Inhibition of byssal formation in Semimytilus algosus (Gould, 1850) by a film-forming bacterium isolated from biofouled substrata in northern Chile

Abstract

Semimytilus algosus is a small mussel species that fouls artificial culture systems of the scallop Argopecten purpuratus (Lamarck, 1819) in the north of Chile. Since biofouling organisms are a serious problem in culture, competing with the scallops for food and oxygen, environmentally- friendly methods are required to mitigate the effects of this fouling in the culture systems. The present study reports the evaluation of the inhibitory effect of biofilms and extracellular products (EP) of the bacterium Alteromonas strain Ni1-LEM on the byssal formation of S. algosus juveniles. Laboratory bioassays were carried out to determine the reattachment, exploratory behaviour and/or byssal thread production of the mussel in plastic Petri dishes containing bacterial biofilms, different dilutions of EP, and EP incorporated in a test substratum. It was concluded from the results that culture supernatants of the Alteromonas tested had an inhibitory effect on reattachment by S. algosus.     

Isolation and characterization of algicidal bacteria from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cochlodinium polykrikoides</Emphasis> culture

In this study, we analyzed a bacterial community closely associated with Cochlodinium polykrikoides that caused harmful algal blooming in the sea. Filtration using a plankton mesh and percoll gradient centrifugation were performed to eliminate free-living bacteria. Attached bacteria were analyzed by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Five culturable bacterial strains were isolated and identified from the C. polykrikoides mixed bacterial community. The isolates belonged to α-Proteobacteria (Nautella sp., Sagittula sp., and Thalassobius sp.) and γ-Proteobacteria (Alteromonas sp. and Pseudoalteromonas sp.). All of the 5 isolates showed algicidal activity against C. polykrikoides and produced extracellular compounds responsible for algicidal properties after entering the stationary phase. The algicidal compounds produced by the 5 isolates were heat-stable and had molecular masses of less than 10,000 Da. Furthermore, the algicidal compounds were relatively specific for C. polykrikoides in terms of their algicidal activities. Culture-independent analysis of the bacterial community in association with C. polykrikoides was performed using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). On the basis of the PCR-DGGE profile, Sagittula sp. was identified as a dominant species in the bacterial community of C. polykrikoides.     

Diversity of Both the Cultivable Protease-Producing Bacteria and Their Extracellular Proteases in the Sediments of the South China Sea

Protease-producing bacteria are known to play an important role in degrading sedimentary particular organic nitrogen, and yet, their diversity and extracellular proteases remain largely unknown. In this paper, the diversity of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria and their extracellular proteases in the sediments of the South China Sea was investigated. The richness of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria reached 10⁶ cells/g in all sediment samples. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the predominant cultivated protease-producing bacteria are Gammaproteobacteria affiliated with the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Alteromonas, Marinobacter, Idiomarina, Halomonas, Vibrio, Shewanella, Pseudomonas, and Rheinheimera, with Alteromonas (34.6%) and Pseudoalteromonas (28.2%) as the predominant groups. Inhibitor analysis showed that nearly all the extracellular proteases from the bacteria are serine proteases or metalloproteases. Moreover, these proteases have different hydrolytic ability to different proteins, reflecting they may belong to different kinds of serine proteases or metalloproteases. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of the diversity of bacterial proteases in deep-sea sediments.     

Are Readily Culturable Bacteria in Coastal North Sea Waters Suppressed by Selective Grazing Mortality?

We studied the growth of six culturable bacterial lineages from coastal North Sea picoplankton in environmental samples under different incubation conditions. The grazing pressure of heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) was reduced either by double prefiltration through 0.8-μm-pore-size filters or by 10-fold dilutions with 0.2-μm (pore-size) prefiltered seawater. We hypothesized that those γ-proteobacterial genera that are rapidly enriched would also be most strongly affected by HNF regrowth. In the absence of HNF, the mean protein content per bacterial cell increased in both treatments compared to environmental samples, whereas the opposite trend was found in incubations of unaltered seawater. Significant responses to the experimental manipulations were observed in Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, and Vibrio populations. No treatment-specific effects could be detected for members of the Roseobacter group, the Cytophaga latercula-C. marinoflava lineage, or the NOR5 clade. Statistical analysis confirmed a transient increase in the proportions of Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, and Vibrio cells at reduced HNF densities only, followed by an overproportional decline during the phase of HNF regrowth. Cells from these genera were significantly larger than the community average in the dilution treatments, and changes in their relative abundances were negatively correlated with HNF densities. Our findings suggest that bacteria affiliated with frequently isolated genera such as Alteromonas, Pseudoalteromonas, and Vibrio might be rare in coastal North Sea picoplankton because their rapid growth response to changing environmental conditions is counterbalanced by a higher grazing mortality.     

Short-term testing of antifouling surfaces: the importance of colour

Abstract

Data from short-term biofouling assays are frequently used to evaluate the performance of antifouling (AF) coatings. There are a large number of factors, however, that may influence community development. One such factor is colour. The hypothesis was that differences in colour may impact the short-term development of a biofouling community and therefore bias the results. An experiment was designed to investigate the effect of black and white substrata on settlement of fouling organisms in the field. Both Ulva sp. and Spirorbis sp. had significantly higher settlement on black surfaces. This result emphasises the importance of considering colour and other factors when undertaking short-term testing of AF coatings.     

Effect of a transient perturbation on marine bacterial communities with contrasting history

Aims: To evaluate the importance of the bacterial composition on the resilience of the organic matter assimilation in the sea. Methods and Results: Chemostats were inoculated with coastal and offshore bacterial communities. Bacterial density and protein synthesis increased before stabilizing, and this response to confinement was more marked in the offshore chemostats. Before the toluene perturbation the community structure in the coastal chemostats remained complex whereas the offshore chemostats became dominated by Alteromonas sp. After the perturbation, bacterial protein synthesis was inhibited before peaking briefly at a level fivefold to that observed before the perturbation and then stabilizing at a level comparable to that before the perturbation. Alteromonas dominated both the coastal and the offshore communities immediately after the perturbation and the coastal communities did not recover their initial complexity. Conclusions: Cell lysis induced by the toluene perturbation favoured the growth of Alteromonas which could initiate growth rapidly in response to the nutrient pulse. Despite their different community structure in situ, the resilience of protein synthesis of coastal and offshore bacterial communities was dependent on Alteromonas, which dominated in the chemostats. Significance and Impact of the Study: Here we show that although Alteromonas sp. dominated in artificial offshore and coastal communities in chemostats, their response time to the shock was different. This suggests that future perturbation studies on resilience in the marine environment should take account of ecosystem history.     

Life-Style and Genome Structure of Marine Pseudoalteromonas Siphovirus B8b Isolated from the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Marine viruses (phages) alter bacterial diversity and evolution with impacts on marine biogeochemical cycles, and yet few well-developed model systems limit opportunities for hypothesis testing. Here we isolate phage B8b from the Mediterranean Sea using Pseudoalteromonas sp. QC-44 as a host and characterize it using myriad techniques. Morphologically, phage B8b was classified as a member of the Siphoviridae family. One-step growth analyses showed that this siphovirus had a latent period of 70 min and released 172 new viral particles per cell. Host range analysis against 89 bacterial host strains revealed that phage B8b infected 3 Pseudoalteromonas strains (52 tested, >99.9% 16S rRNA gene nucleotide identity) and 1 non-Pseudoaltermonas strain belonging to Alteromonas sp. (37 strains from 6 genera tested), which helps bound the phylogenetic distance possible in a phage-mediated horizontal gene transfer event. The Pseudoalteromonas phage B8b genome size was 42.7 kb, with clear structural and replication modules where the former were delineated leveraging identification of 16 structural genes by virion structural proteomics, only 4 of which had any similarity to known structural proteins. In nature, this phage was common in coastal marine environments in both photic and aphotic layers (found in 26.5% of available viral metagenomes), but not abundant in any sample (average per sample abundance was 0.65% of the reads). Together these data improve our understanding of siphoviruses in nature, and provide foundational information for a new ‘rare virosphere’ phage–host model system.     

Rapid screening and dereplication of bacterial isolates from marine sponges of the Sula Ridge by Intact-Cell-MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (ICM-MS)

Rapid grouping of bacterial isolates is critical in comprehensive microbial studies of environmental samples or screening programmes e.g. in unknown marine environments where large numbers of strains have to be isolated on different growth media. Sets of bacteria have been cultured from the marine sponges Isops phlegraei, Haliclona sp. 1, Phakellia ventilabrum and Plakortis sp. growing at a depth of about 300 m on the Sula Ridge close to the Norwegian coast. We employed Intact-Cell MALDI-TOF (ICM) mass spectrometry to achieve a rapid proteometric clustering of a subset of the strain collection including 456 isolates. Cluster analysis of mass spectra resolved the strains into 11 groups corresponding to species of Alteromonas (15), Bacillus (3), Colwellia (31), Erythrobacter (19), Marinobacter (14), Marinococcus (6), Pseudoalteromonas (297), Pseudomonas (56), Roseobacter (3), Sphingomonas (2) and Vibrio (10) as verified by 16 S rDNA analysis. A further discrimination into subgroups was demonstrated for different isolates from the genus Pseudoalteromonas. The approach described here permits the rapid identification of isolates for dereplication, and the selection of strains representing rare species for subsequent characterization.     

Purification and Partial Identification of Novel Antimicrobial Protein from Marine Bacterium <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudoalteromonas</Emphasis> Species Strain X153

A marine bacterium, X153, was isolated from a pebble collected at St. Anne du Portzic (France). By 16S ribosomal DNA gene sequence analysis, X153 strain was identified as a Pseudoalteromonas sp. close to P. piscicida. The crude culture of X153 was highly active against human pathogenic strains involved in dermatologic diseases, and marine bacteria including various ichthyopathogenic Vibrio strains. The active substance occurred both in bacterial cells and in culture supernatant. An antimicrobial protein was purified to homogeneity by a 4-step procedure using size-exclusion and ion-exchange chromatography. The highly purified P-153 protein is anionic, and sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gives an apparent molecular mass of 87 kDa. The X153 bacterium protected bivalve larvae against mortality, following experimental challenges with ichthyopathogenic Vibrio. Pseudoalteromonas sp. X153 may be useful in aquaculture as a probiotic bacterium.     

Cloning and Characterization of Extracellular Metal Protease Gene of the Algicidal Marine Bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. Strain A28

The gene (empI) encoding an extracellular metal protease was isolated from a Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain A28 DNA library. The recombinant EmpI protein was expressed in E. coli and purified. Paper-disk assays showed that the purified protease had potent algicidal activity. A skim milk-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protease assay showed that the 38-kDa band of protease activity, which co-migrated with purified EmpI and was sensitive to 1,10-phenathroline, was detected in the extracellular supernatant of A28.     

Biofilm formation and proteolytic activities of Pseudoalteromonas bacteria that were isolated from fish farm sediments

In order to save natural resources and supply good fishes, it is important to improve fish‐farming techniques. The survival rate of fish fry appears to become higher when powders of foraminifer limestone are submerged at the bottom of fish‐farming fields, where bacterial biofilms often grow. The observations suggest that forming biofilms can benefit to keep health status of breeding fishes. We employed culture‐based methods for the identification and characterization of biofilm‐forming bacteria and assessed the application of their properties for fish farming. Fifteen bacterial strains were isolated from the biofilm samples collected from fish farm sediments. The 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that these bacteria belonged to the genera, Pseudoalteromonas (seven strains), Vibrio (seven strains) and Halomonas (one strain). It was found that Pseudoalteromonas strains generally formed robust biofilms in a laboratory condition and produced extracellular proteases in a biofilm‐dependent manner. The results suggest that Pseudoalteromonas bacteria, living in the biofilm community, contribute in part to remove excess proteineous matters from the sediment sludge of fish farms.     

南海东海岛近海固氮细菌多样性及对菜心的促生作用

海洋固氮细菌在自然界氮循环中发挥着重要作用,筛选和开发海洋固氮促生的菌种资源,对于生物菌肥的开发应用和农业生产具有重要意义。[目的]研究海洋固氮细菌的生物多样性及对陆地作物的促生作用,筛选优良的植物根际促生菌株。[方法]通过形态特征、生理生化试验和16S rRNA基因序列比对进行菌属鉴定;将解磷、解钾、产蛋白酶和纤维素酶等性能优良的菌株作为菜心盆栽试验的组合菌液,探究对菜心能否起促生作用。[结果]本研究从南海东海岛的海岛沉积物中筛选出18株固氮菌,分布在6个属9种,不动杆菌属4株,假交替单胞菌属1株,芽孢杆菌属8株,嗜冷杆菌属1株,海单胞菌属1株,交替单胞菌属3株。菜心幼苗经过组合菌剂的浇灌,在茎高、茎粗、最大叶宽和最大叶长4个指标均表明对菜心有显著的促生作用。其中,以芽孢杆菌属和不动杆菌属的菌株在菜心的生长过程中起关键的促进作用,对菜心的促生性能最佳。[结论]南海近海具有种类丰富多样的固氮细菌,以芽孢杆菌属和不动杆菌属的菌株促生作用最为显著,具有开发成微生物菌肥的潜力,为优良的海洋促生微生物菌种资源的定向利用及蔬菜的无公害生产提供重要依据。     

Inhibition of byssal formation in Semimytilus algosus (Gould, 1850) by a film-forming bacterium isolated from biofouled substrata in northern Chile

Semimytilus algosus is a small mussel species that fouls artificial culture systems of the scallop Argopecten purpuratus (Lamarck, 1819) in the north of Chile. Since biofouling organisms are a serious problem in culture, competing with the scallops for food and oxygen, environmentally-friendly methods are required to mitigate the effects of this fouling in the culture systems. The present study reports the evaluation of the inhibitory effect of biofilms and extracellular products (EP) of the bacterium Alteromonas strain Ni1-LEM on the byssal formation of S. algosus juveniles. Laboratory bioassays were carried out to determine the reattachment, exploratory behaviour and/or byssal thread production of the mussel in plastic Petri dishes containing bacterial biofilms, different dilutions of EP, and EP incorporated in a test substratum. It was concluded from the results that culture supernatants of the Alteromonas tested had an inhibitory effect on reattachment by S. algosus.     

Identification of Bacterial Strains Isolated from the Mediterranean Sea Exhibiting Different Abilities of Biofilm Formation

The Mediterranean Sea has rarely been investigated for the characterization of marine bacteria as compared to other marine environments such as the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. Bacteria recovered from inert surfaces are poorly studied in these environments, when it has been shown that the community structure of attached bacteria can be dissimilar from that of planktonic bacteria present in the water column. The objectives of this study were to identify and characterize marine bacteria isolated from biofilms developed on inert surfaces immersed in the Mediterranean Sea and to evaluate their capacity to form a biofilm in vitro. Here, 13 marine bacterial strains have been isolated from different supports immersed in seawater in the Bay of Toulon (France). Phylogenetic analysis and different biological and physico-chemical properties have been investigated. Among the 13 strains recovered, 8 different genera and 12 different species were identified including 2 isolates of a novel bacterial species that we named Persicivirga mediterranea and whose genus had never been isolated from the Mediterranean Sea. Shewanella sp. and Pseudoalteromonas sp. were the most preponderant genera recovered in our conditions. The phenotypical characterization revealed that one isolate belonging to the Polaribacter genus differed from all the other ones by its hydrophobic properties and poor ability to form biofilms in vitro. Identifying and characterizing species isolated from seawater including from Mediterranean ecosystems could be helpful for example, to understand some aspects of bacterial biodiversity and to further study the mechanisms of biofilm (and biofouling) development in conditions approaching those of the marine environment.     

Seasonal changes in numbers and the location of a particular bacterial strain of Alteromonas sp. in seagrass sediments

Many variables must be considered in seeking to describe differences in population sizes for native aquatic bacterial populations. In this study of seagrass- and nearby plant-free sediments, seasonal effects on total bacterial counts were found to be highly significant, outweighing the significance of factors such as geographic variability, but on populations of a chosen Alteromonas sp., they were not significant at the 5% level. Summer counts for both populations were higher than those for winter; this result is likely to reflect the higher productivity of the host Zostera capricomi in summer months, resulting in the exudation of increased amounts of organic nutrients. The Alteromonas sp. occurred in greatest abundance (1.8% of the total population) at the seagrass sediment site from which it was originally isolated and formed up to 1.5% of the population in adjacent plant-free sediments. In fluorescent microscopy studies with labeled antibodies, the Alteromonas sp. was found to be ubiquitous in seagrass and plant-free sediments but was found closely associated in much higher numbers with seagrass root-rhizome tissue, suggesting a possible nutritional relationship between plant and bacterium. In associated trials of sediment preservation techniques, bacterial counts of replicate sediments preserved with glutaraldehyde (3% v/v) were higher than those obtained using Lugol's iodine or freezing. Correspondence to: P.W. Glazebrook     

Lysis of a red-tide causing alga,Alexandrium tamarense,caused by bacteria from its phycosphere

There are bacteria coexisting in xenic cultures of Alexandrium tamarense, a red-tide causing alga. However little is known concerning the interactions between the alga and the bacteria in its phycosphere. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of the bacteria in its phycosphere on the growth of the alga. We added one percent (v/v) Zobell 2216E medium to A. tamarense culture to alter bacterial growth and the results showed that algal cells were all lysed within 14 h. After adding the medium, both the abundance and the extracellular enzyme activity of the bacteria increased by 50–100 times from the 4th to the 10th hour which resulted in lysis of the algae. The 16S rRNA gene fragments of the bacteria were amplified from the DNA extracted from A. tamarense cultures and analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and sequencing. The structure of the bacterial community in phycosphere changed significantly during algal lysis. Two bacterial genera, Alteromonas sp. and Thalassobius aestuarii sp. are key factors that caused the lysis, and the β-glucosidase and chitinase produced by the bacteria in the phycosphere could directly cause the lysis. These experiments provide evidence that bacteria in its phycosphere play a key role in the culture of A. tamarense, and may provide insights into the future biocontrol of red-tides.     

Pathogenic bacteria associated with lesions and thallus bleaching symptoms in the Japanese kelp Laminaria religiosa Miyabe (Laminariales,Phaeophyceae)

During early Spring (April–May) when the seawater salinity drops suddenly and the seawater temperature increases drastically, severe lesions and thallus bleaching were observed in the Laminaria religiosa population at Oshoro Bay, Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. The healthy and diseased kelp blades were collected and subjected to enumeration of total number of culturable bacteria and bacterial species. Bacterial enumerations were done using 3 different media formulations; high-nutrient media (Media 1), low-nutrient media (Media 2) and modified low-nutrient media with 5% kelp extract (Media 3). Seven bacterial species were isolated from the healthy kelp. These were Alcaligenes aquamarinas, Alteromonas sp., Azomonas agilis, Azotobacter beijerinckii, Escherichia coli, Halobacterium sp. and Halococcus sp. All 7 bacterial species were isolated on Media 2 and Media 3, but only 5 species were isolated using Media 1 with the absence of Halobacterium sp. and Halococcus sp. Highest total number of culturable bacteria was 2050 CFU/cm² on Media 3. Eight species of bacteria were isolated from the diseased kelp thallus with the addition of Erwinia amylovora. All 8 bacteria grew on Media 2 and Media 3, but only 6 species were isolated using Media 1 with the absence of Halobacterium sp. and Halococcus sp. Highest total number of culturable bacteria was 5830 CFU/cm² on Media 3. However, only 3 species were isolated from the lesioned area. The most abundant species was Alteromonas sp. followed by Halococcus sp. and Alcaligenes aquamarinas. The surface bacteria showed best growth on Media 3. Scanning Electron Microscopic images of the healthy and diseased thallus gave distinctive evidence of the severity of the lesions as well as the relative abundance in the bacterial population. In an effort to identify the symptoms causative organism, the isolated bacterial species were cultured and used to test Koch's postulates. Out of the 8 species, only Alteromonas sp. induced lesions on the axenic kelp blades. The inoculated bacteria were also re-isolated without any significant contamination. Hence, Alteromonas sp. is suggested as the possible disease causing organism.     

巨菌草不同生长时期对砒砂岩地区土壤理化性质及细菌群落结构的影响

[目的]揭示巨菌草种植前及其不同生长时期对砒砂岩地区土壤基本理化性质及细菌群落结构的影响,为更好应用巨菌草改良砒砂岩地区土壤提供理论依据。[方法]运用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序技术,在门、属水平上比较砒砂岩地区巨菌草不同生长时期对土壤细菌结构及多样性的影响。[结果]巨菌草种植后,三块样地的含水量在巨菌草分蘖期最低,在成熟期达到最高,土壤有机含量有所增加,土壤pH值变化不明显。细菌菌群结构：各样地的土壤细菌在巨菌草种植前及其生长的四个时期,门水平上的优势菌群均为放线菌门（Actinobacteria）、变形菌门（Proteobacteria）;在属水平上,含量最高的是未分类（unidentified）的细菌。Alpha多样性及群落组成丰度分析表明,三块样地种植巨菌草后,其细菌多样性和物种丰度均比种植前高,农田地土壤细菌多样性和物种丰度在巨菌草拔节期达到峰值,在分蘖期土壤细菌数量最大,比种植前土壤细菌数量高出8倍多,达2.09×10⁷ CFU/g干土,山顶地土壤细菌多样性和物种丰度在巨菌草分蘖期达到峰值,河滩地土壤细菌多样性在巨菌草苗期达到峰值,其丰富度在拔节期达到最大。[结论]砒砂岩地区土壤细菌群落结构在巨菌草不同生长时期相似,巨菌草能明显促进砒砂岩地区土壤细菌菌群多样性和丰富度,能有效提高土壤有机质含量,但砒砂岩地区各样地土壤细菌多样性、数量和有机质含量达到峰值的时期不同。     

Antibacterial Activity of Pseudoalteromonas in the Coral Holobiont

Corals harbor diverse and abundant prokaryotic populations. Bacterial communities residing in the coral mucus layer may be either pathogenic or symbiotic. Some species may produce antibiotics as a method of controlling populations of competing microbial species. The present study characterizes cultivable Pseudoalteromonas sp. isolated from the mucus layer of different coral species from the northern Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea, Israel. Six mucus-associated Pseudoalteromonas spp. obtained from different coral species were screened for antibacterial activity against 23 tester strains. Five of the six Pseudoalteromonas strains demonstrated extracellular antibacterial activity against Gram-positive—but not Gram-negative—tester strains. Active substances secreted into the cell-free supernatant are heat-tolerant and inhibit growth of Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and of ten endogenous Gram-positive marine bacteria isolated from corals. The Pseudoalteromonas spp. isolated from Red sea corals aligned in a phylogenetic tree with previously isolated Pseudoalteromonas spp. of marine origin that demonstrated antimicrobial activity. These results suggest that coral mucus-associated Pseudoalteromonas may play a protective role in the coral holobiont's defense against potential Gram-positive coral pathogens.