Project description:<p>Understanding biogeochemical conversions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquifers is paramount for the effective management of groundwater supplies. On its passage through the critical zone, DOM is subject to biogeochemical conversions and therefore carries cross-habitat information useful for monitoring and predicting the stability of groundwater ecosystem services. Groundwater metabolomics assesses this information. However, challenges arise from insufficient knowledge on groundwater metabolite composition and dynamics, and the necessity to maintain analytical conditions for long-term monitoring. We explored fractured sedimentary bedrock by 5-year untargeted metabolomics monitoring for oxic perched and anoxic phreatic sites along a hillslope recharge area, to evaluate DOM as groundwater tracer. Dimension reduction by principal component analysis revealed that metabolome dissimilarities between distant wells coincide with transient cross-stratal flow indicated by groundwater levels and environmental tracers. The metabolome was highly variable lacking seasonal patterns, and did not segregate by geographic location of sampling wells thus ruling out surface vegetation or (agricultura) land use as driving factor. The metabolome time series provide detailed insights into subsurface responses to recharge dynamics. Metabolomics monitoring provides information on groundwater flows, and allows concluding about below ground ecology and water quality evolution, required to understand the impact of interannual wet-dry cycles.</p>
Project description:The thermophilic Aquificales inhabit and play important biogeochemical roles in the geothermal environments globally. Although intensive studies on physiology, microbial ecology, biochemistry, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of the Aquificales¬ species and Aquificales-containing environmental samples have been conducted, comprehensive understandings about their ecophysiology, especially in the natural niches have been limited. In the present study, an integrated suite of metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic analyses, for the first time, were conducted on a filamentous microbial community from the Apron and Channel Facies (ACF) of CaCO3 (travertine) deposition at Narrow Gauge, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park.
Project description:The thermophilic Aquificales inhabit and play important biogeochemical roles in the geothermal environments globally. Although intensive studies on physiology, microbial ecology, biochemistry, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of the Aquificales¬ species and Aquificales-containing environmental samples have been conducted, comprehensive understandings about their ecophysiology, especially in the natural niches have been limited. In the present study, an integrated suite of metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic analyses, for the first time, were conducted on a filamentous microbial community from the Apron and Channel Facies (ACF) of CaCO3 (travertine) deposition at Narrow Gauge, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park.
Project description:TH2 and innate lymphoid cells 2 (ILC2) can stimulate tumor growth by secreting pro-tumorigenic cytokines such as IL4, IL5 and IL13. However, the mechanisms by which type 2 immune cells traffic to the tumor microenvironment (TME) are unknown. Here, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), we show that oncogenic KrasG12D (Kras*) increases the expression of IL33 in cancer cells, which upon secretion recruits and activates the TH2 and ILC2. Correspondingly, cancer cell-specific deletion of IL33 reduces TH2 and ILC2 recruitment and promotes tumor regression. Unexpectedly, we discovered that the cellular release of IL33 into the TME is dependent on the intratumoral fungal mycobiome. Genetic deletion of IL33 or anti-fungal treatment decreases TH2 and ILC2 infiltration and increases survival. Consistent with these murine data, high IL33 expression is observed in approximately 20% of human PDAC, and expression is mainly restricted to cancer cells. These data expand our knowledge of the mechanisms driving PDAC tumor progression and identifies therapeutically targetable pathways involving intratumoral mycobiome-driven secretion of IL33.