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Qin W, Wei SP, Zheng Y, Choi E, Li X, Johnston J, Wan X, Abrahamson B, Flinkstrom Z, Wang B, Li H, Hou L, Tao Q, Chlouber WW, Sun X, Wells M, Ngo L, Hunt KA, Urakawa H, Tao X, Wang D, Yan X, Wang D, Pan C, Weber PK, Jiang J, Zhou J, Zhang Y, Stahl DA, Ward BB, Mayali X, Martens-Habbena W, Winkler MKH. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea exhibit differential nitrogen source preferences. Nat Microbiol 2024; 9:524-536. [PMID: 38297167 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01593-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM) contribute to one of the largest nitrogen fluxes in the global nitrogen budget. Four distinct lineages of AOM: ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), beta- and gamma-proteobacterial ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (β-AOB and γ-AOB) and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), are thought to compete for ammonia as their primary nitrogen substrate. In addition, many AOM species can utilize urea as an alternative energy and nitrogen source through hydrolysis to ammonia. How the coordination of ammonia and urea metabolism in AOM influences their ecology remains poorly understood. Here we use stable isotope tracing, kinetics and transcriptomics experiments to show that representatives of the AOM lineages employ distinct regulatory strategies for ammonia or urea utilization, thereby minimizing direct substrate competition. The tested AOA and comammox species preferentially used ammonia over urea, while β-AOB favoured urea utilization, repressed ammonia transport in the presence of urea and showed higher affinity for urea than for ammonia. Characterized γ-AOB co-utilized both substrates. These results reveal contrasting niche adaptation and coexistence patterns among the major AOM lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Qin
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Stephany P Wei
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Yue Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Eunkyung Choi
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA
| | - Xiangpeng Li
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | | | - Xianhui Wan
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Britt Abrahamson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Zachary Flinkstrom
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Baozhan Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Hanyan Li
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Lei Hou
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Qing Tao
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Wyatt W Chlouber
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Xin Sun
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael Wells
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Long Ngo
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Kristopher A Hunt
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hidetoshi Urakawa
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA
| | - Xuanyu Tao
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Dongyu Wang
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Xiaoyuan Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Dazhi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - Chongle Pan
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Peter K Weber
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
| | - Jiandong Jiang
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jizhong Zhou
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Yao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
| | - David A Stahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Bess B Ward
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Xavier Mayali
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
| | - Willm Martens-Habbena
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA.
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Kim Y, Flinkstrom Z, Candry P, Winkler MKH, Myung J. Resource availability governs polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulation and diversity of methanotrophic enrichments from wetlands. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1210392. [PMID: 37588137 PMCID: PMC10425282 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1210392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Aquatic environments account for half of global CH4 emissions, with freshwater wetlands being the most significant contributors. These CH4 fluxes can be partially offset by aerobic CH4 oxidation driven by methanotrophs. Additionally, some methanotrophs can convert CH4 into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), an energy storage molecule as well as a promising bioplastic polymer. In this study, we investigate how PHA-accumulating methanotrophic communities enriched from wetlands were shaped by varying resource availability (i.e., C and N concentrations) at a fixed C/N ratio. Cell yields, PHA accumulation, and community composition were evaluated in high (20% CH4 and 10 mM NH4 +) and low resource (0.2% CH4 and 0.1 mM NH4 +) conditions simulating engineered and environmental settings, respectively. High resource availability decreased C-based cell yields, while N-based cell yields remained stable, suggesting nutrient exchange patterns differed between methanotrophic communities at different resource concentrations. PHA accumulation was only observed in high resource enrichments, producing approximately 12.6% ± 2.4% (m/m) PHA, while PHA in low resource enrichments remained below detection. High resource enrichments were dominated by Methylocystis methanotrophs, while low resource enrichments remained significantly more diverse and contained only a minor population of methanotrophs. This study demonstrates that resource concentration shapes PHA-accumulating methanotrophic communities. Together, this provides useful information to leverage such communities in engineering settings as well as to begin understanding their role in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujin Kim
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Zachary Flinkstrom
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Pieter Candry
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Mari-Karoliina H. Winkler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Jaewook Myung
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea
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