Project description:The available energy and carbon sources for prokaryotes in the deep ocean remain still largely enigmatic. Reduced sulfur compounds, such as thiosulfate, are a potential energy source for both auto- and heterotrophic marine prokaryotes. Shipboard experiments performed in the North Atlantic using Labrador Sea Water (~2000 m depth) amended with thiosulfate led to an enhanced prokaryotic dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fixation.
Project description:Physiological and gene expression studies of deep-sea bacteria under pressure conditions similar to those experienced in their natural habitat are critical to understand growth kinetics and metabolic adaptations to in situ conditions. The Epslilonproteobacterium, Nautilia sp. strain PV1, was isolated from hydrothermal fluids released from an active deep-sea hydrothermal vent at 9°N on the East Pacific Rise. Using a high pressure/high temperature continuous culture system we established that strain PV-1 has the shortest generation time of all known piezophilic microorganisms and we investigated its protein expression pattern in response to different hydrostatic pressures. Proteomic analyses of strain PV-1 grown at 200 Bars and 5 Bars showed that pressure adaptation is not restricted only to stress response or homeoviscous adaptation, but that it is more diversified and protein specific, with a fine and variegated regulation of enzymes involved even in the same metabolic pathway. As previously reported, proteins synthesis, motility, transport and energy metabolism are all affected by pressure, although to different extents. In strain PV-1, low pressure condition seems to activate the synthesis of phage-related proteins and an overexpression of enzymes involved in central carbon metabolism.
Project description:Previous studies have demonstrated that the iron content in marine heterotrophic bacteria is comparatively higher than that of phytoplankton. Therefore, they have been indicated to play a major role in the biogeochemical cycling of iron. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential of viral lysis as a source of iron for marine heterotrophic bacteria. Viral lysates were derived from the marine heterotrophic bacterium, Vibrio natriegens PWH3a (A.K.A Vibrio alginolyticus). The bioavailability of Fe in the lysates was determined using a model heterotrophic bacterium, namely, Dokdonia sp. strain Dokd-P16, isolated from Fe-limited waters along Line P transect in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. The bacteria were grown under Fe-deplete or Fe-replete conditions before being exposed to the viral lysate. Differential gene expression following exposure to the viral lysate was analyzed via RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes under iron-replete and iron-deplete conditions. This study would provide novel insights into the role of viral lysis in heterotrophic bacteria in supplying bioavailable iron to other marine microorganisms under iron-limiting and non-limiting conditions. First, the marine heterotrophic bacterium genome, Dokdonia sp. strain Dokd-P16, was sequenced to provide a genomic context for the expression studies. Subsequently, the relative gene expression in Dokdonia sp. strain Dokd-P16 grown under Fe limiting and non-limiting conditions were analyzed. This transcriptomic approach would be utilized to elucidate genes regulated by Fe availability in Dokdonia sp. strain Dokd-P16, which indicate its Fe-related response viral lysate exposure. Taken together, in this study, the transcriptomic responses of Fe-limited and non-limited marine heterotrophic bacteria were analyzed, which provided novel insights into the biological availability of Fe from the viral lysates.
Project description:As part of our investigations on the chemical diversity of organisms from unexplored marine habitats of Mexico, a series of 29 fungal strains isolated from deep-sea sediments (more than 600 m deep) from the Gulf of Mexico were investigated. The antimicrobial potential of their organic extracts from solid cultures grown under the OSMAC approach was assessed against a panel of ESKAPE bacteria and the yeast C. albicans. Chemical studies on the active scaled-up cultures and some small-scale cultures led to the isolation of benzochromenones from Alternaria sp. CIGOM4, benzodiazepines from P. echinulatum CONTIG4, a cytochalsin from Biatriospora sp. CIGOM2, and an imidazopyridoindole from Penicillium sp. CIGOM10. Molecular network analysis by GNPS combined with manual dereplication showed the enormous potential of these fungi to produce bioactive compounds.
Project description:As part of our investigations on the chemical diversity of organisms from unexplored marine habitats of Mexico, a series of 29 fungal strains isolated from deep-sea sediments (more than 600 m deep) from the Gulf of Mexico were investigated. The antimicrobial potential of their organic extracts from solid cultures grown under the OSMAC approach was assessed against a panel of ESKAPE bacteria and the yeast C. albicans. Chemical studies on the active scaled-up cultures and some small-scale cultures led to the isolation of benzochromenones from Alternaria sp. CIGOM4, benzodiazepines from P. echinulatum CONTIG4, a cytochalsin from Biatriospora sp. CIGOM2, and an imidazopyridoindole from Penicillium sp. CIGOM10. Molecular network analysis by GNPS combined with manual dereplication showed the enormous potential of these fungi to produce bioactive compounds.
Project description:We compared genetic profiles of planktonic stage to biofilm stage of deep sea bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SM9913 and revealed genetic features during switch from planktonic to pellicle stage in Pseudoalteromonas sp. SM9913.
Project description:Vibrio species represent one of the most diverse genera of marine bacteria known for their ubiquitous presence in natural aquatic systems. Several members of this genus including Vibrio harveyi are receiving increasing attention lately because they are becoming a source of health problems, especially for some marine organisms widely used in sea food industry. To learn about adaptation changes triggered by V. harveyi during its long-term persistence at elevated temperatures, we studied adaptation of this marine bacterium in sea water microcosms at 30 oC that closely mimicks the upper limits of sea surface temperatures recorded around the globe.
Project description:Light was a ubiquitous environmental stimulus. Deep-sea microorganisms were exposed to a pervasive blue light optical environment. The utilization of blue light by deep-sea microorganisms, especially non-photosynthetic microorganisms, and the downstream pathway after light reception were obscure. Under the enrichment condition surrounded by blue light, a potential novel species named Spongiibacter nanhainus CSC3.9 from the deep-sea cold seep was isolated. Its growth and metabolism under blue light were significantly better than other wavelengths of light. Six blue light sensing proteins, including four BLUF (Blue Light Using Flavin) and two bacteriophytochrome, were annotated in the genome of strain CSC3.9. Then, with the assist of proteomic analysis, we demonstrated that 15960-BLUF was a crucial blue light receptor that interfered with motor behavior through chemotaxis pathway by means of in vivo and in vitro verification. In addition, 15960-BLUF mediated part of the blue light to promote the growth of strain CSC3.9. Further, we summarized the functional BLUF proteins from isolated marine microorganisms, and the high abundance distribution of BLUF similar to the downstream unresponsive domain type in strain CSC3.9 was demonstrated. The widespread distribution of BLUF protein in marine bacteria implied the extensiveness of this regulatory mechanism, and wavelength variation of light was a potential means to isolate uncultured microorganisms. This was the first reported in deep-sea microorganisms that BLUF-dependent physiological response to blue light. It provided a new clue for the blue light adaptation of microorganisms in disphotic zone.