| 1. |
- Feng, Shaohong, et al.
(författare)
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Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 587:7833
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Whole-genome sequencing projects are increasingly populating the tree of life and characterizing biodiversity(1-4). Sparse taxon sampling has previously been proposed to confound phylogenetic inference(5), and captures only a fraction of the genomic diversity. Here we report a substantial step towards the dense representation of avian phylogenetic and molecular diversity, by analysing 363 genomes from 92.4% of bird families-including 267 newly sequenced genomes produced for phase II of the Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) Project. We use this comparative genome dataset in combination with a pipeline that leverages a reference-free whole-genome alignment to identify orthologous regions in greater numbers than has previously been possible and to recognize genomic novelties in particular bird lineages. The densely sampled alignment provides a single-base-pair map of selection, has more than doubled the fraction of bases that are confidently predicted to be under conservation and reveals extensive patterns of weak selection in predominantly non-coding DNA. Our results demonstrate that increasing the diversity of genomes used in comparative studies can reveal more shared and lineage-specific variation, and improve the investigation of genomic characteristics. We anticipate that this genomic resource will offer new perspectives on evolutionary processes in cross-species comparative analyses and assist in efforts to conserve species. A dataset of the genomes of 363 species from the Bird 10,000 Genomes Project shows increased power to detect shared and lineage-specific variation, demonstrating the importance of phylogenetically diverse taxon sampling in whole-genome sequencing.
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| 2. |
- Bäckström, Disa
(författare)
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Exploring the diversity and evolution of giant viruses in deep sea sediments using genome-resolved metagenomics
- 2018
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on this planet, which is impressive considering that they are completely dependent on their hosts for reproduction. Recently the idea of what viruses are has changed dramatically, with the discovery of giant viruses that belong to the Nucleocytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDV), such as Mimiviridae, Marseilleviridae, and the proposed families Pandoraviruses, and Pithoviruses. Not only are some of these viruses as large as bacteria in size, their genomes also exceed the size of some prokaryotic genomes. The evolutionary path to viral giganticism is not yet fully understood, and several opposing theories have been proposed. The more examples of giant viruses we have to study, the clearer the picture becomes. The rate of discovery, however, is limited by the low capacity of culturing. In an effort to contribute through culture-independent methods, I used genome-resolved metagenomics to retrieve genomes of 23 new members of the NCLDV from deep sea sediment samples that were taken near Loki’s Castle hydrothermal vent field. This method has previously been used to study uncultured Bacteria and Archaea, but few successful cases of metagenomic binning of NCLDV have been documented. New methods for refinement and quality control of the binned genomes were developed, combining reads profiling with differential coverage binning, and composition-based cleaning of potentially contaminating sequences. The binned genomes represent several novel clades of NCLDV, the most noteworthy ones distantly related to Pithoviruses and Marseilleviridae, and greatly expand their overall diversity. Phylogenetic analysis of their genome content supports the independent evolution of viral giganticism from smaller viruses. Continued use of metagenomics to explore the presence of NCLDV in environmental samples will lead to new insights into their diversity, evolution, and biology.
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| 3. |
- Csitári, Bianka, et al.
(författare)
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Anion-type modulates the effect of salt stress on saline lake bacteria
- 2022
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Ingår i: Extremophiles. - : Springer Nature. - 1431-0651 .- 1433-4909. ; 26
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Beside sodium chloride, inland saline aquatic systems often contain other anions than chloride such as hydrogen carbonate and sulfate. Our understanding of the biological effects of salt composition diversity is limited; therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of different anions on the growth of halophilic bacteria. Accordingly, the salt composition and concentration preference of 172 strains isolated from saline and soda lakes that differed in ionic composition was tested using media containing either carbonate, chloride or sulfate as anion in concentration values ranging from 0 to 0.40 mol/L. Differences in salt-type preference among bacterial strains were observed in relationship to the salt composition of the natural habitat they were isolated from indicating specific salt-type adaptation. Sodium carbonate represented the strongest selective force, while majority of strains was well-adapted to growth even at high concentrations of sodium sulfate. Salt preference was to some extent associated with taxonomy, although variations even within the same bacterial species were also identified. Our results suggest that the extent of the effect of dissolved salts in saline lakes is not limited to their concentration but the type of anion also substantially impacts the growth and survival of individual microorganisms.
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| 4. |
- Malki, Kema, et al.
(författare)
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Prokaryotic and Viral Community Composition of Freshwater Springs in Florida, USA
- 2020
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Ingår i: mBio. - 2161-2129 .- 2150-7511. ; 11:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aquifers, which are essential underground freshwater reservoirs worldwide, are understudied ecosystems that harbor diverse forms of microbial life. This study investigated the abundance and composition of prokaryotic and viral communities in the outflow of five springs across northern Florida, USA, as a proxy of microbial communities found in one of the most productive aquifers in the world, the Floridan aquifer. The average abundances of virus-like particles and prokaryotic cells were slightly lower than those reported from other groundwater systems, ranging from 9.6 × 10 3 ml −1 to 1.1 × 10 5 ml −1 and 2.2 × 10 3 ml −1 to 3.4 × 10 4 ml −1 , respectively. Despite all of the springs being fed by the Floridan aquifer, sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and viral metagenomes (viromes) revealed unique communities in each spring, suggesting that groundwater microbial communities are influenced by land usage in recharge zones. The prokaryotic communities were dominated by Bacteria , and though the most abundant phyla ( Proteobacteria , Cyanobacteria , and Bacteroidetes ) were found in relatively high abundance across springs, variation was seen at finer taxonomic resolution. The viral sequences were most similar to those described from other aquatic environments. Sequencing resulted in the completion of 58 novel viral genomes representing members of the order Caudovirales as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses. Sequences similar to those of ssDNA viruses were detected at all spring sites and dominated the identifiable sequences at one spring site, showing that these small viruses merit further investigation in groundwater systems.
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| 5. |
- Malki, Kema, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Prokaryotic and Viral Community Assemblages in a Lotic System (Manatee Springs, Florida)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 0099-2240 .- 1098-5336. ; 87:18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How from high-magnitude springs fed by the Floridan aquifer system contributes hundreds of liters of water per second to rivers, creating unique lotic systems. Despite their importance as freshwater sources and their contributions to the state's major rivers, little is known about the composition and spatiotemporal variability of prokaryotic and viral communities of these spring systems or their influence on downstream river sites. At four time points throughout a year, we determined the abundance and diversity of prokaryotic and viral communities at three sites within the first-magnitude Manatee Springs system (the spring head where water emerges from the aquifer, a mixed region where the spring run ends, and a downstream site in the Suwannee River). The abundance of prokaryotes and virus-like particles increased 100-fold from the spring head to the river and few members from the head communities persisted in the river at low abundance, suggesting the springs play a minor role in seeding downstream communities. Prokaryotic and viral communities within Manatee Springs clustered by site, with seasonal variability likely driven by flow. As water flowed through the system, microbial community composition was affected by changes in physiochemical parameters and community coalescence. Evidence of species sorting and mass effects could be seen in the assemblages. Greater temporal fluctuations were observed in prokaryotic and viral community composition with increasing distance from the spring outflow, reflecting the relative stability of the groundwater environment, and comparisons to springs from prior work reaffirmed that distinct first-magnitude springs support unique communities. IMPORTANCE Prokaryotic and viral communities are central to food webs and biogeochemical processes in aquatic environments, where they help maintain ecosystem health. The Floridan aquifer system (FAS), which is the primary drinking water source for millions of people in the southeastern United States, contributes large amounts of freshwater to major river systems in Florida through its springs. However, there is a paucity of information regarding the spatiotemporal dynamics of microbial communities in these essential flowing freshwater systems. This work explored the prokaryotic and viral communities in a first-magnitude spring system fed by the FAS that discharges millions of liters of water per day into the Suwannee River. This study examined microbial community composition through space and time as well as the environmental parameters and metacommunity assembly mechanisms that shape these communities, providing a foundational understanding for monitoring future changes.
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| 6. |
- Scharnweber, Kristin, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Comprehensive analysis of chemical and biological problems associated with browning agents used in aquatic studies
- 2021
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Ingår i: Limnology and Oceanography. - : Wiley. - 1541-5856. ; 19:12, s. 818-835
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inland waters receive and process large amounts of colored organic matter from the terrestrial surroundings. These inputs dramatically affect the chemical, physical, and biological properties of water bodies, as well as their roles as global carbon sinks and sources. However, manipulative studies, especially at ecosystem scale, require large amounts of dissolved organic matter with optical and chemical properties resembling indigenous organic matter. Here, we compared the impacts of two leonardite products (HuminFeed and SuperHume) and a freshly derived reverse osmosis concentrate of organic matter in a set of comprehensive mesocosm- and laboratory-scale experiments and analyses. The chemical properties of the reverse osmosis concentrate and the leonardite products were very different, with leonardite products being low and the reverse osmosis concentrate being high in carboxylic functional groups. Light had a strong impact on the properties of leonardite products, including loss of color and increased particle formation. HuminFeed presented a substantial impact on microbial communities under light conditions, where bacterial production was stimulated and community composition modified, while in dark potential inhibition of bacterial processes was detected. While none of the browning agents inhibited the growth of the tested phytoplankton Gonyostomum semen, HuminFeed had detrimental effects on zooplankton abundance and Daphnia reproduction. We conclude that the effects of browning agents extracted from leonardite, particularly HuminFeed, are in sharp contrast to those originating from terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter. Hence, they should be used with great caution in experimental studies on the consequences of terrestrial carbon for aquatic systems.
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| 7. |
- Attermeyer, Katrin, et al.
(författare)
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Potential terrestrial influence on transparent exopolymer particle (TEP) concentrations in boreal freshwaters
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of limnology. - : Wiley. - 1129-5767 .- 1723-8633. ; 64:6, s. 2455-2466
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems and contribute, for example, to sedimentation of organic matter in oceans and freshwaters. Earlier studies indicate that the formation of TEP is related to the in situ activity of phytoplankton or bacteria. However, terrestrial sources of TEP and TEP precursors are usually not considered. We investigated TEP concentration and its driving factors in boreal freshwaters, hypoth- esizing that TEP and TEP precursors can enter freshwaters via terrestrial inputs. In a field survey, we measured TEP concentrations and other environmental factors across 30 aquatic ecosystems in Sweden. In a mesocosm experi- ment, we further investigated TEP dynamics over time after manipulating terrestrial organic matter input and light conditions. The TEP concentrations in boreal freshwaters ranged from 83 to 4940 μg Gum Xanthan equivalent L−1, which is comparable to other studies in freshwaters. The carbon fraction in TEP in the sampled boreal freshwaters is much higher than the phytoplanktonic carbon, in contrast to previous studies in northern temperate and Medi- terranean regions. Boreal TEP concentrations were mostly related to particulate organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and optical indices of terrestrial influence but less influenced by bacterial abundance, bacterial production, and chlorophyll a. Hence, our results do not support a major role of the phytoplankton community or aquatic bac- teria on TEP concentrations and dynamics. This suggests a strong external control of TEP concentrations in boreal freshwaters, which can in turn affect particle dynamics and sedimentation in the recipient aquatic ecosystem.
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| 8. |
- Berga, Mercé, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Disturbance Intensity and Frequency on Bacterial Community Composition and Function
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:5, s. e36959-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Disturbances influence community structure and ecosystem functioning. Bacteria are key players in ecosystems and it is therefore crucial to understand the effect of disturbances on bacterial communities and how they respond to them, both compositionally and functionally. The main aim of this study was to test the effect of differences in disturbance strength on bacterial communities. For this, we implemented two independent short-term experiments with dialysis bags containing natural bacterial communities, which were transplanted between ambient and 'disturbed' incubation tanks, manipulating either the intensity or the frequency of a salinity disturbance. We followed changes in community composition by terminal restriction fragment analysis (T-RFLP) and measured various community functions (bacterial production, carbon substrate utilization profiles and rates) directly after and after a short period of recovery under ambient conditions. Increases in disturbance strength resulted in gradually stronger changes in bacterial community composition and functions. In the disturbance intensity experiment, the sensitivity to the disturbance and the ability of recovery differed between different functions. In the disturbance frequency experiment, effects on the different functions were more consistent and recovery was not observed. Moreover, in case of the intensity experiment, there was also a time lag in the responses of community composition and functions, with functional responses being faster than compositional ones. To summarize, our study shows that disturbance strength has the potential to change the functional performance and composition of bacterial communities. It further highlights that the overall effects, rates of recovery and the degree of congruence in the response patterns of community composition and functioning along disturbance gradients depend on the type of function and the character of the disturbance.
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| 9. |
- Berga, Mercè, et al.
(författare)
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Functional and Compositional Stability of Bacterial Metacommunities in Response to Salinity Changes
- 2017
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Microbiology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-302X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Disturbances and environmental change are important factors determining the diversity,composition, and functioning of communities. However, knowledge about how naturalbacterial communities are affected by such perturbations is still sparse. We performeda whole ecosystem manipulation experiment with freshwater rock pools where weapplied salinity disturbances of different intensities. The aim was to test how thecompositional and functional resistance and resilience of bacterial communities,alpha- and beta-diversity and the relative importance of stochastic and deterministiccommunity assembly processes changed along a disturbance intensity gradient.We found that bacterial communities were functionally resistant to all salinity levels (3, 6, and 12 psu) and compositionally resistant to a salinity increase to 3 psu andresilient to increases of 6 and 12 psu. Increasing salinities had no effect on local richnessand evenness, beta-diversity and the proportion of deterministically vs. stochasticallyassembled communities. Our results show a high functional and compositional stabilityof bacterial communities to salinity changes of different intensities both at localand regional scales, which possibly reflects long-term adaptation to environmentalconditions in the study system.
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| 10. |
- Bier, Raven L., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of ecosystem size-induced environmental fluctuations on the temporal dynamics of community assembly mechanisms
- 2022
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Ingår i: The ISME Journal. - : Springer Nature. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 16:12, s. 2635-2643
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding processes that determine community membership and abundance is important for many fields from theoretical community ecology to conservation. However, spatial community studies are often conducted only at a single timepoint despite the known influence of temporal variability on community assembly processes. Here we used a spatiotemporal study to determine how environmental fluctuation differences induced by mesocosm volumes (larger volumes were more stable) influence assembly processes of aquatic bacterial metacommunities along a press disturbance gradient. By combining path analysis and network approaches, we found mesocosm size categories had distinct relative influences of assembly process and environmental factors that determined spatiotemporal bacterial community composition, including dispersal and species sorting by conductivity. These processes depended on, but were not affected proportionately by, mesocosm size. Low fluctuation, large mesocosms primarily developed through the interplay of species sorting that became more important over time and transient priority effects as evidenced by more time-delayed associations. High fluctuation, small mesocosms had regular disruptions to species sorting and greater importance of ecological drift and dispersal limitation indicated by lower richness and higher taxa replacement. Together, these results emphasize that environmental fluctuations influence ecosystems over time and its impacts are modified by biotic properties intrinsic to ecosystem size.
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