Increased temperature as a result of climate change has a direct effect on the functional capacity of microbial communities, but community-wide responses are understudied. This study used tandem mass tag (TMT)-based proteomics to measure protein expression in acid mine drainage biofilms at 40 °C, 43 °C and 46 °C. The expression of proteins that are involved in amino acid metabolism increased substantially across the community at 46 °C, whereas proteins that are involved in carbon fixation showed differential responses, such that these proteins were repressed in two Leptospirillum spp., whereas their abundance increased in a third species. Thus, climate change is likely to have a considerable impact on the contribution of microbial communities to biogeochemical processes.
References
Mosier, A. C. et al. Elevated temperature alters proteomic responses of individual organisms within a biofilm community. ISME J. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.113 (2014)
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Kåhrström, C. Turning up the heat on biofilms. Nat Rev Microbiol 12, 596 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3340
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3340