Shedding light on cell compartmentation in the candidate phylum Poribacteria by high resolution visualisation and transcriptional profiling.

ABSTRACT: Assigning functions to uncultivated environmental microorganisms continues to be a challenging endeavour. Here, we present a new microscopy protocol for fluorescence in situ hybridisation-correlative light and electron microscopy (FISH-CLEM) that enabled, to our knowledge for the first time, the identification of single cells within their complex microenvironment at electron microscopy resolution. Members of the candidate phylum Poribacteria, common and uncultivated symbionts of marine sponges, were used towards this goal. Cellular 3D reconstructions revealed bipolar, spherical granules of low electron density, which likely represent carbon reserves. Poribacterial activity profiles were retrieved from prokaryotic enriched sponge metatranscriptomes using simulation-based optimised mapping.

SUBMITTER: Jahn MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5087111 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature