Search results for "Microbial consortia"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Coincidental loss of bacterial virulence in multi-enemy microbial communities.
2014
The coincidental virulence evolution hypothesis suggests that outside-host selection, such as predation, parasitism and resource competition can indirectly affect the virulence of environmentally-growing bacterial pathogens. While there are some examples of coincidental environmental selection for virulence, it is also possible that the resource acquisition and enemy defence is selecting against it. To test these ideas we conducted an evolutionary experiment by exposing the opportunistic pathogen bacterium Serratia marcescens to the particle-feeding ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, the surfacefeeding amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii, and the lytic bacteriophage Semad11, in all possible combi…
Resistant Microbial Cooccurrence Patterns Inferred by Network Topology
2015
ABSTRACT Although complex cooccurrence patterns have been described for microbes in natural communities, these patterns have scarcely been interpreted in the context of ecosystem functioning and stability. Here we constructed networks from species cooccurrences between pairs of microorganisms which were extracted from five individual aquatic time series, including a dystrophic and a eutrophic lake as well as an open ocean site. The resulting networks exhibited higher clustering coefficients, shorter path lengths, and higher average node degrees and levels of betweenness than those of random networks. Moreover, simulations demonstrated that taxa with a large number of cooccurrences and place…
Study of aerobic granular sludge stability in a continuous-flow membrane bioreactor.
2015
A granular continuous-flow membrane bioreactor with a novel hydrodynamic configuration was developed to evaluate the stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS). Under continuous-flow operation (Period I), AGS rapidly lost their structural integrity resulting in loose and fluffy microbial aggregates in which filamentous bacteria were dominant. The intermittent feeding (Period II) allowed obtaining the succession of feast and famine conditions that favored the increase in AGS stability. Although no further breakage occurred, the formation of new granules was very limited, owing to the absence of the hydraulic selection pressure. These results noted the necessity to ensure, on the one hand the…
The coffee-machine bacteriome: biodiversity and colonisation of the wasted coffee tray leach
2015
AbstractMicrobial communities are ubiquitous in both natural and artificial environments. However, microbial diversity is usually reduced under strong selection pressures, such as those present in habitats rich in recalcitrant or toxic compounds displaying antimicrobial properties. Caffeine is a natural alkaloid present in coffee, tea and soft drinks with well-known antibacterial properties. Here we present the first systematic analysis of coffee machine-associated bacteria. We sampled the coffee waste reservoir of ten different Nespresso machines and conducted a dynamic monitoring of the colonization process in a new machine. Our results reveal the existence of a varied bacterial community…
Microbial Succession in the Gut: Directional Trends of Taxonomic and Functional Change in a Birth Cohort of Spanish Infants
2014
In spite of its major impact on life-long health, the process of microbial succession in the gut of infants remains poorly understood. Here, we analyze the patterns of taxonomic and functional change in the gut microbiota during the first year of life for a birth cohort of 13 infants. We detect that individual instances of gut colonization vary in the temporal dynamics of microbiota richness, diversity, and composition at both functional and taxonomic levels. Nevertheless, trends discernible in a majority of infants indicate that gut colonization occurs in two distinct phases of succession, separated by the introduction of solid foods to the diet. This change in resource availability causes…
Construction of simplified microbial consortia to degrade recalcitrant materials based on enrichment and dilution-to-extinction cultures
2019
AbstractThe capacity of microbes degrading recalcitrant materials has been extensively explored from environmental remediation to industrial applications. Although significant achievements were obtained with single strains, focus is now going toward the use of microbial consortia because of advantages in terms of functional stability and efficiency. While consortia assembly attempts were made from several known single strains, another approach consists in obtaining consortia from complex environmental microbial communities in search for novel microbial species, genes and functions. However, assembling efficient microbial consortia from complex environmental communities is far from trivial d…
Unveiling Bacterial Interactions through Multidimensional Scaling and Dynamics Modeling
2015
AbstractWe propose a new strategy to identify and visualize bacterial consortia by conducting replicated culturing of environmental samples coupled with high-throughput sequencing and multidimensional scaling analysis, followed by identification of bacteria-bacteria correlations and interactions. We conducted a proof of concept assay with pine-tree resin-based media in ten replicates, which allowed detecting and visualizing dynamical bacterial associations in the form of statistically significant and yet biologically relevant bacterial consortia.
Possible nitrogen fertilization of the early Earth Ocean by microbial continental ecosystems
2018
While significant efforts have been invested in reconstructing the early evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere–ocean–biosphere biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, the potential role of an early continental contribution by a terrestrial, microbial phototrophic biosphere has been largely overlooked. By transposing to the Archean nitrogen fluxes of modern topsoil communities known as biological soil crusts (terrestrial analogs of microbial mats), whose ancestors might have existed as far back as 3.2 Ga ago, we show that they could have impacted the evolution of the nitrogen cycle early on. We calculate that the net output of inorganic nitrogen reaching the Precambrian hydrogeological system could hav…
Intrinsic bioremediation potential of a chronically polluted marine coastal area.
2015
A microbiological survey of the Priolo Bay (eastern coast of Sicily, Ionian Sea), a chronically polluted marine coastal area, was carried out in order to discern its intrinsic bioremediation potential. Microbiological analysis, 16S rDNA-based DGGE fingerprinting and PLFAs analysis were performed on seawater and sediment samples from six stations on two transects. Higher diversity and variability among stations was detected by DGGE in sediment than in water samples although seawater revealed higher diversity of culturable hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. The most polluted sediment hosted higher total bacterial diversity and higher abundance and diversity of culturable HC degraders. Alkane- an…
Prokaryotic symbiotic consortia and the origin of nucleated cells: A critical review of Lynn Margulis hypothesis.
2021
The publication in the late 1960s of Lynn Margulis endosymbiotic proposal is a scientific milestone that brought to the fore of evolutionary discussions the issue of the origin of nucleated cells. Although it is true that the times were ripe, the timely publication of Lynn Margulis' original paper was the product of an intellectually bold 29-years old scientist, who based on the critical analysis of the available scientific information produced an all-encompassing, sophisticated narrative scheme on the origin of eukaryotic cells as a result of the evolution of prokaryotic consortia and, in bold intellectual stroke, put it all in the context of planetary evolution. A critical historical reas…