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| Open AccessDiverse and divergent protein post-translational modifications in two growth stages of a natural microbial community
Characterizing post-translational modifications of proteins in microbial communities is challenging. Here, the authors identify and quantify a great number and diversity of such modifications in two growth stages of a natural microbial biofilm.
- Zhou Li
- , Yingfeng Wang
- & Chongle Pan
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Article
| Open AccessTipping elements in the human intestinal ecosystem
Intestinal microbes can have important effects on our health. Here, the authors analyse the gut microbiota composition in 1,000 western adults and find that certain bacteria are either abundant or nearly absent, and that these alternative states are associated with ageing and overweight.
- Leo Lahti
- , Jarkko Salojärvi
- & Willem M. de Vos
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence of natural Wolbachia infections in field populations of Anopheles gambiae
Wolbachia bacteria live within the cells of many insect species, manipulating their hosts’ reproduction and immune responses. Here, the authors show that these microbes also infect wild populations of malaria-spreading Anopheles mosquitoes, supporting a potential use of Wolbachiato limit malaria transmission.
- Francesco Baldini
- , Nicola Segata
- & Flaminia Catteruccia
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| Open AccessPhysiological and genomic features of highly alkaliphilic hydrogen-utilizing Betaproteobacteria from a continental serpentinizing site
Microbes can dwell in highly alkaline environments in the absence of obvious food sources. Here, the authors describe physiological and genomic features of a group of bacteria that live on hydrogen, calcium carbonate and oxygen at a very high pH.
- Shino Suzuki
- , J. Gijs Kuenen
- & Kenneth H. Nealson
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Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
Geographical isolation is often considered an effective barrier to microbial transport. Here, the authors provide evidence of active recruitment of long-distance dispersed cosmopolitan microorganisms in fumarolic environments in Mount Erebus, Antarctica.
- Craig W. Herbold
- , Charles K. Lee
- & S. Craig Cary
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Electron uptake by iron-oxidizing phototrophic bacteria
Little is known about extracellular electron uptake by microbes. Here Bose et al. show that the anoxygenic photoautotroph Rhodopseudomonas palustrisTIE-1 accepts electrons from a poised electrode, which can be uncoupled from photosynthesis, and the pioABC system has a role in this uptake.
- A. Bose
- , E.J. Gardel
- & P.R. Girguis
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Characterization and modelling of interspecies electron transfer mechanisms and microbial community dynamics of a syntrophic association
Microbial community function depends on metabolic interdependencies between individual species, some of which include electron transfer. Nagarajan et al. use genomic, transcriptomic and modelling approaches to describe the mechanisms supporting the syntrophic relationship between Geobacter metallireducens and Geobacter sulfurreducens.
- Harish Nagarajan
- , Mallory Embree
- & Karsten Zengler
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Evolutionary history predicts the stability of cooperation in microbial communities
Persistence of cooperation requires limited spread of defectors, but it is unclear how evolutionary history affects the spread of these individuals. Here, Jousset et al.show that microbial cooperators can only inhibit defectors that are closely related to them, suggesting that evolutionary history can predict the stability of cooperation.
- Alexandre Jousset
- , Nico Eisenhauer
- & Stefan Scheu
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Advection shapes Southern Ocean microbial assemblages independent of distance and environment effects
Environmental factors and distance are known to influence the structure of marine microbial communities. Using a data set spanning the Southern Ocean, Wilkins et al.now demonstrate that fluid transport (advection) is another important factor involved in shaping the marine microbial ecosystem.
- David Wilkins
- , Erik van Sebille
- & Ricardo Cavicchioli
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Article
| Open AccessGenome sequence and functional genomic analysis of the oil-degrading bacterium Oleispira antarctica
Oleispira antarctica is an oil-degrading bacterium found in the cold and deep sea. Here Kube et al. report the genome sequence of O. antarcticaand provide a comprehensive functional genetic and protein structural analysis, revealing insights into how this organism has adapted to its cold environment.
- Michael Kube
- , Tatyana N. Chernikova
- & Peter N. Golyshin
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Turnover of soil bacterial diversity driven by wide-scale environmental heterogeneity
In microbial biogeography, little is known about processes involved in soil bacterial diversity turnover. By conducting a wide-scale investigation, this study shows that dispersal limitation and environmental selection of bacteria are not mutually exclusive, highlighting the importance of landscape diversity.
- L. Ranjard
- , S. Dequiedt
- & P. Lemanceau
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Article
| Open AccessMethylotrophic methanogenic Thermoplasmata implicated in reduced methane emissions from bovine rumen
Rumen methanogenic archaea are major sources of methane emissions and potential targets for methane mitigation strategies. Poulsen et al.now show that dietary rapeseed oil (RSO) supplementation can reduce the abundance of methanogenic Thermoplasmata archaea inhabiting the bovine rumen.
- Morten Poulsen
- , Clarissa Schwab
- & Tim Urich
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Environmental conditions and community evenness determine the outcome of biological invasion
Biological invasion varies under different environmental stressors. Here, using a fully controlled system of bacterial communities, De Roy et al. find that community evenness affects the level of invasion, and that the community’s response depends on specific environmental conditions as well as the community evenness.
- Karen De Roy
- , Massimo Marzorati
- & Nico Boon
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Different types of synchrony in chaotic and cyclic communities
Natural populations are complex systems where interactions can lead to chaotic dynamics. This study tests how cyclic and chaotic microbial predator–prey communities synchronize, showing different phase-locking responses for cyclic and chaotic systems.
- Lutz Becks
- & Hartmut Arndt
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Predator richness increases the effect of prey diversity on prey yield
The functioning of bacterial communities is affected by selection, but the role of predation by single or multiple predators is unclear. In a study of 465 bacterial microcosms, Saleem et al.find that multiple predation causes positive bacterial diversity effects due to increased evenness among bacterial species.
- Muhammad Saleem
- , Ingo Fetzer
- & Antonis Chatzinotas
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Virtual metagenome reconstruction from 16S rRNA gene sequences
Large-scale sequencing techniques have helped to understand the genetic diversity of little-known microbial communities. These authors demonstrate a cheaper alternative to direct sequencing—the construction of virtual metagenomes using gel electrophoresis and related genome sequences.
- Shujiro Okuda
- , Yuki Tsuchiya
- & Hisao Morisaki
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Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys
It is thought that turnover in soil microbiota occurs very slowly in the Antarctic Dry Valleys due to the extreme cold and aridity. Now, Tiaoet al. show that a transformation of microbial communities can happen in a matter of years in soils altered by the presence of a mummified seal.
- Grace Tiao
- , Charles K. Lee
- & S. Craig Cary
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Competitive and cooperative metabolic interactions in bacterial communities
Genome-scale metabolic models for bacterial species allow a systematic study of inter-species interactions. Here, competitive and cooperative potential is predicted between 6,903 pairs of species, to explore the role of these interactions in shaping coexistence patterns in natural communities.
- Shiri Freilich
- , Raphy Zarecki
- & Eytan Ruppin
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Review Article |
Mechanisms underlying beneficial plant–fungus interactions in mycorrhizal symbiosis
Many of the worlds' plants and trees have a symbiotic relationship with micorrhizal fungi, which associate with their roots. This review describes how new technologies have aided our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate these plant–fungi interactions.
- Paola Bonfante
- & Andrea Genre