Project description:Purpose: Identification of transcriptionally active genes in the unculturable community constituent, Smithella, during hexadecane degradation; Differential gene expression analysis of hexadecane-relevant genes acoss three different conditions; Extension of metatranscriptomic datasets to other community constituents to identify interspecies relationships. mRNA profiles were generated for this community across three different conditions (hexadecane-, butyric acid-, caprylic acid-degrading conditions) using a modified version of Nextera and sequenced using Illumina's Miseq platform.
Project description:This study examines the transcriptomic response of biofilms of the PAH-degrading Sphingomonas sp. LH128 on solute stress when actively degrading and growing on the PAH compound. To address the effect of solute stress on bacterial physiology and transcriptomic response, NaCl was used as osmolyte. Both acute and chronic solute stress was invoked to assess differences in short-term and long-term responses. Transcriptomic response of phenanthrene degrading Sphingomonas sp. LH128 biofilms as a response to short-term and long-term solute (NaCl) stress was studied using genome-wide gene expression analysis. For this purpose, the strain was grown in customized continuous glass flow chambers that contain solid phenanthrene as a sole carbon source and that allow easy recovery of biofilm cells for transcriptomic and physiological analysis. A NaCl stress of 450 mM was imposed on LH128 biofilms growing on phenanthrene crystals coated on glass slides either for 4 hours (acute stress) or for 3 days (chronic stress). RNA was extracted from the biofilm and cDNA was synthesized and labeled with Cy3. Transcriptomic response in the stressed biofilms of three replicates per conditions were analyzed and compared with non-stressed
Project description:Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely distributed pollutants. As in saturated PAH-contaminated sites oxygen is rapidly depleted, microorganisms able to use these compounds as a carbon source in the absence of molecular oxygen are crucial for their consumption. Here, we described the metabolic pathway for anaerobic degradation of phenanthrene by a sulfate-reducing enrichment culture (TRIP) obtained from a natural asphalt lake. The dominant organism of this culture belongs to the Desulfobacteraceae family of deltaproteobacteria. Proteogenome analysis revealed that the metabolic capacity of this bacterium includes the key enzymes for dissimilatory sulfate reduction, the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway, a complete tricarboxylic acid cycle as well as the key elements of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Genes encoding enzymes potentially involved in the degradation of phenanthrene were identified in the genome of this bacterium. Two gene clusters were identified encoding a carboxylase enzyme involved in the activation of phenanthrene, as well as genes encoding reductases potentially involved in subsequent ring dearomatization and reduction steps. The predicted metabolic pathways were corroborated by transcriptome and proteome analyses and provide the first metabolic pathway for anaerobic degradation of three-rings PAHs.