Project description:Bathymodiolin mussels are a group of bivalves associated with deep-sea reducing habitats, such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. These mussels usually engage in an obligatory symbiosis with sulfur and/or methane oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria. In addition to these bacteria, Bathymodiolus heckerae that inhabit gas and oil seeps in Campeche Bay, the southern Gulf of Mexico, host bacteria phylogenetically with the Cycloclasticus genus. We recently discovered the capability for short-chain alkane degradation in draft genomes of symbiotic Cycloclasticus. With proteomics, we investigated whether the genes required for this process are expressed by the symbionts.
Project description:The goal of this study was to identify the key functions of the six main symbionts that are hosted in gills of the marine bivalve, Idas modiolaeformis, which lives at deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps and wood falls in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. These symbionts include the main autotrophic methane- and sulfur-oxidizing lineages (Methyloprofundus, Thioglobus, Thiodubillierella), as well as a Methylophagaceae methylotrophic autotroph, a flavobacterial degrader of complex polysaccharides Urechidicola and a Nitrincolaceae heterotroph that specializes in degradation of nitrogen-rich compounds such as peptides and nucleosides. Four I. modiolaeformis individuals were preserved in RNAlater following retrieval from a brine pool habitat in the Eastern Mediterranean at 1,150 m water depth (32° 13.4' N 34° 10.7' E), using a remotely-operated vehicle. RNAlater was discarded after 24 hours, and the specimens were kept at -80°C until DNA/RNA/protein co-extraction using the AllPrep DNA/RNA/Protein Mini Kit (Cat. No. 80004, Qiagen).
Project description:This projiect aims to identify the proteome of the symbiotic gill, including the host and symbiotic bacteria proteins, and to reveal the metabolic interdependence among the tripartite holobiont which is based on mussel, methane-oxidizing endosymbiont and sulfur-oxidizing episymbiont.
Project description:Tris(4-chlorophenyl)methane (TCPM) and tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPMOH) are two marine pollutants of emerging concern, found in marine mammals and coastal bird populations. Here, we assess the response to these compounds due to developmental (24-100 hourrs post fertilization) exposures in zebrafish embryos
Project description:Tris(4-chlorophenyl)methane (TCPM) and tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPMOH) are two marine pollutants of emerging concern, found in marine mammals and coastal bird populations. Here, we assess the response to these compounds due to acute exposures in zebrafish embryos (from 96-100 hours post fertilization).
Project description:Natural and anthropogenic wetlands are main sources of the atmospheric greenhouse gas methane. Methane emissions from wetlands are mitigated by methanotrophic microorganisms and by processes at the oxic-anoxic interface, such as sulfur cycling, that reduce the activity of methanogens. In this study, we obtained a pure culture (strain HY1) of a versatile wetland methanotroph that oxidizes various organic and inorganic compounds. This strain represents (i) the first isolate that can aerobically oxidize both methane and reduced sulfur compounds and (ii) a new alphapoteobacterial species, named Candidatus Methylovirgula thiovorans. Genomic and proteomic analyses showed that soluble methane monooxygenase and XoxF-type alcohol dehydrogenases are the only enzymes for methane and methanol oxidation, respectively. Unexpectedly, strain HY1 harbors various pathways for respiratory sulfur oxidation and oxidized reduced sulfur compounds to sulfate using the Sox-rDsr pathway (without SoxCD) and the S4I system. It employed the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle for CO2 fixation during chemolithoautotrophic growth on the reduced sulfur compounds. Methane and thiosulfate were independently and simultaneously oxidized by strain HY1 for growth. Proteomic and microrespiratory analyses showed that the metabolic pathways for methane and thiosulfate oxidation were induced in the presence of their substrates. The discovery of this versatile methanotroph demonstrates that methanotrophy and thiotrophy is compatible in a single bacterium and adds a new aspect to interactions of methane and sulfur cycles in oxic-anoxic interface environments.
Project description:Crude oil is the one of the most important natural assets of humankind, yet it is a major environmental pollutant, in particular, in marine environments. One of the largest crude oil polluted areas in the word is the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea, where the metabolic potential of indigenous populations towards the chronic pollution at a large scale is yet to be defined, particularly in anaerobic and micro-anaerobic marine sites. Here, we provided a novel insight into the active microbial metabolism in sediments from three environments along the coastline of Italy. Microbial proteomes exhibited prevalence in anaerobic metabolism, not related to the biodegradation directly, suggesting the strong limitation by oxygen induced by the carbon overload. They also point at previously unrecognized metabolic coupling between methane and methanol utilizers as well as sulfur reducers in marine petroleum polluted sediments.