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The ecology of scale: impact of volume on coalescence and function in methanogenic communities.

ABSTRACT: Engineered ecosystems span multiple volume scales, from a nano-scale to thousands of cubic metres. Even the largest industrial systems are tested in pilot scale facilities. But does scale affect outcomes? Here we look at comparing different size laboratory anaerobic fermentors to see if and how the volume of the community affects the outcome of community coalescence (combining multiple communities) on community composition and function. Our results show that there is an effect of scale on biogas production. Furthermore, we see a link between community evenness and volume, with smaller scale communities having higher evenness. Despite those differences, the overall patterns of community coalescence are very similar at all scales, with coalescence leading to levels of biogas production comparable with that of the best-performing component community. The increase in biogas with increasing volume plateaus, suggesting there is a volume where productivity stays stable over large volumes. Our findings are reassuring for ecologists studying large ecosystems and industries operating pilot scale facilities, as they support the validity of pilot scale studies in this field.

SUBMITTER: Sierocinski P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10251116 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The ecology of scale: impact of volume on coalescence and function in methanogenic communities.

Sierocinski Pawel P Stilwell Peter P Padfield Daniel D Bayer Florian F Buckling Angus A

Interface focus 20230609 4

Engineered ecosystems span multiple volume scales, from a nano-scale to thousands of cubic metres. Even the largest industrial systems are tested in pilot scale facilities. But does scale affect outcomes? Here we look at comparing different size laboratory anaerobic fermentors to see if and how the volume of the community affects the outcome of community coalescence (combining multiple communities) on community composition and function. Our results show that there is an effect of scale on biogas ...[more]

PMID: 37303743

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Project description:BackgroundDespite rapid advances in genomic-resolved metagenomics and remarkable explosion of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), the function of uncultivated anaerobic lineages and their interactions in carbon mineralization remain largely uncertain, which has profound implications in biotechnology and biogeochemistry.ResultsIn this study, we combined long-read sequencing and metatranscriptomics-guided metabolic reconstruction to provide a genome-wide perspective of carbon mineralization flow from polymers to methane in an anaerobic bioreactor. Our results showed that incorporating long reads resulted in a substantial improvement in the quality of metagenomic assemblies, enabling the effective recovery of 132 high-quality genomes meeting stringent criteria of minimum information about a metagenome-assembled genome (MIMAG). In addition, hybrid assembly obtained 51% more prokaryotic genes in comparison to the short-read-only assembly. Metatranscriptomics-guided metabolic reconstruction unveiled the remarkable metabolic flexibility of several novel Bacteroidales-affiliated bacteria and populations from Mesotoga sp. in scavenging amino acids and sugars. In addition to recovering two circular genomes of previously known but fragmented syntrophic bacteria, two newly identified bacteria within Syntrophales were found to be highly engaged in fatty acid oxidation through syntrophic relationships with dominant methanogens Methanoregulaceae bin.74 and Methanothrix sp. bin.206. The activity of bin.206 preferring acetate as substrate exceeded that of bin.74 with increasing loading, reinforcing the substrate determinantal role.ConclusionOverall, our study uncovered some key active anaerobic lineages and their metabolic functions in this complex anaerobic ecosystem, offering a framework for understanding carbon transformations in anaerobic digestion. These findings advance the understanding of metabolic activities and trophic interactions between anaerobic guilds, providing foundational insights into carbon flux within both engineered and natural ecosystems. Video Abstract.

Project description:Floodplains play essential roles in the ecological functions of regional environments. The merging and coalescence of bacterial communities in aquatic environments results in periodic patterns driven by regular hydrological activities, which may, in turn, influence ecological activities. However, the degree of bacterial community coalescence in the lateral and vertical directions as well as the underlying hydrological mechanism of floodplain ecosystems is poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated the spatiotemporal patterns and coalescence processes of planktonic and sedimentary bacterial communities during normal and high-water periods in a floodplain ecosystem of the Yellow River source region. We classified bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and quantified community coalescence by calculating the proportions of overlapping OTUs, the contributions of upstream sources to downstream sinks, and positive/negative cohesion. The results revealed major differences in the composition and diversity of planktonic and sedimentary bacterial communities. Bacterial community diversity in the high-water period was higher than in the normal period. Laterally, hydrological connectivity promoted the immigration and coalescence of bacterial communities to oxbow lakes in both the mainstream and tributaries, with the coalescence degree of planktonic bacteria (2.9%) higher than that of sedimentary bacteria (1.7%). Vertically, the coalescence degree of mainstream planktonic and sedimentary bacterial communities was highest, reaching 2.9%. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that hydrological connectivity increased the complexity of the bacterial network and enhanced the coalescence of keystone species to oxbow lakes. Furthermore, community coalescence improved the competitiveness and dispersal of bacterial communities. This study demonstrated that coalescence of bacterial communities is driven by hydrological connectivity in a floodplain ecosystem. Further studies should investigate the processes of bacterial community coalescence in floodplains in more detail, which could provide new approaches for environmental protection and ecological function preservation.

Dataset Information

The ecology of scale: impact of volume on coalescence and function in methanogenic communities.

Publications

The ecology of scale: impact of volume on coalescence and function in methanogenic communities.

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