominant Chlorophyta group in oceanic waters, replacing Mamiellophyceae, which have this role in coastal waters. At some location, prasinophytes clade VII can even be the dominant photosynthetic eukaryote representing up to 80% of photosynthetic metabarcodes overall. B1 and A4 are the overall dominant clades and different clades seem to occupy distinct niches, for example, A6 is dominant in surface Mediterranean Sea waters, whereas A4 extend to high temperate latitudes. Our work demonstrates that prasinophytes clade VII constitute a highly diversified group, which is a key component of phytoplankton in open oceanic waters but has been neglected in the conceptualization of marine microbial diversity and carbon cycle.

Phylogenetic diversity and biogeography of the Mamiellophyceae lineage of eukaryotic phytoplankton across the oceans

High-throughput diversity amplicon sequencing of marine microbial samples has revealed that members of the Mamiellophyceae lineage are successful phytoplankton in many oceanic habitats. Indeed, these eukaryotic green algae can dominate the picoplanktonic biomass, however, given the broad expanses of the oceans, their geographical distributions and the phylogenetic diversity of some groups remain poorly characterized. As these algae play a foundational role in marine food webs, it is crucial to assess their global distribution in order to better predict potential changes in abundance and community structure. To this end, we analyzed the V9-18S small subunit rDNA sequences deposited from the Tara Oceans expedition to evaluate the diversity and biogeography of these phytoplankton. Our results show that the phylogenetic composition of Mamiellophyceae communities is in part determined by geographical provenance, and do not appear to be influenced - in the samples recovered - by water depth, at least at the resolution possible with the V9-18S. Phylogenetic classification of Mamiellophyceae sequences revealed that the Dolichomastigales order encompasses more sequence diversity than other orders in this lineage. These results indicate that a large fraction of the Mamiellophyceae diversity has been hitherto overlooked, likely because of a combination of size fraction, sequencing and geographical limitations.

Evidence-based green algal genomics reveals marine diversity and ancestral characteristics of land plants

Background

Prasinophytes are widespread marine green algae that are related to plants. Cellular abundance of the prasinophyte Micromonas has reportedly increased in the Arctic due to climate-induced changes. Thus, studies of these unicellular eukaryotes are important for marine ecology and for understanding Viridiplantae evolution and diversification.

Results

We generated evidence-based Micromonas gene models using proteomics and RNA-Seq to improve prasinophyte genomic resources. First, sequences of four chromosomes in the 22 Mb Micromonas pusilla (CCMP1545) genome were finished. Comparison with the finished 21 Mb genome of Micromonas commoda (RCC299; named herein) shows they share ≤8,141 of ~10,000 protein-encoding genes, depending on the analysis method. Unlike RCC299 and other sequenced eukaryotes, CCMP1545 has two abundant repetitive intron types and a high percent (26 %) GC splice donors. Micromonas has more genus-specific protein families (19 %) than other genome sequenced prasinophytes (11 %). Comparative analyses using predicted proteomes from other prasinophytes reveal proteins likely related to scale formation and ancestral photosynthesis. Our studies also indicate that peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis enzymes have been lost in multiple independent events in select prasinophytes and plants. However, CCMP1545, polar Micromonas CCMP2099 and prasinophytes from other classes retain the entire PG pathway, like moss and glaucophyte algae. Surprisingly, multiple vascular plants also have the PG pathway, except the Penicillin-Binding Protein, and share a unique bi-domain protein potentially associated with the pathway. Alongside Micromonas experiments using antibiotics that halt bacterial PG biosynthesis, the findings highlight unrecognized phylogenetic complexity in PG-pathway retention and implicate a role in chloroplast structure or division in several extant Viridiplantae lineages.

Conclusions

Extensive differences in gene loss and architecture between related prasinophytes underscore their divergence. PG biosynthesis genes from the cyanobacterial endosymbiont that became the plastid, have been selectively retained in multiple plants and algae, implying a biological function. Our studies provide robust genomic resources for emerging model algae, advancing knowledge of marine phytoplankton and plant evolution.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2585-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Fungi Contribute Critical but Spatially Varying Roles in Nitrogen and Carbon Cycling in Acid Mine Drainage

The ecosystem roles of fungi have been extensively studied by targeting one organism and/or biological process at a time, but the full metabolic potential of fungi has rarely been captured in an environmental context. We hypothesized that fungal genome sequences could be assembled directly from the environment using metagenomics and that transcriptomics and proteomics could simultaneously reveal metabolic differentiation across habitats. We reconstructed the near-complete 27 Mbp genome of a filamentous fungus, Acidomyces richmondensis, and evaluated transcript and protein expression in floating and streamer biofilms from an acid mine drainage (AMD) system. A. richmondensis transcripts involved in denitrification and in the degradation of complex carbon sources (including cellulose) were up-regulated in floating biofilms, whereas central carbon metabolism and stress-related transcripts were significantly up-regulated in streamer biofilms. These findings suggest that the biofilm niches are distinguished by distinct carbon and nitrogen resource utilization, oxygen availability, and environmental challenges. An isolated A. richmondensis strain from this environment was used to validate the metagenomics-derived genome and confirm nitrous oxide production at pH 1. Overall, our analyses defined mechanisms of fungal adaptation and identified a functional shift related to different roles in carbon and nitrogen turnover for the same species of fungi growing in closely located but distinct biofilm niches.

Exploring the Bacterial Diversity of Belgian Steak Tartare Using Metagenetics and Quantitative Real-Time PCR Analysis

Steak tartare is a popular meat dish in Belgium. It is prepared with raw minced beef and is eaten with sauce, vegetables, and spices. Because it contains raw meat, steak tartare is highly prone to bacterial spoilage. The objective of this study was to explore the diversity of bacterial flora in steak tartare in Belgium according to the source and to determine which bacteria are able to grow during shelf life. A total of 58 samples from butchers' shops, restaurants, sandwich shops, and supermarkets were collected. These samples were analyzed using 16S rDNA metagenetics, a classical microbiological technique, and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) targeting the Lactobacillus genus. Samples were analyzed at the beginning and at the end of their shelf life, except for those from restaurants and sandwich shops, which were analyzed only on the purchase date. Metagenetic analysis identified up to 180 bacterial species and 90 genera in some samples. But only seven bacterial species were predominant in the samples, depending on the source: Brochothrix thermosphacta, Lactobacillus algidus, Lactococcus piscium, Leuconostoc gelidum, Photobacterium kishitani, Pseudomonas spp., and Xanthomonas oryzae. With this work, an alternative method is proposed to evaluate the total flora in food samples based on the number of reads from metagenetic analysis and the results of qPCR. The degree of underestimation of aerobic plate counts at 30°C estimated with the classical microbiology method was demonstrated in comparison with the proposed culture-independent method. Compared with culture-based methods, metagenetic analysis combined with qPCR targeting Lactobacillus provides valuable information for characterizing the bacterial flora of raw meat.

Abundance and Biogeography of Picoprasinophyte Ecotypes and Other Phytoplankton in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean

Eukaryotic algae within the picoplankton size class (≤2 μm in diameter) are important marine primary producers, but their spatial and ecological distributions are not well characterized. Here, we studied three picoeukaryotic prasinophyte genera and their cyanobacterial counterparts, Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, during two cruises along a North Pacific transect characterized by different ecological regimes. Picoeukaryotes and Synechococcus reached maximum abundances of 1.44 × 10(5) and 3.37 × 10(5) cells · ml(-1), respectively, in mesotrophic waters, while Prochlorococcus reached 1.95 × 10(5) cells · ml(-1) in the oligotrophic ocean. Of the picoeukaryotes, Bathycoccus was present at all stations in both cruises, reaching 21,368 ± 327 18S rRNA gene copies · ml(-1). Micromonas and Ostreococcus clade OI were detected only in mesotrophic and coastal waters and Ostreococcus clade OII only in the oligotrophic ocean. To resolve proposed Bathycoccus ecotypes, we established genetic distances for 1,104 marker genes using targeted metagenomes and the Bathycoccus prasinos genome. The analysis was anchored in comparative genome analysis of three Ostreococcus species for which physiological and environmental data are available to facilitate data interpretation. We established that two Bathycoccus ecotypes exist, named here BI (represented by coastal isolate Bathycoccus prasinos) and BII. These share 82% ± 6% nucleotide identity across homologs, while the Ostreococcus spp. share 75% ± 8%. We developed and applied an analysis of ecomarkers to metatranscriptomes sequenced here and published -omics data from the same region. The results indicated that the Bathycoccus ecotypes cooccur more often than Ostreococcus clades OI and OII do. Exploratory analyses of relative transcript abundances suggest that Bathycoccus NRT2.1 and AMT2.2 are high-affinity NO3 (-) and low-affinity NH4 (+) transporters, respectively, with close homologs in multiple picoprasinophytes. Additionally, in the open ocean, where dissolved iron concentrations were low (0.08 nM), there appeared to be a shift to the use of nickel superoxide dismutases (SODs) from Mn/Fe/Cu SODs closer inshore. Our study documents the distribution of picophytoplankton along a North Pacific ecological gradient and offers new concepts and techniques for investigating their biogeography.

Environmental selection pressures related to iron utilization are involved in the loss of the flavodoxin gene from the plant genome

Oxidative stress and iron limitation represent the grim side of life in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The versatile electron transfer shuttle ferredoxin, an iron-sulfur protein, is particularly sensitive to these hardships, and its downregulation under adverse conditions severely compromises survival of phototrophs. Replacement of ferredoxin by a stress-resistant isofunctional carrier, flavin-containing flavodoxin, is a widespread strategy employed by photosynthetic microorganisms to overcome environmental adversities. The flavodoxin gene was lost in the course of plant evolution, but its reintroduction in transgenic plants confers increased tolerance to environmental stress and iron starvation, raising the question as to why a genetic asset with obvious adaptive value was not kept by natural selection. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the evolutionary history of flavodoxin is intricate, with several horizontal gene transfer events between distant organisms, including Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea. The flavodoxin gene is unevenly distributed in most algal lineages, with flavodoxin-containing species being overrepresented in iron-limited regions and scarce or absent in iron-rich environments. Evaluation of cyanobacterial genomic and metagenomic data yielded essentially the same results, indicating that there was little selection pressure to retain flavodoxin in iron-rich coastal/freshwater phototrophs. Our results show a highly dynamic evolution pattern of flavodoxin tightly connected to the bioavailability of iron. Evidence presented here also indicates that the high concentration of iron in coastal and freshwater habitats may have facilitated the loss of flavodoxin in the freshwater ancestor of modern plants during the transition of photosynthetic organisms from the open oceans to the firm land.

Bacteria in Ostreococcus tauri cultures - friends, foes or hitchhikers?

Marine phytoplankton produce half of the oxygen we breathe and their astounding diversity is just starting to be unraveled. Many microbial phytoplankton are thought to be phototrophic, depending solely on inorganic sources of carbon and minerals for growth rather than preying on other planktonic cells. However, there is increasing evidence that symbiotic associations, to a large extent with bacteria, are required for vitamin or nutrient uptake for many eukaryotic microalgae. Here, we use in silico approaches to look for putative symbiotic interactions by analysing the gene content of microbial communities associated with 13 different Ostreococcus tauri (Chlorophyta, Mamilleophyceae) cultures sampled from the Mediterranean Sea. While we find evidence for bacteria in all cultures, there is no ubiquitous bacterial group, and the most prevalent group, Flavobacteria, is present in 10 out of 13 cultures. Among seven of the microbiomes, we detected genes predicted to encode type 3 secretion systems (T3SS, in 6/7 microbiomes) and/or putative type 6 secretion systems (T6SS, in 4/7 microbiomes). Phylogenetic analyses show that the corresponding genes are closely related to genes of systems identified in bacterial-plant interactions, suggesting that these T3SS might be involved in cell-to-cell interactions with O. tauri.

The long goodbye: the rise and fall of flavodoxin during plant evolution

Ferredoxins are electron shuttles harbouring iron-sulfur clusters that connect multiple oxido-reductive pathways in organisms displaying different lifestyles. Some prokaryotes and algae express an isofunctional electron carrier, flavodoxin, which contains flavin mononucleotide as cofactor. Both proteins evolved in the anaerobic environment preceding the appearance of oxygenic photosynthesis. The advent of an oxygen-rich atmosphere proved detrimental to ferredoxin owing to iron limitation and oxidative damage to the iron-sulfur cluster, and many microorganisms induced flavodoxin expression to replace ferredoxin under stress conditions. Paradoxically, ferredoxin was maintained throughout the tree of life, whereas flavodoxin is absent from plants and animals. Of note is that flavodoxin expression in transgenic plants results in increased tolerance to multiple stresses and iron deficit, through mechanisms similar to those operating in microorganisms. Then, the question remains open as to why a trait that still confers plants such obvious adaptive benefits was not retained. We compare herein the properties of ferredoxin and flavodoxin, and their contrasting modes of expression in response to different environmental stimuli. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the flavodoxin gene was already absent in the algal lineages immediately preceding land plants. Geographical distribution of phototrophs shows a bias against flavodoxin-containing organisms in iron-rich coastal/freshwater habitats. Based on these observations, we propose that plants evolved from freshwater macroalgae that already lacked flavodoxin because they thrived in an iron-rich habitat with no need to back up ferredoxin functions and therefore no selective pressure to keep the flavodoxin gene. Conversely, ferredoxin retention in the plant lineage is probably related to its higher efficiency as an electron carrier, compared with flavodoxin. Several lines of evidence supporting these contentions are presented and discussed.

Chimeric viruses blur the borders between the major groups of eukaryotic single-stranded DNA viruses

Metagenomic studies have uncovered an astonishing diversity of ssDNA viruses encoding replication proteins (Reps) related to those of eukaryotic Circoviridae, Geminiviridae or Nanoviridae; however, exact evolutionary relationships among these viruses remain obscure. Recently, a unique chimeric virus (CHIV) genome, which has apparently emerged via recombination between ssRNA and ssDNA viruses, has been discovered. Here we report on the assembly of 13 new CHIV genomes recovered from various environments. Our results indicate a single event of capsid protein (CP) gene capture from an RNA virus in the history of this virus group. The domestication of the CP gene was followed by an unprecedented recurrent replacement of the Rep genes in CHIVs with distant counterparts from diverse ssDNA viruses. We suggest that parasitic and symbiotic interactions between unicellular eukaryotes were central for the emergence of CHIVs and that such turbulent evolution was primarily dictated by incongruence between the CP and Rep proteins.

The Marine Microbial Eukaryote Transcriptome Sequencing Project (MMETSP): illuminating the functional diversity of eukaryotic life in the oceans through transcriptome sequencing

Current sampling of genomic sequence data from eukaryotes is relatively poor, biased, and inadequate to address important questions about their biology, evolution, and ecology; this Community Page describes a resource of 700 transcriptomes from marine microbial eukaryotes to help understand their role in the world's oceans.

Single cell genome analysis of an uncultured heterotrophic stramenopile

A broad swath of eukaryotic microbial biodiversity cannot be cultivated in the lab and is therefore inaccessible to conventional genome-wide comparative methods. One promising approach to study these lineages is single cell genomics (SCG), whereby an individual cell is captured from nature and genome data are produced from the amplified total DNA. Here we tested the efficacy of SCG to generate a draft genome assembly from a single sample, in this case a cell belonging to the broadly distributed MAST-4 uncultured marine stramenopiles. Using de novo gene prediction, we identified 6,996 protein-encoding genes in the MAST-4 genome. This genetic inventory was sufficient to place the cell within the ToL using multigene phylogenetics and provided preliminary insights into the complex evolutionary history of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the MAST-4 lineage.

Cophylogenetic interactions between marine viruses and eukaryotic picophytoplankton

Background

Numerous studies have investigated cospeciation (or cophylogeny) in various host-symbiont systems, and different patterns were inferred, from strict cospeciation where symbiont phylogeny mirrors host phylogeny, to complete absence of correspondence between trees. The degree of cospeciation is generally linked to the level of host specificity in the symbiont species and the opportunity they have to switch hosts. In this study, we investigated cophylogeny for the first time in a microalgae-virus association in the open sea, where symbionts are believed to be highly host-specific but have wide opportunities to switch hosts. We studied prasinovirus-Mamiellales associations using 51 different viral strains infecting 22 host strains, selected from the characterisation and experimental testing of the specificities of 313 virus strains on 26 host strains.

Results

All virus strains were restricted to their host genus, and most were species-specific, but some of them were able to infect different host species within a genus. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed for viruses and their hosts, and their congruence was assessed based on these trees and the specificity data using different cophylogenetic methods, a topology-based approach, Jane, and a global congruence method, ParaFit. We found significant congruence between virus and host trees, but with a putatively complex evolutionary history.

Conclusions

Mechanisms other than true cospeciation, such as host-switching, might explain a part of the data. It has been observed in a previous study on the same taxa that the genomic divergence between host pairs is larger than between their viruses. It implies that if cospeciation predominates in this algae-virus system, this would support the hypothesis that prasinoviruses evolve more slowly than their microalgal hosts, whereas host switching would imply that these viruses speciated more recently than the divergence of their host genera.

Development of a targeted metagenomic approach to study a genomic region involved in light harvesting in marine Synechococcus

Synechococcus, one of the most abundant cyanobacteria in marine ecosystems, displays a broad pigment diversity. However, the in situ distribution of pigment types remains largely unknown. In this study, we combined flow cytometry cell sorting, whole-genome amplification, and fosmid library construction to target a genomic region involved in light-harvesting complex (phycobilisome) biosynthesis and regulation. Synechococcus community composition and relative contamination by heterotrophic bacteria were assessed at each step of the pipeline using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism targeting the petB and 16S rRNA genes, respectively. This approach allowed us to control biases inherent to each method and select reliable WGA products to construct a fosmid library from a natural sample collected off Roscoff (France). Sequencing of 25 fosmids containing the targeted region led to the assembly of whole or partial phycobilisome regions. Most contigs were assigned to clades I and IV consistent with the known dominance of these clades in temperate coastal waters. However, one of the fosmids contained genes distantly related to their orthologs in reference genomes, suggesting that it belonged to a novel phylogenetic clade. Altogether, this study provides novel insights into Synechococcus community structure and pigment type diversity at a representative coastal station of the English Channel.

Diversity and evolution of spliceosomal systems

The intron-exon structures of eukaryotic nuclear genomes exhibit tremendous diversity across different species. The availability of many genomes from diverse eukaryotic species now allows for the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of this diversity. Consideration of spliceosomal systems in comparative context reveals a surprising and very complex portrait: in contrast to many expectations, gene structures in early eukaryotic ancestors were highly complex and "animal or plant-like" in many of their spliceosomal structures has occurred; pronounced simplification of gene structures, splicing signals, and spliceosomal machinery occurring independently in many lineages. In addition, next-generation sequencing of transcripts has revealed that alternative splicing is more common across eukaryotes than previously thought. However, much alternative splicing in diverse eukaryotes appears to play a regulatory role: alternative splicing fulfilling the most famous role for alternative splicing-production of multiple different proteins from a single gene-appears to be much more common in animal species than in nearly any other lineage.

Evolution of codon usage in the smallest photosynthetic eukaryotes and their giant viruses

Prasinoviruses are among the largest viruses (>200 kb) and encode several hundreds of protein coding genes, including most genes of the DNA replication machinery and several genes involved in transcription and translation, as well as transfer RNAs (tRNAs). They can infect and lyse small eukaryotic planktonic marine green algae, thereby affecting global algal population dynamics. Here, we investigate the causes of codon usage bias (CUB) in one prasinovirus, OtV5, and its host Ostreococcus tauri, during a viral infection using microarray expression data. We show that 1) CUB in the host and in the viral genes increases with expression levels and 2) optimal codons use those tRNAs encoded by the most abundant host tRNA genes, supporting the notion of translational optimization by natural selection. We find evidence that viral tRNA genes complement the host tRNA pool for those viral amino acids whose host tRNAs are in short supply. We further discuss the coevolution of CUB in hosts and prasinoviruses by comparing optimal codons in three evolutionary diverged host–virus-specific pairs whose complete genome sequences are known.

Genetic data generated from virus-host complexes obtained by membrane co-immobilization are equivalent to data obtained from tangential filtrate virus concentrates and virus cultures

The sieving and immobilization of virus-host complexes using impact filtration (aka membrane co-immobilization or MCI) is a novel approach to the study of plankton viruses. One of the most interesting characteristics of the method is the possibility of generating data on potential viral hosts without the need of culturing hosts cells. MCI has demonstrated to be useful for studying viruses of picoalgae, but studies comparing data generated by MCI to data obtained by other techniques are lacking. In this work, Ostreococcus virus (OV) and Ostreococcus sp. sequences generated from virus-host complexes obtained by MCI were compared to sequences obtained from tangential filtration (TF) concentrates and virus cultures (VC). Statistical parsimony, phylogenetic analyses, pairwise distance comparisons, and analysis of molecular variance showed that the viral and host sequences obtained by the three methods were highly related to each other, indicating that MCI, TF, and VC produce equivalent results. Minor differences were observed among viral sequences obtained from VC and TF concentrates as well as among host sequences generated from VC and MCI. As discussed in the body of the paper, the divergence observed for cultured cells could be due to selective pressures exerted by culture conditions, whereas the correlate observed for the corresponding viral sequences could obey to a hitchhiking effect.

Gene invasion in distant eukaryotic lineages: discovery of mutually exclusive genetic elements reveals marine biodiversity

Inteins are rare, translated genetic parasites mainly found in bacteria and archaea, while spliceosomal introns are distinctly eukaryotic features abundant in most nuclear genomes. Using targeted metagenomics, we discovered an intein in an Atlantic population of the photosynthetic eukaryote, Bathycoccus, harbored by the essential spliceosomal protein PRP8 (processing factor 8 protein). Although previously thought exclusive to fungi, we also identified PRP8 inteins in parasitic (Capsaspora) and predatory (Salpingoeca) protists. Most new PRP8 inteins were at novel insertion sites that, surprisingly, were not in the most conserved regions of the gene. Evolutionarily, Dikarya fungal inteins at PRP8 insertion site a appeared more related to the Bathycoccus intein at a unique insertion site, than to other fungal and opisthokont inteins. Strikingly, independent analyses of Pacific and Atlantic samples revealed an intron at the same codon as the Bathycoccus PRP8 intein. The two elements are mutually exclusive and neither was found in cultured Bathycoccus or other picoprasinophyte genomes. Thus, wild Bathycoccus contain one of few non-fungal eukaryotic inteins known and a rare polymorphic intron. Our data indicate at least two Bathycoccus ecotypes exist, associated respectively with oceanic or mesotrophic environments. We hypothesize that intein propagation is facilitated by marine viruses; and, while intron gain is still poorly understood, presence of a spliceosomal intron where a locus lacks an intein raises the possibility of new, intein-primed mechanisms for intron gain. The discovery of nucleus-encoded inteins and associated sequence polymorphisms in uncultivated marine eukaryotes highlights their diversity and reveals potential sexual boundaries between populations indistinguishable by common marker genes.

Coupling FACS and genomic methods for the characterization of uncultivated symbionts

Symbioses between microbes are likely widespread and functionally relevant in diverse biological systems; however, they are difficult to discover. Most microbes remain uncultivated, symbioses can be relatively rare or dynamic, and intercellular connections can be delicate. Thus, traditional methods such as microscopy are inadequate for efficient discovery and precise characterization of novel interactions, their metabolic basis, and the species involved. High-throughput metagenomic sequencing of entire microbial communities has revolutionized the field of microbial ecology; however, genomic signals from symbionts can get buried in sequences from abundant organisms and evidence for direct links between microbial species cannot be gained from bulk samples. Thus, a specialized approach to the characterization of symbioses between naturally occurring microbes is required. This chapter presents methods for combining fluorescence-activated cell sorting to isolate and separate uncultivated symbionts with molecular biology techniques for DNA amplification in order to characterize uncultivated symbionts through genomic and metagenomic techniques.

Unicellular cyanobacterium symbiotic with a single-celled eukaryotic alga

Symbioses between nitrogen (N)(2)-fixing prokaryotes and photosynthetic eukaryotes are important for nitrogen acquisition in N-limited environments. Recently, a widely distributed planktonic uncultured nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium (UCYN-A) was found to have unprecedented genome reduction, including the lack of oxygen-evolving photosystem II and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which suggested partnership in a symbiosis. We showed that UCYN-A has a symbiotic association with a unicellular prymnesiophyte, closely related to calcifying taxa present in the fossil record. The partnership is mutualistic, because the prymnesiophyte receives fixed N in exchange for transferring fixed carbon to UCYN-A. This unusual partnership between a cyanobacterium and a unicellular alga is a model for symbiosis and is analogous to plastid and organismal evolution, and if calcifying, may have important implications for past and present oceanic N(2) fixation.