Woyke, Tanja


Publications (9)

Recoding of stop codons expands the metabolic potential of two novel Asgardarchaeota lineages

Citation
Sun et al. (2021). ISME Communications 1 (1)
Names
Ca. Sifarchaeota Ca. Sifarchaeum subterraneus Ca. Sifarchaeum marinoarchaea Ca. Sifarchaeum Ca. Borrarchaeum Ca. Borrarchaeaceae Ca. Jordarchaeia Ca. Sifarchaeia Ca. Jordarchaeales Ca. Sifarchaeales Ca. Jordarchaeaceae Ca. Sifarchaeaceae Ca. Jordarchaeum madagascariense Ca. Jordarchaeum Ca. Borrarchaeum weybense
Subjects
General Medicine
Abstract
AbstractAsgardarchaeota have been proposed as the closest living relatives to eukaryotes, and a total of 72 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) representing six primary lineages in this archaeal phylum have thus far been described. These organisms are predicted to be fermentative heterotrophs contributing to carbon cycling in sediment ecosystems. Here, we double the genomic catalogue of Asgardarchaeota by obtaining 71 MAGs from a range of habitats around the globe, including the deep subsurface, brackish shallow lakes, and geothermal spring sediments. Phylogenomic inferences followed by taxonomic rank normalisation confirmed previously established Asgardarchaeota classes and revealed four additional lineages, two of which were consistently recovered as monophyletic classes. We therefore propose the names Candidatus Sifarchaeia class nov. and Ca. Jordarchaeia class nov., derived from the gods Sif and Jord in Norse mythology. Metabolic inference suggests that both classes represent hetero-organotrophic acetogens, which also have the ability to utilise methyl groups such as methylated amines, with acetate as the probable end product in remnants of a methanogen-derived core metabolism. This inferred mode of energy conservation is predicted to be enhanced by genetic code expansions, i.e., stop codon recoding, allowing the incorporation of the rare 21st and 22nd amino acids selenocysteine (Sec) and pyrrolysine (Pyl). We found Sec recoding in Jordarchaeia and all other Asgardarchaeota classes, which likely benefit from increased catalytic activities of Sec-containing enzymes. Pyl recoding, on the other hand, is restricted to Sifarchaeia in the Asgardarchaeota, making it the first reported non-methanogenic archaeal lineage with an inferred complete Pyl machinery, likely providing members of this class with an efficient mechanism for methylamine utilisation. Furthermore, we identified enzymes for the biosynthesis of ester-type lipids, characteristic of bacteria and eukaryotes, in both newly described classes, supporting the hypothesis that mixed ether-ester lipids are a shared feature among Asgardarchaeota.

Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis in archaeal phylum Verstraetearchaeota reveals the shared ancestry of all methanogens

Citation
Berghuis et al. (2019). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 (11)
Names
Ca. Methanohydrogenales “Methanohydrogenicus thermophilus” Ca. Methanomethylicales Ca. Methanomethylicaceae Ca. Methanomethylicia
Subjects
Multidisciplinary
Abstract
Methanogenic archaea are major contributors to the global carbon cycle and were long thought to belong exclusively to the euryarchaeal phylum. Discovery of the methanogenesis gene cluster methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr) in the Bathyarchaeota, and thereafter the Verstraetearchaeota, led to a paradigm shift, pushing back the evolutionary origin of methanogenesis to predate that of the Euryarchaeota. The methylotrophic methanogenesis found in the non-Euryarchaota distinguished itself from the predominantly hydrogenotrophic methanogens found in euryarchaeal orders as the former do not couple methanogenesis to carbon fixation through the reductive acetyl-CoA [Wood–Ljungdahl pathway (WLP)], which was interpreted as evidence for independent evolution of the two methanogenesis pathways. Here, we report the discovery of a complete and divergent hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis pathway in a thermophilic order of the Verstraetearchaeota, which we have named Candidatus Methanohydrogenales, as well as the presence of the WLP in the crenarchaeal order Desulfurococcales. Our findings support the ancient origin of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, suggest that methylotrophic methanogenesis might be a later adaptation of specific orders, and provide insight into how the transition from hydrogenotrophic to methylotrophic methanogenesis might have occurred.

Genome Sequence of “Candidatus Frankia datiscae” Dg1, the Uncultured Microsymbiont from Nitrogen-Fixing Root Nodules of the Dicot Datisca glomerata

Citation
Persson et al. (2011). Journal of Bacteriology 193 (24)
Names
Ca. Frankia datiscae
Subjects
Microbiology Molecular Biology
Abstract
ABSTRACT Members of the noncultured clade of Frankia enter into root nodule symbioses with actinorhizal species from the orders Cucurbitales and Rosales. We report the genome sequence of a member of this clade originally from Pakistan but obtained from root nodules of the American plant Datisca glomerata without isolation in culture.