Environmental Conditions Constrain the Distribution and Diversity of Archaeal <Emphasis Type="Italic">merA</Emphasis> in Yellowstone National Park,Wyoming, U.S.A. |
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| Authors: | Yanping?Wang Eric?Boyd Sharron?Crane Patricia?Lu-Irving David?Krabbenhoft Susan?King John?Dighton Email author" target="_blank">Gill?GeeseyEmail author Tamar?Barkay |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA;(2) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis Research Center, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA;(3) Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA;(4) U.S. Geological Survey, Middleton, WI, USA;(5) Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and Thermal Biology Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA;(6) Rutgers Pinelands Field Station, New Lisbon, NJ, USA;(7) Department of Microbiology and Thermal Biology Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA;(8) Department of Biology, The University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195, USA;(9) 2908 3rd Ave., Great Falls, MT 59401, USA;(10) Department of Microbiology, Montana State University, 109 Lewis Hall, P.O. Box 173520, Bozeman, MT 59717–3520, USA; |
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| Abstract: | The distribution and phylogeny of extant protein-encoding genes recovered from geochemically diverse environments can provide
insight into the physical and chemical parameters that led to the origin and which constrained the evolution of a functional
process. Mercuric reductase (MerA) plays an integral role in mercury (Hg) biogeochemistry by catalyzing the transformation
of Hg(II) to Hg(0). Putative merA sequences were amplified from DNA extracts of microbial communities associated with mats and sulfur precipitates from physicochemically
diverse Hg-containing springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, using four PCR primer sets that were designed to capture
the known diversity of merA. The recovery of novel and deeply rooted MerA lineages from these habitats supports previous evidence that indicates merA originated in a thermophilic environment. Generalized linear models indicate that the distribution of putative archaeal merA lineages was constrained by a combination of pH, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved total mercury and sulfide. The models
failed to identify statistically well supported trends for the distribution of putative bacterial merA lineages as a function of these or other measured environmental variables, suggesting that these lineages were either influenced
by environmental parameters not considered in the present study, or the bacterial primer sets were designed to target too
broad of a class of genes which may have responded differently to environmental stimuli. The widespread occurrence of merA in the geothermal environments implies a prominent role for Hg detoxification in these environments. Moreover, the differences
in the distribution of the merA genes amplified with the four merA primer sets suggests that the organisms putatively engaged in this activity have evolved to occupy different ecological niches
within the geothermal gradient. |
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