Actinobacterial Diversity in Hot Springs in Tengchong (China), Kamchatka (Russia), and Nevada (USA)

Actinobacterial diversity was investigated in three hot springs [Tengchong Frog Mouth (TFM) hot spring (in Tengchong, China), Kamchatka Robb Flag hot spring (in Kamchatka, Russia), and Nevada Boiling Spring (in Nevada, USA)], a Tengchong Frog Mouth hot spring-derived pond and a soil sample near the TFM hot spring. Culture-independent techniques were employed including denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and actinobacterial 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis. The three hot springs and the hot spring-derived pond had pH of 6.8 to 7.9 and temperature of 50 to 81°C. Actinobacteria were for the first time found to be very diverse in hot springs with temperature up to 81°C, indicating that they have an unexpected capability of adapting to hot spring environments. A total of 346 actinobacterial clones were obtained from the three hot springs, and these clones were identified as 31 RFLP types, falling into the Actinomycetales (only limit to the Frankineae suborder), the Rubrobacterales, uncultured Candidatus Microthrix, unclassified Actinobacteria, and uncultured Candidate Division OP10. Our data have implications for a better understanding of the distribution of Actinobacteria in hot springs.     

Microbial Silicification in Sinters from Two Terrestrial Hot Springs in the Uzon Caldera,Kamchatka, Russia

Silicification of microbial communities is the most pervasive form of mineralization in two terrestrial hot springs in the Uzon Caldera. X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy reveal a diverse sinter mineral assemblage dominated by opal-A with accessory sulfur, sulfides, alunite group minerals, oxides, and oxyhydroxides. Aluminum laminations (reported for the first time) noted in one deposit may slow opal-A transformational rates enabling mineralized microbial remnants to exist longer in the rock record. Although preservation of microbial forms decreases over time, the collective mineral assemblage and patterning suggests that they are the most persistent lines of evidence of life in the geologic record.     

Nucleation of calcite on the sheaths of cyanobacteria using a simple diffusion cell

A method allowing observation of calcium carbonate nucleation on the sheaths of cyanobacteria and other microorganisms is described. Nucleation of calcite was obtained on the sheaths of Lyngbya aestuarii and Scy‐tonema myochrous cultures but not on Entophysalis major and Pseudanabaena minuta. Differences in the rate of nucleation were also noted in media of differing salinity.     

高通量测序分析云南腾冲热海热泉微生物多样性

【背景】云南腾冲热海热泉中蕴含着丰富的极端微生物资源。【目的】揭示云南腾冲热海热泉中微生物物种多样性及群落结构差异,发掘酸性热泉中铁、硫氧化功能微生物。【方法】采用Illumina HiSeq高通量测序技术对3处热泉15个水体样品中微生物16SrRNA基因V4-V5区进行测序及生物信息学分析。【结果】3处热泉中共获得578061条有效序列,聚类为141个可操作分类单元(Operational taxonomic unit,OTU),包括19个门66个属。鼓鸣泉(GMQ)、蛤蟆嘴(HMZ)、黄瓜箐(HGQ)3处热泉均以泉古菌门(Crenarchaeota)和厚壁菌门(Firmicute)为主。从属水平分析,碱性热泉鼓鸣泉(GMQ)和中性热泉蛤蟆嘴(HMZ)分别注释到37、32个属,优势属均为芽孢杆菌属(Bacillus)和热棒菌属(Pyrobaculum)。酸性热泉黄瓜箐(HGQ)共注释到20个属,优势属为酸杆菌属(Acidibacillus)和酸硫杆状菌属(Acidithiobacillus),此外,具有铁、硫氧化潜力的菌属有喜酸菌属(Acidicaldus)、硫化芽孢杆菌属(Sulfobacillus)、硫化叶菌属(Sulfolobus)及生金球菌属(Metallosphaera)等,进一步通过硫氧化培养基分离获得了这些菌属中的纯菌株。【结论】云南腾冲热海热泉水体中蕴含丰富的微生物资源,热泉间微生物物种组成差异明显;酸性热泉中存在多种具有潜在铁、硫代谢功能的菌种;未分类类群、非培养类群丰度很高,尤其是蕴藏着可观的古菌资源。     

西藏热泉沉积物的硫氧化细菌多样性及其影响因素

【目的】探究西藏热泉沉积物中硫氧化细菌群落多样性及其环境影响因素。【方法】选取西藏5个地热区的25个热泉样点,现场测量各采样点的水体理化参数,并采集热泉水和沉积物样品。通过功能基因(硫代硫酸盐水解酶编码基因:soxB)克隆文库分析方法,研究沉积物样品中硫氧化细菌群落的组成和多样性,并统计分析其与环境参数之间的相关性。【结果】克隆文库分析结果显示,西藏热泉沉积物样品中的硫氧化细菌主要分属于α-Proteobacteria、β-Proteobacteria和γ-Proteobacteria纲。研究样品中的硫氧化菌群落香农指数与溶解有机碳的浓度(R=0.489,P<0.05)呈显著正相关。另外,统计发现西藏各热泉之间的硫氧化菌群落组成差异较大,其优势硫氧化细菌种群差异明显,大多数样点的优势硫氧化细菌种群为β-Proteobacteria,少量样点以α-Proteobacteria和γ-Proteobacteria为主。Mantel检验结果显示,西藏热泉样品中的硫氧化细菌群落组成与温度、硫化物、电导率、海拔、总溶解固体和pH显著(P<0.05)相关。【结论】西藏热泉沉积物中的硫氧化细菌群落广泛分布,且主要以变形菌门为主。地理隔离和理化差异导致了热泉沉积物样品间的硫氧化菌群落组成差异。     

A new ecological adaptation to high sulfide by a Hydrogenobacter sp. growing on sulfur compounds but not on hydrogen

Thermophilic bacteria were isolated from a sulfide-rich, neutral hot spring in Iceland on gelrite minimal medium with 16 mM thiosulfate. The isolates were aerobic, obligate chemolithoautotrophs and used thiosulfate and sulfur as electron donors, producing sulfate from both substrates. No growth was observed with hydrogen as the sole electron donor, and no hydrogenase activity was detected. The cells were gram-negative and usually single, 4—5 μm long and 0.7 μm in diameter and formed sulfur globules after a few days of incubation. By SSU rRNA sequence comparisons, the bacterium was placed in the genus Hydrogenobacter with the closest relative to be Calderobacterium hydrogenophilum with 98.3% sequence similarity. This novel bacterium shows an ecological adaptation to high sulfide springs and is differentiated from its closest known relatives by lack of H₂ oxidation, deposition of sulfur and lower growth temperature.     

Distribution of Arsenite-Oxidizing Bacteria and its Correlation with Temperature in Hot Springs of the Tibetan-Yunnan Geothermal Zone in Western China

The distribution of arsenite-oxidizing bacteria in response to temperature is of great importance to an understanding of biogeochemical cycling of arsenic in geothermal features. The abundance and diversity of arsenite-oxidizing bacteria were investigated in the geothermal features of Tengchong County of Yunnan Province, Dachaidan County of Qinghai Province, and Tibet. The abundance of aioA genes, which encode the large subunit of arsenite oxidase, was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reactions. The diversity of aioA genes was studied by PCR-cloning-based phylogenetic analyses. The results showed that the aioA gene abundance increased as temperature decreased, whereas its diversity at the OTU level (97% cutoff) increased with increasing temperature. This suggests that temperature played an important role in affecting aioA gene distribution and thus arsenic speciation. The aioA gene population (at OTU level) differed among the studied regions, indicating geographic isolation may be an important factor controlling aioA gene distribution in hot springs.     

Growth of bacteria at 100°C and beyond

Bacillus caldolyticus, a caldoactive bacterium originating from a hot spring at Yellowstone Park, was grown in a defined medium, whose composition resembled that of the pool water. Using a chemostat culture, which simulated the natural conditions, the organism could be adapted to grow at 100°C at a reasonable rate. Under increased pressure growth occurred also at 105° C.     

Hyperthermophilic Anaerobic Nitrate-Dependent Fe(II) Oxidization by Tibetan Hot Spring Microbiota and the Formation of Fe Minerals

Fe(II) in geothermal fluids was among the most important electron and energy sources for extremophiles and early life, and microbial oxidation of Fe(II) in turn contributed to the global Fe deposits such as banded iron formation (BIF). However, information was rare on Fe(II) bio-oxidation and consequent mineral formation in geothermal systems. In the present study, we investigated the anaerobic nitrate-depending Fe(II) oxidation (ANDFO) in the Tibetan hot springs with temperature ranging 52–86°C. ANDFO cultivation was established by inoculating sediments from the studied hot springs. Positive ANDFO reaction was observed in the cultures from three high-temperature hot springs (>80°C). Phylogenetic analysis showed that bacteria in the three obtained ANDFO cultures were mainly affiliated with phyla of Betaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes. In the obtained ANDFO cultures, ferrous iron oxidation occurred with nitrate reduction, accompanied with the formation of magnetite and/or siderite, which could be finished within one week. The resulting euhedral magnetite was at the micrometer scale, which was larger in size and showed better crystallinity than its counterparts (usually <1?µm) formed by chemical reactions. Thus, it can be concluded that ANDFO bacteria and denitrifiers played important roles in the magnetite and siderite precipitation in the studied Tibetan hot springs. The coupling between Fe(II) oxidation and nitrate reduction mediated by thermophiles might provide a new mechanism for euhedral magnetite and siderite deposition in BIFs during the Precambrian period.     

16S rRNA gene and lipid biomarker evidence for anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (anammox) in California and Nevada hot springs

Anammox, the oxidation of ammonium with nitrite to dinitrogen gas under anoxic conditions, is an important process in mesophilic environments such as wastewaters, oceans and freshwater systems, but little is known of this process at elevated temperatures. In this study, we investigated anammox in microbial mats and sediments obtained from several hot springs in California and Nevada, using geochemical and molecular microbiological methods. Anammox bacteria-specific ladderane core lipids with concentrations ranging between 0.3 and 52 ng g⁻¹ sediment were detected in five hot springs analyzed with temperatures up to 65 °C. In addition, 16S rRNA gene analysis showed the presence of genes phylogenetically related to the known anammox bacteria Candidatus Brocadia fulgida, Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans and Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis (96.5–99.8% sequence identity) in three hot springs with temperatures up to 52 °C. Our data indicate that anammox bacteria may be able to thrive at thermophilic temperatures and thus may play a significant role in the nitrogen cycle of hot spring environments.     

Highly diverse community structure in a remote central Tibetan geothermal spring does not display monotonic variation to thermal stress

We report an assessment of whole-community diversity for an extremely isolated geothermal location with considerable phylogenetic and phylogeographic novelty. We further demonstrate, using multiple statistical analyses of sequence data, that the response of community diversity is not monotonic to thermal stress along a gradient of 52-83 degrees C. A combination of domain- and division-specific PCR was used to obtain a broad spectrum of community phylotypes, which were resolved by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Among 58 sequences obtained from microbial mats and streamers, some 95% suggest novel archaeal and bacterial diversity at the species level or higher. Moreover, new phylogeographic and thermally defined lineages among the Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, Eubacterium and Thermus are identified. Shannon-Wiener diversity estimates suggest that mats at 63 degrees C supported highest diversity, but when alternate models were applied [Average Taxonomic Distinctness (AvTD) and Variation in Taxonomic Distinctness (VarTD)] that also take into account the phylogenetic relationships between phylotypes, it is evident that greatest taxonomic diversity (AvTD) occurred in streamers at 65-70 degrees C, whereas greatest phylogenetic distance between taxa (VarTD) occurred in streamers of 83 degrees C. All models demonstrated that diversity is not related to thermal stress in a linear fashion.     

云南热泉中氨氧化古菌的accA基因与amoA基因丰度与环境因子NO2－和NO3－的相关性

【目的】氨氧化古菌(ammonia-oxidizing archaea,AOA)可能通过近期刚发现的3-羟基丙酸盐/4-羟基丁酸盐途径(3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle,HP/HB)来固定CO2,在海洋和土壤环境下进行化能自养型生长。云南热泉系统已被证明具有丰富的AOA多样性。本论文旨在调查云南不同热泉中,这种CO2固定途径的关健酶——乙酰辅酶A羧化酶基因acc A和古菌氨单加氧酶基因amo A,及原核微生物16S rRNA基因的丰度变化,以及它们与环境因子的相关性。【方法】选择20处代表性热泉沉积物样品,通过荧光定量PCR技术,获得各目的基因丰度;利用R软件包对各样点地化参数进行主成分分析(Principal Component Analysis,PCA),并通过Mantel test检验各目的基因和地化参数间的相关性。【结果】细菌和古菌16S rRNA基因的丰度范围分别在6.6×107至4.19×1011和1.27×106至1.51×1011拷贝/g沉积物;古菌acc A和amo A基因的丰度范围为8.89×103至6.49×105和7.64×103至4.36×105拷贝/g沉积物,Mantel test结果显示acc A和amo A基因丰度间具有极显著的相关性(R=0.98,P0.001),两者又分别都与热泉内的NO2-和NO3-浓度存在显著相关,与p H值等其它环境因子没有明显统计学意义上的相关性。【结论】云南地区热泉间的细菌和古菌丰度,以及两者比例关系都存在较大差异;相关性的统计结果进一步证明了热泉环境下的氨氧化古菌是通过HP/HB途径进行CO2固定;本次研究并未发现氨氧化古菌的丰度与环境p H存在明显统计学意义上的相关性,这与常温土壤环境的相关研究结果存在不同。