不同石油浓度对浮游细菌群落影响的新发现

【目的】研究不同浓度石油污染对海水中浮游细菌群落结构及多样性的影响,并尝试阐述造成这种影响的机理。【方法】将采集自海上钻井平台附近的表层海水样品,在实验室条件下用不同浓度的石油(0?10 g/L)处理1周后,用末端限制性片段长度多态性(TRFLP)方法检测其细菌群落结构及多样性变化情况。【结果】得到了一些与以往研究结果不同的新发现,如细菌多样性不是简单地随石油浓度的升高而降低,而是呈现先降低再升高最后又降低的趋势。0.1 g/L石油处理组(M0.1)与0.5 g/L处理组(M0.5)、2.5 g/L石油处理组(M2.5)和10 g/L处理组(M10)的细菌群落结构更相似,且添加石油处理组(M0.1、M0.5、M2.5、M10)与未添加石油的对照组(M0)间细菌群落结构相差较大。与石油降解相关的细菌主要集中于变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)。基于TRFs在不同处理组的相对比例,可将实验得到的52个TRFs划分为6种类型：低浓度(I)、中浓度(II)、高浓度(III)、广浓度(IV)、窄浓度(V)石油适应型和石油敏感型(VI)细菌。另外,首次提出“碳(能)源-毒素”假说来解释石油污染对浮游细菌群落的影响。【结论】石油污染对浮游细菌群落的影响与石油的浓度和海水中原有的历史细菌群落密切相关,可以按照浮游细菌对石油的适应性对其进行分类,并且“碳(能)源-毒素”假说能较好地解释石油污染对浮游细菌群落的影响。     

Bacterial species richness at three stages of the breeding season in Cyanistes caeruleus (blue tit)

Blue tits are exposed to a vast array of bacteria throughout their life cycle and are particularly exposed during a breeding attempt. Any pathogenic bacteria within their microbiome can have a detrimental effect on their fitness and that of the nestlings they are raising. This study aims to identify the bacterial species richness that birds of this species are exposed to during three key stages of the breeding cycle: nest build, clutch completion and immediately post fledging. Nests were swabbed at these time points across four deciduous woodland sites in the United Kingdom and genomic DNA extracted prior to T-RFLP analysis. This is the first known instance of this technique being used to assess the nest microbiome and the first culture independent assessment of nest microbiome within this species. This revealed 103 distinct OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units) across all sites and stages with an increase in taxa richness at each stage. There were differences in the microbiomes of each nest across breeding stage and site with evidence suggesting the nest microbiome is largely determined by the local environment.     

The characterisation of eukaryotic microbial communities on sandstone buildings in Belfast,UK, using TRFLP and 454 pyrosequencing

Eukaryotic microorganisms, notably microbial algae and fungi, can have a major impact on the biodeterioration of building stone, particularly when they form green biofilms. However, comparatively little is known about the composition and structure of eukaryotic communities living on the surface of stone. The twin aims of this study were to a) characterise algal and fungal communities living on heritage structures in Belfast, UK and b) to investigate the relationship between eukaryotic community composition and a variety of substrate characteristics. We used molecular techniques (TRFLP and 454 pyrosequencing) to characterise the communities. We found unexpectedly high levels of taxonomic richness in algal communities, but low overall levels of diversity in both the algal and the fungal assemblages resulting from inequitable distributions of taxa. Our findings suggest the existence of a small pool of cosmopolitan algal species and relatively homogeneous algal communities on sandstone structures. In contrast, fungal communities were much richer and more spatially heterogeneous. It is likely that the aggressive chemical cleaning of one of the structures in the 1980s has had an ongoing impact on microbial community structure. Furthermore, whilst substrate characteristics seem to impact on the abundance/biomass of eukaryotic microbial communities, they do not influence diversity.