| 1. |
- Murray, Alison E., et al.
(author)
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Roadmap for naming uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria
- 2020
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In: Nature Microbiology. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2058-5276. ; 5:8, s. 987-994
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The assembly of single-amplified genomes (SAGs) and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) has led to a surge in genome-based discoveries of members affiliated with Archaea and Bacteria, bringing with it a need to develop guidelines for nomenclature of uncultivated microorganisms. The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) only recognizes cultures as 'type material', thereby preventing the naming of uncultivated organisms. In this Consensus Statement, we propose two potential paths to solve this nomenclatural conundrum. One option is the adoption of previously proposed modifications to the ICNP to recognize DNA sequences as acceptable type material; the other option creates a nomenclatural code for uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria that could eventually be merged with the ICNP in the future. Regardless of the path taken, we believe that action is needed now within the scientific community to develop consistent rules for nomenclature of uncultivated taxa in order to provide clarity and stability, and to effectively communicate microbial diversity. In this Consensus Statement, the authors discuss the issue of naming uncultivated prokaryotic microorganisms, which currently do not have a formal nomenclature system due to a lack of type material or cultured representatives, and propose two recommendations including the recognition of DNA sequences as type material.
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| 2. |
- Alneberg, Johannes, et al.
(author)
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Genomes from uncultivated prokaryotes : a comparison of metagenome-assembled and single-amplified genomes
- 2018
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In: Microbiome. - : BioMed Central. - 2049-2618. ; 6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Prokaryotes dominate the biosphere and regulate biogeochemical processes essential to all life. Yet, our knowledge about their biology is for the most part limited to the minority that has been successfully cultured. Molecular techniques now allow for obtaining genome sequences of uncultivated prokaryotic taxa, facilitating in-depth analyses that may ultimately improve our understanding of these key organisms. Results: We compared results from two culture-independent strategies for recovering bacterial genomes: single-amplified genomes and metagenome-assembled genomes. Single-amplified genomes were obtained from samples collected at an offshore station in the Baltic Sea Proper and compared to previously obtained metagenome-assembled genomes from a time series at the same station. Among 16 single-amplified genomes analyzed, seven were found to match metagenome-assembled genomes, affiliated with a diverse set of taxa. Notably, genome pairs between the two approaches were nearly identical (average 99.51% sequence identity; range 98.77-99.84%) across overlapping regions (30-80% of each genome). Within matching pairs, the single-amplified genomes were consistently smaller and less complete, whereas the genetic functional profiles were maintained. For the metagenome-assembled genomes, only on average 3.6% of the bases were estimated to be missing from the genomes due to wrongly binned contigs. Conclusions: The strong agreement between the single-amplified and metagenome-assembled genomes emphasizes that both methods generate accurate genome information from uncultivated bacteria. Importantly, this implies that the research questions and the available resources are allowed to determine the selection of genomics approach for microbiome studies.
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| 3. |
- Bowers, Robert M., et al.
(author)
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Minimum information about a single amplified genome (MISAG) and a metagenome-assembled genome (MIMAG) of bacteria and archaea
- 2017
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In: Nature Biotechnology. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1087-0156 .- 1546-1696. ; 35:8, s. 725-731
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present two standards developed by the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) for reporting bacterial and archaeal genome sequences. Both are extensions of the Minimum Information about Any (x) Sequence (MIxS). The standards are the Minimum Information about a Single Amplified Genome (MISAG) and the Minimum Information about a Metagenome-Assembled Genome (MIMAG), including, but not limited to, assembly quality, and estimates of genome completeness and contamination. These standards can be used in combination with other GSC checklists, including the Minimum Information about a Genome Sequence (MIGS), Minimum Information about a Metagenomic Sequence (MIMS), and Minimum Information about a Marker Gene Sequence (MIMARKS). Community-wide adoption of MISAG and MIMAG will facilitate more robust comparative genomic analyses of bacterial and archaeal diversity.
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| 4. |
- Brindefalk, Björn, et al.
(author)
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A Phylometagenomic Exploration of Oceanic Alphaproteobacteria Reveals Mitochondrial Relatives Unrelated to the SAR11 Clade
- 2011
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 6:9, s. e24457-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: According to the endosymbiont hypothesis, the mitochondrial system for aerobic respiration was derived from an ancestral Alphaproteobacterium. Phylogenetic studies indicate that the mitochondrial ancestor is most closely related to the Rickettsiales. Recently, it was suggested that Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique, a member of the SAR11 clade that is highly abundant in the oceans, is a sister taxon to the mitochondrial-Rickettsiales clade. The availability of ocean metagenome data substantially increases the sampling of Alphaproteobacteria inhabiting the oxygen-containing waters of the oceans that likely resemble the originating environment of mitochondria. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present a phylogenetic study of the origin of mitochondria that incorporates metagenome data from the Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) expedition. We identify mitochondrially related sequences in the GOS dataset that represent a rare group of Alphaproteobacteria, designated OMAC (Oceanic Mitochondria Affiliated Clade) as the closest free-living relatives to mitochondria in the oceans. In addition, our analyses reject the hypothesis that the mitochondrial system for aerobic respiration is affiliated with that of the SAR11 clade. Conclusions/Significance: Our results allude to the existence of an alphaproteobacterial clade in the oxygen-rich surface waters of the oceans that represents the closest free-living relative to mitochondria identified thus far. In addition, our findings underscore the importance of expanding the taxonomic diversity in phylogenetic analyses beyond that represented by cultivated bacteria to study the origin of mitochondria.
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| 5. |
- Ettema, Thijs J G, et al.
(author)
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Molecular characterization of a conserved archaeal copper resistance (cop) gene cluster and its copper-responsive regulator in Sulfolobus solfataricus P2.
- 2006
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In: Microbiology. - : Microbiology Society. - 1350-0872 .- 1465-2080. ; 152:Pt 7, s. 1969-79
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using a comparative genomics approach, a copper resistance gene cluster has been identified in multiple archaeal genomes. The cop cluster is predicted to encode a metallochaperone (CopM), a P-type copper-exporting ATPase (CopA) and a novel, archaea-specific transcriptional regulator (CopT) which might control the expression of the cop genes. Sequence analysis revealed that CopT has an N-terminal DNA-binding helix-turn-helix domain and a C-terminal TRASH domain; TRASH is a novel domain which has recently been proposed to be uniquely involved in metal-binding in sensors, transporters and trafficking proteins in prokaryotes. The present study describes the molecular characterization of the cop gene cluster in the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus. The polycistronic copMA transcript was found to accumulate in response to growth-inhibiting copper concentrations, whereas copT transcript abundance appeared to be constitutive. DNA-binding assays revealed that CopT binds to the copMA promoter at multiple sites, both upstream and downstream of the predicted TATA-BRE site. Copper was found to specifically modulate the affinity of DNA binding by CopT. This study describes a copper-responsive operon in archaea, a new family of archaeal DNA-binding proteins, and supports the idea that this domain plays a prominent role in the archaeal copper response. A model is proposed for copper-responsive transcriptional regulation of the copMA gene cluster.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Ettema, Thijs J. G., et al.
(author)
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The alpha-proteobacteria : the Darwin finches of the bacterial world
- 2009
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In: Biology Letters. - : The Royal Society. - 1744-9561 .- 1744-957X. ; 5:3, s. 429-432
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The alpha-proteobacteria represent one of the most diverse bacterial subdivisions, displaying extreme variations in lifestyle, geographical distribution and genome size. Species for which genome data are available have been classified into a species tree based on a conserved set of vertically inherited core genes. By mapping the variation in gene content onto the species tree, genomic changes can be associated with adaptations to specific growth niches. Genes for adaptive traits are mostly located in 'plasticity zones' in the bacterial genome, which also contain mobile elements and are highly variable across strains. By physically separating genes for information processing from genes involved in interactions with the surrounding environment, the rate of evolutionary change can be substantially enhanced for genes underlying adaptation to new growth habitats, possibly explaining the ecological success of the alpha-proteobacterial subdivision.
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| 8. |
- Marshall, Ian P. G., et al.
(author)
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The novel bacterial phylum Calditrichaeota is diverse, widespread and abundant in marine sediments and has the capacity to degrade detrital proteins
- 2017
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In: Environmental Microbiology Reports. - : Wiley. - 1758-2229. ; 9:4, s. 397-403
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Calditrichaeota is a recently recognized bacterial phylum with three cultured representatives, isolated from hydrothermal vents. Here we expand the phylogeny and ecology of this novel phylum with metagenome-derived and single-cell genomes from six uncultivated bacteria previously not recognized as members of Calditrichaeota. Using 16S rRNA gene sequences from these genomes, we then identified 322 16S rRNA gene sequences from cultivation-independent studies that can now be classified as Calditrichaeota for the first time. This dataset was used to re-analyse a collection of 16S rRNA gene amplicon datasets from marine sediments showing that the Calditrichaeota are globally distributed in the seabed at high abundance, making up to 6.7% of the total bacterial community. This wide distribution and high abundance of Calditrichaeota in cold marine sediment has gone unrecognized until now. All Calditrichaeota genomes show indications of a chemoorganoheterotrophic metabolism with the potential to degrade detrital proteins through the use of extracellular peptidases. Most of the genomes contain genes encoding proteins that confer O-2 tolerance, consistent with the relatively high abundance of Calditrichaeota in surficial bioturbated part of the seabed and, together with the genes encoding extracellular peptidases, suggestive of a general ecophysiological niche for this newly recognized phylum in marine sediment.
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| 9. |
- Martijn, Joran, et al.
(author)
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Single-cell genomics of a rare environmental alphaproteobacterium provides unique insights into Rickettsiaceae evolution
- 2015
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In: The ISME Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 9:11, s. 2373-2385
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The bacterial family Rickettsiaceae includes a group of well-known etiological agents of many human and vertebrate diseases, including epidemic typhus-causing pathogen Rickettsia prowazekii. Owing to their medical relevance, rickettsiae have attracted a great deal of attention and their host-pathogen interactions have been thoroughly investigated. All known members display obligate intracellular lifestyles, and the best-studied genera, Rickettsia and Orientia, include species that are hosted by terrestrial arthropods. Their obligate intracellular lifestyle and host adaptation is reflected in the small size of their genomes, a general feature shared with all other families of the Rickettsiales. Yet, despite that the Rickettsiaceae and other Rickettsiales families have been extensively studied for decades, many details of the origin and evolution of their obligate host-association remain elusive. Here we report the discovery and single-cell sequencing of 'Candidatus Arcanobacter lacustris', a rare environmental alphaproteobacterium that was sampled from Damariscotta Lake that represents a deeply rooting sister lineage of the Rickettsiaceae. Intriguingly, phylogenomic and comparative analysis of the partial 'Candidatus Arcanobacter lacustris' genome revealed the presence chemotaxis genes and vertically inherited flagellar genes, a novelty in sequenced Rickettsiaceae, as well as several host-associated features. This finding suggests that the ancestor of the Rickettsiaceae might have had a facultative intracellular lifestyle. Our study underlines the efficacy of single-cell genomics for studying microbial diversity and evolution in general, and for rare microbial cells in particular.
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| 10. |
- Schön, Max Emil, et al.
(author)
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Single cell genomics reveals plastid-lacking Picozoa are close relatives of red algae
- 2021
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The endosymbiotic origin of plastids from cyanobacteria gave eukaryotes photosynthetic capabilities and launched the diversification of countless forms of algae. These primary plastids are found in members of the eukaryotic supergroup Archaeplastida. All known archaeplastids still retain some form of primary plastids, which are widely assumed to have a single origin. Here, we used single-cell genomics from natural samples combined with phylogenomics to infer the evolutionary origin of the phylum Picozoa, a globally distributed but seemingly rare group of marine microbial heterotrophic eukaryotes. Strikingly, the analysis of 43 single-cell genomes shows that Picozoa belong to Archaeplastida, specifically related to red algae and the phagotrophic rhodelphids. These picozoan genomes support the hypothesis that Picozoa lack a plastid, and further reveal no evidence of an early cryptic endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. These findings change our understanding of plastid evolution as they either represent the first complete plastid loss in a free-living taxon, or indicate that red algae and rhodelphids obtained their plastids independently of other archaeplastids.
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