环境微生物培养新技术的研究进展

遍布于地球上各种生境中的微生物具有丰富的物种多样性.迄今为止,能够在实验室条件下培养的微生物仅仅是其中的一小部分,微生物物种的绝大多数还都难以在现有培养技术和条件下进行繁殖和生长.人们把那些尚未在实验室获得培养生长的微生物称之为未培养微生物(Uncultured microorganisms).本文概述了一些制约微生物培养生长的影响因素,重点介绍了近年来出现的一些新颖独特的环境微生物培养技术和方法,包括稀释培养法、高通量培养技术、模拟自然环境的扩散盒技术、土壤基质膜装置、细胞微囊包埋技术等.此外,本文还总结了通过改善微生物培养条件、设计开发新型的微生物培养基等方面取得的令人瞩目的进展.这些新颖培养技术和培养方法的出现,显著提高了微生物的可培养性,发现和鉴定了许多新的微生物物种,极大地丰富了可培养微生物的多样性和微生物资源,并为深入研究和开发微生物奠定了良好的资源研究基础.     

半导体矿物介导非光合微生物利用光电子新途径

自然界中微生物按其能量代谢途径主要分为两种:光能营养微生物和化能营养微生物.化能营养微生物作为非光能营养微生物长期被排除在以日光为能量来源的能量利用途径之外.本文介绍了一种新的微生物能量利用途径,即非光能营养微生物通过半导体矿物光催化作用来利用太阳能进行生长.实验室模拟体系中,金属氧化物、金属硫化物等天然半导体矿物在模拟日光激发下产生的光电子促进了化能自养与异养微生物的生长.研究结果表明微生物的生长与光子能量和光子数量密切相关,同时不同波长光辐照下的微生物生长情况与矿物的光吸收谱相吻合.这一能量利用途径的光能-生物能转化效率为0.13‰-1.90‰.在含有天然半导体矿物与天然微生物的红壤体系中,进一步发现半导体矿物光催化能够明显改变环境微生物的种群结构.已有的研究揭示了一种新发现并极有可能长期在地球上存在的微生物能量利用途径,即通过自然界中半导体矿物日光催化作用产生的光电子能够促进非光能营养微生物的生长代谢活动.     

Switching between apparently redundant iron-uptake mechanisms benefits bacteria in changeable environments

Bacteria often possess multiple siderophore-based iron uptake systems for scavenging this vital resource from their environment. However, some siderophores seem redundant, because they have limited iron-binding efficiency and are seldom expressed under iron limitation. Here, we investigate the conundrum of why selection does not eliminate this apparent redundancy. We focus on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that can produce two siderophores—the highly efficient but metabolically expensive pyoverdine, and the inefficient but metabolically cheap pyochelin. We found that the bacteria possess molecular mechanisms to phenotypically switch from mainly producing pyoverdine under severe iron limitation to mainly producing pyochelin when iron is only moderately limited. We further show that strains exclusively producing pyochelin grew significantly better than strains exclusively producing pyoverdine under moderate iron limitation, whereas the inverse was seen under severe iron limitation. This suggests that pyochelin is not redundant, but that switching between siderophore strategies might be beneficial to trade off efficiencies versus costs of siderophores. Indeed, simulations parameterized from our data confirmed that strains retaining the capacity to switch between siderophores significantly outcompeted strains defective for one or the other siderophore under fluctuating iron availabilities. Finally, we discuss how siderophore switching can be viewed as a form of collective decision-making, whereby a coordinated shift in behaviour at the group level emerges as a result of positive and negative feedback loops operating among individuals at the local scale.     

海洋微生物抗菌脂肽及新生物农药研发

近年来,微生物脂肽作为生物农药的研究与应用,在国内外得到了广泛重视,成为今后生物农药发展的一个重要方向。从不同生境分离获得多批海洋微生物,通过筛选抗植物病原真菌活性强的菌株,发酵、分离、纯化及鉴定其代谢产物,从3种芽胞杆菌中发现了6个新的抗菌脂肽,属于iturins和fengycin类化合物。芽胞杆菌的芽胞及脂肽可研发防治植物真菌病害新生物农药。     

Challenges,achievements and opportunities in allelopathy research

Abstract

Allelopathy is defined as the suppression of any aspect of growth and/or development of one plant by another through the release of chemical compounds. Although allelopathic interference has been demonstrated many times using in vitro experiments, few studies have clearly demonstrated allelopathy in natural settings. This difficulty reflects the complexity in examining and demonstrating allelopathic interactions under field conditions. In this paper we address a number of issues related to the complexity of allelopathic interference in higher plants: These are: (i) is a demonstrated pattern or zone of inhibition important in documenting allelopathy? (ii) is it ecologically relevant to explain the allelopathic potential of a species based on a single bioactive chemical? (iii) what is the significance of the various modes of allelochemical release from the plant into the environment? (iv) do soil characteristics clearly influence allelopathic activity? (v) is it necessary to exclude other plant interference mechanisms?, and (vi) how can new achievements in allelopathy research aid in solving problems related to relevant ecological issues encountered in research conducted upon natural systems and agroecosystems? A greater knowledge of plant interactions in ecologically relevant environments, as well as the study of biochemical pathways, will enhance our understanding of the role of allelopathy in agricultural and natural settings. In addition, novel findings related to the relevant enzymes and genes involved in production of putative allelochemicals, allelochemical persistence in the rhizosphere, the molecular target sites of allelochemicals in sensitive plant species and the influence of allelochemicals upon other organisms will likely lead to enhanced utilization of natural products for pest management or as pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. This review will address these recent findings, as well as the major challenges which continue to influence the outcomes of allelopathy research.     

Emerging role of roots in plant responses to aboveground insect herbivory

Plants have evolved complex biochemical mechanisms to counter threats from insect herbivory. Recent research has revealed an important role of roots in plant responses to above ground herbivory (AGH). The involvement of roots is integral to plant resistance and tolerance mechanisms. Roots not only play an active role in plant defenses by acting as sites for biosynthesis of various toxins and but also contribute to tolerance by storing photoassimilates to enable future regrowth. The interaction of roots with beneficial soil‐borne microorganisms also influences the outcome of the interaction between plant and insect herbivores. Shoot‐to‐root communication signals are critical for plant response to AGH. A better understanding of the role of roots in plant response to AGH is essential in order to develop a comprehensive picture of plant‐insect interactions. Here, we summarize the current status of research on the role of roots in plant response to AGH and also discuss possible signals involved in shoot‐to‐root communication.     

Improved heterologous production of the nonribosomal peptide‐polyketide siderophore yersiniabactin through metabolic engineering and induction optimization

Biosynthesis of complex natural products like polyketides and nonribosomal peptides using Escherichia coli as a heterologous host provides an opportunity to access these molecules. The value in doing so stems from the fact that many compounds hold some therapeutic or other beneficial property and their original production hosts are intractable for a variety of reasons. In this work, metabolic engineering and induction variable optimization were used to increase production of the polyketide‐nonribosomal peptide compound yersiniabactin, a siderophore that has been utilized to selectively remove metals from various solid and aqueous samples. Specifically, several precursor substrate support pathways were altered through gene expression and exogenous supplementation in order to boost production of the final compound. The gene expression induction process was also analyzed to identify the temperatures and inducer concentrations resulting in highest final production levels. When combined, yersiniabactin production was extended to ～175 mg L^?1. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1412–1417, 2016     

思茅松毛虫肠道真菌分离鉴定及水解酶活性初步研究

肠道微生物在昆虫的食物消化、免疫防御中发挥重要作用,但目前对昆虫肠道真菌了解不多。本研究以重要林业害虫—思茅松毛虫Dendrolimu kikuchii Matsumura为材料,分离鉴定其幼虫中的肠道真菌。采用传统微生物分离纯培养的方法从思茅松毛虫4龄幼虫肠道样品中分离肠道真菌,运用ITS序列分析鉴定,并对其产酶活性初步研究。经同源序列比对分析,思茅松毛虫4龄幼虫肠道中共分离得到12株真菌,分别属于德巴利酵母属Debaryomyces sp.,拟盘多毛孢属Pestalotiopsis sp.,青霉属Penicillium sp.,弯担菌属Curvibasidium sp.。产酶活性研究表明8株菌产纤维素酶,9株菌产淀粉酶,7株菌产脂肪酶,2株菌产蛋白酶。DKF-8产淀粉酶能力最高,酶活力是60.907 U/mL。DKF-10产纤维素酶能力最高,酶活力是14.276 U/g,菌株DKF-6产蛋白酶活力是5.561 U/mL,菌株DKF-8产蛋白酶酶活力是2.918 U/mL。思茅松毛虫4龄幼虫肠道真菌物种丰富度较低。本实验为未来深入研究思茅松毛虫肠道微生物功能提供了菌株材料。     

Influence of Celery on the Remediation of PAHs-contaminated Farm Soil

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination has been considered as one of the major environmental concerns for farmland soil all over the world including China. Due to small per capita land area, to find crops or vegetable, which could not only degrade the PAHs contaminants but also would not concentrate PAHs, was particularly important. Celery was selected as the phytoremediator in this experiment, and the soil enzyme activity, PAHs-degrading microorganisms, and the speciation of PAHs in soil were studied. The results showed that celery could significantly enhance the remediation of PAHs compared with the controlled experiment after 90 days (p< 0.01), and the removal efficiency were 31.29%, 30.79%, and 50.21% in the soil, non-rhizosphere soil, and rhizosphere soil, respectively. The soil enzyme activity and PAHs-degrading microorganisms significantly increased in rhizosphere soil compared with non-rhizosphere soil (p< 0.05), and the bioaccessibility of PAHs in soil could have been enhanced in the presence of celery root exudates. Those would help the bioremediation of PAHs by soil microorganisms. Meanwhile, the concentration of PAHs in the edible portion of celery was only 17.13 ± 1.24 μg/kg, and the bioconcentration factors in the aboveground part of celery were only 0.025. This study provides a potential in-site farmland soil phytoremediation technology that could have practical utility.     

Bioaerosol biomonitoring: Sampling optimization for molecular microbial ecology

Bioaerosols (or biogenic aerosols) have largely been overlooked by molecular ecologists. However, this is rapidly changing as bioaerosols play key roles in public health, environmental chemistry and the dispersal ecology of microbes. Due to the low environmental concentrations of bioaerosols, collecting sufficient biomass for molecular methods is challenging. Currently, no standardized methods for bioaerosol collection for molecular ecology research exist. Each study requires a process of optimization, which greatly slows the advance of bioaerosol science. Here, we evaluated air filtration and liquid impingement for bioaerosol sampling across a range of environmental conditions. We also investigated the effect of sampling matrices, sample concentration strategies and sampling duration on DNA yield. Air filtration using polycarbonate filters gave the highest recovery, but due to the faster sampling rates possible with impingement, we recommend this method for fine ‐scale temporal/spatial ecological studies. To prevent bias for the recovery of Gram‐positive bacteria, we found that the matrix for impingement should be phosphate‐buffered saline. The optimal method for bioaerosol concentration from the liquid matrix was centrifugation. However, we also present a method using syringe filters for rapid in‐field recovery of bioaerosols from impingement samples, without compromising microbial diversity for high ‐throughput sequencing approaches. Finally, we provide a resource that enables molecular ecologists to select the most appropriate sampling strategy for their specific research question.