| 1. |
- Bravo, Andrea Garcia, et al.
(författare)
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Geobacteraceae are important members of mercury-methylating microbial communities of sediments impacted by waste water releases
- 2018
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Ingår i: The ISME Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 12, s. 802-812
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microbial mercury (Hg) methylation in sediments can result in bioaccumulation of the neurotoxin methylmercury (MMHg) in aquatic food webs. Recently, the discovery of the gene hgcA, required for Hg methylation, revealed that the diversity of Hg methylators is much broader than previously thought. However, little is known about the identity of Hg-methylating microbial organisms and the environmental factors controlling their activity and distribution in lakes. Here, we combined high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and hgcA genes with the chemical characterization of sediments impacted by a waste water treatment plant that releases significant amounts of organic matter and iron. Our results highlight that the ferruginous geochemical conditions prevailing at 1–2 cm depth are conducive to MMHg formation and that the Hgmethylating guild is composed of iron and sulfur-transforming bacteria, syntrophs, and methanogens. Deltaproteobacteria, notably Geobacteraceae, dominated the hgcA carrying communities, while sulfate reducers constituted only a minor component, despite being considered the main Hg methylators in many anoxic aquatic environments. Because iron is widely applied in waste water treatment, the importance of Geobacteraceae for Hg methylation and the complexity of Hgmethylating communities reported here are likely to occur worldwide in sediments impacted by waste water treatment plant discharges and in iron-rich sediments in general.
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| 2. |
- Bravo, Andrea G., et al.
(författare)
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Methanogens and iron-reducing bacteria : the overlooked members of mercury-methylating microbial communities in boreal lakes
- 2018
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Ingår i: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 0099-2240 .- 1098-5336. ; 84:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ABSTRACT: Methylmercury is a potent human neurotoxin which biomagnifies in aquatic food webs. Although anaerobic microorganisms containing the hgcA gene potentially mediate the formation of methylmercury in natural environments, the diversity of these mercury-methylating microbial communities remains largely unexplored. Previous studies have implicated sulfate-reducing bacteria as the main mercury methylators in aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, we characterized the diversity of mercury-methylating microbial communities of boreal lake sediments using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and hgcA genes. Our results show that in the lake sediments, Methanomicrobiales and Geobacteraceae also represent abundant members of the mercury-methylating communities. In fact, incubation experiments with a mercury isotopic tracer and molybdate revealed that only between 38% and 45% of mercury methylation was attributed to sulfate reduction. These results suggest that methanogens and iron-reducing bacteria may contribute to more than half of the mercury methylation in boreal lakes.IMPORTANCE: Despite the global awareness that mercury, and methylmercury in particular, is a neurotoxin to which millions of people continue to be exposed, there are sizable gaps in the understanding of the processes and organisms involved in methylmercury formation in aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, we shed light on the diversity of the microorganisms responsible for methylmercury formation in boreal lake sediments. All the microorganisms identified are associated with the processing of organic matter in aquatic systems. Moreover, our results show that the well-known mercury-methylating sulfate-reducing bacteria constituted only a minor portion of the potential mercury methylators. In contrast, methanogens and iron-reducing bacteria were important contributors to methylmercury formation, highlighting their role in mercury cycling in the environment.
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| 3. |
- Bravo, Andrea Garcia, et al.
(författare)
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Methanogens and Iron-Reducing Bacteria : the Overlooked Members of Mercury-Methylating Microbial Communities in Boreal Lakes
- 2018
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Ingår i: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - 0099-2240 .- 1098-5336. ; 84:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Methylmercury is a potent human neurotoxin which biomagnifies in aquatic food webs. Although anaerobic microorganisms containing the hgcA gene potentially mediate the formation of methylmercury in natural environments, the di- versity of these mercury-methylating microbial communities remains largely unex- plored. Previous studies have implicated sulfate-reducing bacteria as the main mer- cury methylators in aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, we characterized the diversity of mercury-methylating microbial communities of boreal lake sediments us- ing high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and hgcA genes. Our results show that in the lake sediments, Methanomicrobiales and Geobacteraceae also represent abun- dant members of the mercury-methylating communities. In fact, incubation experi- ments with a mercury isotopic tracer and molybdate revealed that only between 38% and 45% of mercury methylation was attributed to sulfate reduction. These re- sults suggest that methanogens and iron-reducing bacteria may contribute to more than half of the mercury methylation in boreal lakes.
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| 4. |
- Eklöf, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Formation of mercury methylation hotspots as a consequence of forestry operations
- 2018
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 613-614, s. 1069-1078
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Earlier studies have shown that boreal forest logging can increase the concentration and export of methylmercury (MeHg) in stream runoff. Here we test whether forestry operations create soil environments of high MeHg net formation associated with distinct microbial communities. Furthermore, we test the hypothesis that Hg methylation hotspots are more prone to form after stump harvest than stem-only harvest, because of more severe soil compaction and soil disturbance. Concentrations of MeHg, percent MeHg of total Hg (THg), and bacterial community composition were determined at 200 soil sampling positions distributed across eight catchments. Each catchment was either stem-only harvested (n = 3), stem-and stump-harvested (n = 2) or left undisturbed (n = 3). In support of our hypothesis, higher MeHg to THg ratios was observed in one of the stump-harvested catchments. While the effects of natural variation could not be ruled out, we noted that most of the highest % MeHg was observed in water-filled cavities created by stump removal or driving damage. This catchment also featured the highest bacterial diversity and highest relative abundance of bacterial families known to include Hg methylators. We propose that water-logged and disturbed soil environments associated with stump harvest can favor methylating microorganisms, which also enhance MeHg formation.
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| 5. |
- Garcia, Sarahi L, et al.
(författare)
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Model Communities Hint at Promiscuous Metabolic Linkages between Ubiquitous Free-Living Freshwater Bacteria
- 2018
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Ingår i: mSphere. - : AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY. - 2379-5042. ; 3:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genome streamlining is frequently observed in free-living aquatic microorganisms and results in physiological dependencies between microorganisms. However, we know little about the specificity of these microbial associations. In order to examine the specificity and extent of these associations, we established mixed cultures from three different freshwater environments and analyzed the cooccurrence of organisms using a metagenomic time series. Free-living microorganisms with streamlined genomes lacking multiple biosynthetic pathways showed no clear recurring pattern in their interaction partners. Free-living freshwater bacteria form promiscuous cooperative associations. This notion contrasts with the well-documented high specificities of interaction partners in host-associated bacteria. Considering all data together, we suggest that highly abundant free-living bacterial lineages are functionally versatile in their interactions despite their distinct streamlining tendencies at the single-cell level. This metabolic versatility facilitates interactions with a variable set of community members.
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| 6. |
- Mantzouki, Evanthia, et al.
(författare)
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A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables , phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2052-4463. ; 5:October, s. 1-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The European Multi Lake Survey (EMLS) in summer 2015 was an initiative among scientists from 27 countries to collect and analyse lake physical, chemical and biological variables in a fully standardized manner. This database includes in-situ lake variables along with nutrient, pigment and cyanotoxin data of 369 lakes in Europe, which were centrally analysed in dedicated laboratories. Publishing the EMLS methods and dataset might inspire similar initiatives to study across large geographic areas that will contribute to better understanding lake responses in a changing environment.
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| 7. |
- Mantzouki, Evanthia, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins
- 2018
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Ingår i: Toxins. - : MDPI. - 2072-6651 .- 2072-6651. ; 10:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains.
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| 8. |
- Peura, Sari, et al.
(författare)
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Novel Autotrophic Organisms Contribute Significantly to the Internal Carbon Cycling Potential of a Boreal Lake
- 2018
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Ingår i: mBio. - : AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY. - 2161-2129 .- 2150-7511. ; 9:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oxygen-stratified lakes are typical for the boreal zone and also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Due to shallow light penetration, restricting the growth of phototrophic organisms, and large allochthonous organic carbon inputs from the catchment area, the lake metabolism is expected to be dominated by heterotrophic organisms. In this study, we test this assumption and show that the potential for autotrophic carbon fixation and internal carbon cycling is high throughout the water column. Further, we show that during the summer stratification carbon fixation can exceed respiration in a boreal lake even below the euphotic zone. Metagenome-assembled genomes and 16S profiling of a vertical transect of the lake revealed multiple organisms in an oxygen-depleted compartment belonging to novel or poorly characterized phyla. Many of these organisms were chemolithotrophic, potentially deriving their energy from reactions related to sulfur, iron, and nitrogen transformations. The community, as well as the functions, was stratified along the redox gradient. The autotrophic potential in the lake metagenome below the oxygenic zone was high, pointing toward a need for revising our concepts of internal carbon cycling in boreal lakes. Further, the importance of chemolithoautotrophy for the internal carbon cycling suggests that many predicted climate changeassociated fluctuations in the physical properties of the lake, such as altered mixing patterns, likely have consequences for the whole-lake metabolism even beyond the impact to the phototrophic community. IMPORTANCE Autotrophic organisms at the base of the food web are the only life form capable of turning inorganic carbon into the organic form, facilitating the survival of all other organisms. In certain environments, the autotrophic production is limited by environmental conditions and the food web is supported by external carbon inputs. One such environment is stratified boreal lakes, which are one of the biggest natural sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the boreal region. Thus, carbon cycling in these habitats is of utmost importance for the future climate. Here, we demonstrate a high potential for internal carbon cycling via phototrophic and novel chemolithotrophic organisms in the anoxic, poorly illuminated layers of a boreal lake. Our results significantly increase our knowledge on the microbial communities and their metabolic potential in oxygen-depleted freshwaters and help to understand and predict how climate change-induced alterations could impact the lake carbon dynamics.
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