Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE15686: Meta-transcriptome analysis of a natural wheat sourdough ecosystem during a 10-day spontaneous laboratory fermentation (I) GSE15691: Meta-transcriptome analysis of a natural spelt sourdough ecosystem during a 10-day spontaneous laboratory fermentation (I) GSE15692: Meta-transcriptome analysis of a natural spelt sourdough ecosystem during a 10-day spontaneous laboratory fermentation (II) GSE15693: Meta-transcriptome analysis of a natural wheat sourdough ecosystem during a 10-day spontaneous laboratory fermentation (II) Refer to individual Series
Project description:Glaciers are populated by a large number of microorganisms including bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes. From an ecological point of view, three ecosystems can be differentiated in glaciers: the supraglacial ecosystem, the subglacial ecosystem and the englacial ecosystem. Several factors such as solar radiation, nutrient availability and water content greatly determine the diversity and abundance of microbial populations, the type of metabolism and the biogeochemical cycles. Firstly, the supraglacial ecosystem, sunlit and oxygenated, is predominantly populated by autotrophic microorganisms. Secondly, the subglacial ecosystem contains a majority of chemoautrotophs that are fed on the mineral salts of the rocks and basal soil. Lastly, the englacial ecosystem is the less studied and the one that contains the smallest number of microorganisms. However, these unknown englacial microorganisms establish a true trophic chain and appear to have an active metabolism. In order to study their metabolic potentials, samples of englacial ice were taken from an Antarctic glacier. The cells were harvested and their proteins were extracted and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI/TOF/TOF). Several proteins and enzymes were found that demonstrate the existence of cellular activity at subzero temperatures. In this way it is shown that the englacial microorganisms are not quiescent, but that they maintain an active metabolism and play an important role in the glacial microbial community.
Project description:Glaciers are populated by a large number of microorganisms including bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes. From an ecological point of view, three ecosystems can be differentiated in glaciers: the supraglacial ecosystem, the subglacial ecosystem and the englacial ecosystem. Several factors such as solar radiation, nutrient availability and water content greatly determine the diversity and abundance of microbial populations, the type of metabolism and the biogeochemical cycles. Firstly, the supraglacial ecosystem, sunlit and oxygenated, is predominantly populated by autotrophic microorganisms. Secondly, the subglacial ecosystem contains a majority of chemoautrotophs that are fed on the mineral salts of the rocks and basal soil. Lastly, the englacial ecosystem is the less studied and the one that contains the smallest number of microorganisms. However, these unknown englacial microorganisms establish a true trophic chain and appear to have an active metabolism. In order to study their metabolic potentials, samples of englacial ice were taken from an Antarctic glacier. The cells were harvested and their proteins were extracted and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI/TOF/TOF). Several proteins and enzymes were found that demonstrate the existence of cellular activity at subzero temperatures. In this way it is shown that the englacial microorganisms are not quiescent, but that they maintain an active metabolism and play an important role in the glacial microbial community.
Project description:Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most common type of genetic variation in gut microbial metagenome and host genome but they could not adequately represent the protein-level variants. Single amino-acid polymorphisms (SAP) derived from non-synonymous SNPs can cause functional changes of proteins and are important forces of adaption. However, SAP remain quite unexplored for human gut microbiome. Here, we present a comprehensive large-scale analysis of SAP in the gut ecosystem, introducing a rigorous computational pipeline for detecting such protein variation from 992 published human metaproteomes.
Project description:The oceans teem with bacteria and viruses (phages), engaged in a battle of attack and resistance. While ecological theory predicts fitness-resistance trade-offs, the mechanisms and ecosystem consequences of resistance remain underexplored. Here we isolated 13 spontaneous, Cellulophaga baltica phage-resistant mutants that altered the cell surface or intracellular amino acid metabolism, and evaluated resistance mechanisms and ecological impacts. Mechanistically, surface mutants offered broad and complete extracellular resistance against multiple phages through decreased adsorption, while intracellular mutants resisted a single phage after viral DNA replication. For one intracellular mutant, resistance was shown to be lipid-mediated. Ecosystem impacts were three-fold: (i) surface mutants altered carbon utilization most; (ii) one intracellular mutant was predicted to secrete more metabolites (including experimentally-verified acetate); and (iii) all mutants were stickier with surface mutants also sedimenting faster. These findings illuminate how phage resistance drives fitness tradeoffs and quantifies cellular-to-ecosystem impacts, with direct linkages to marine carbon storage.