ABSTRACT
The phylum
Gemmatimonadota
comprises mainly uncultured microorganisms that inhabit different environments such as soils, freshwater lakes, marine sediments, sponges, or corals. Based on 16S rRNA gene studies, the group PAUC43f is one of the most frequently retrieved
Gemmatimonadota
in marine samples. However, its physiology and ecological roles are completely unknown since, to date, not a single PAUC43f isolate or metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) has been characterized. Here, we carried out a broad study of the distribution, abundance, ecotaxonomy, and metabolism of PAUC43f, for which we propose the name of
Palauibacterales
. This group was detected in 4,965 16S rRNA gene amplicon datasets, mainly from marine sediments, sponges, corals, soils, and lakes, reaching up to 34.3% relative abundance, which highlights its cosmopolitan character, mainly salt-related. The potential metabolic capabilities inferred from 52
Palauibacterales
MAGs recovered from marine sediments, sponges, and saline soils suggested a facultative aerobic and chemoorganotrophic metabolism, although some members may also oxidize hydrogen. Some
Palauibacterales
species might also play an environmental role as N
2
O consumers as well as suppliers of serine and thiamine. When compared to the rest of the
Gemmatimonadota
phylum, the biosynthesis of thiamine was one of the key features of the
Palauibacterales
. Finally, we show that polysaccharide utilization loci (PUL) are widely distributed within the
Gemmatimonadota
so that they are not restricted to
Bacteroidetes
, as previously thought. Our results expand the knowledge about this cryptic phylum and provide new insights into the ecological roles of the
Gemmatimonadota
in the environment.
IMPORTANCE
Despite advances in molecular and sequencing techniques, there is still a plethora of unknown microorganisms with a relevant ecological role. In the last years, the mostly uncultured
Gemmatimonadota
phylum is attracting scientific interest because of its widespread distribution and abundance, but very little is known about its ecological role in the marine ecosystem. Here we analyze the global distribution and potential metabolism of the marine
Gemmatimonadota
group PAUC43f, for which we propose the name of
Palauibacterales
order. This group presents a saline-related character and a chemoorganoheterotrophic and facultatively aerobic metabolism, although some species might oxidize H
2
. Given that
Palauibacterales
is potentially able to synthesize thiamine, whose auxotrophy is the second most common in the marine environment, we propose
Palauibacterales
as a key thiamine supplier to the marine communities. This finding suggests that
Gemmatimonadota
could have a more relevant role in the marine environment than previously thought.
The complete genome sequence of “
Candidatus
Phytoplasma asteris” QS2022, which consists of one 834,303-bp circular chromosome, is presented in this work. This bacterium is associated with lettuce chlorotic leaf rot disease in Fujian Province, China.
Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB), also called citrus greening disease, is a highly destructive disease threatening citrus production worldwide. “
Candidatus
Liberibacter asiaticus” is one of the most common putative causal agents of HLB. Phages of “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus”
AbstractCandidatus Branchiomonas cysticola is recognized as the most prevalent bacterial agent causing epitheliocystis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Based on its partial 16S rRNA sequence, the bacterium has previously been found to be a member of Burkholderiales in the class Betaproteobacteria. Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA) of the bacterium and 60 type strains of Betaproteobacteria using newly identified housekeeping genes (dnaK, rpoC, and fusA) and ribosomal subunit sequences (16S and 23S), instead supported the bacterium’s affiliation to Nitrosomodales. Taxonomic rank normalization by Relative Evolutionary Divergence (RED) showed the phylogenetic distinction between Cand. B. cysticola and its closest related type strain to be at the family level. A novel bacterial family named Branchiomonaceae has thus been proposed to include a monophyletic clade of Betaproteobacteria exclusively associated with epitheliocystis in fish.
AbstractMethanogenic and methanotrophic archaea produce and consume the greenhouse gas methane, respectively, using the reversible enzyme methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr). Recently, Mcr variants that can activate multicarbon alkanes have been recovered from archaeal enrichment cultures. These enzymes, called alkyl-coenzyme M reductase (Acrs), are widespread in the environment but remain poorly understood. Here we produced anoxic cultures degrading mid-chain petroleum n-alkanes between pentane (C5) and tetradecane (C14) at 70 °C using oil-rich Guaymas Basin sediments. In these cultures, archaea of the genus Candidatus Alkanophaga activate the alkanes with Acrs and completely oxidize the alkyl groups to CO2. Ca. Alkanophaga form a deep-branching sister clade to the methanotrophs ANME-1 and are closely related to the short-chain alkane oxidizers Ca. Syntrophoarchaeum. Incapable of sulfate reduction, Ca. Alkanophaga shuttle electrons released from alkane oxidation to the sulfate-reducing Ca. Thermodesulfobacterium syntrophicum. These syntrophic consortia are potential key players in petroleum degradation in heated oil reservoirs.
The phytoplasma “
Candidatus
Phytoplasma rubi” is associated with
Rubus
stunt disease. The complete genome was determined by assembling Oxford Nanopore Technologies system-derived long reads, with short-read polishing with Illumina reads. The genome of strain RS, from Germany, is organized in one circular chromosome with a length of 762 kb.
We report sequences of the complete linear chromosome and five linear plasmids of the relapsing fever spirochete “
Candidatus
Borrelia fainii” Qtaro. The chromosome sequence of 951,861 bp and the 243,291 bp of plasmid sequences were predicted to contain 852 and 239 protein-coding genes, respectively. The predicted total GC content was 28.4%.
“
Candidatus
Parvarchaeales” microbes may represent a lineage uniquely distributed in extreme environments such as AMD and hot springs. However, little is known about the strategies and processes of how they adapted to these extreme environments.
The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is an important vector of the HLB pathogen, which is a major threat to citrus production around the world. Bacterial communities harbored by insects could be affected by different environmental factors.
AbstractIncreasing evidence is proving the biological significance of the phytoplasma-secreted proteins. However, besides a few Sec-dependent secretory proteins, no other phytoplasma-secreted proteins have been reported yet. Candidatus Phytoplasma ziziphi is a phytoplasma that causes witches’-broom, a devastating jujube disease prevalent in east Asia. In this study, using the SecretomeP server coupled with an Escherichia coli-based alkaline phosphatase assay, we identified 25 non-classically secreted proteins (ncSecPs) from Ca. P. ziziphi, a novel type of secreted protein associated with phytoplasmas. Among them, six were characterized as hypersensitive cell death response (HR) suppressors that significantly attenuated both Bax- and INF1-triggered HR and H2O2 accumulation in Nicotiana benthamiana, indicating a so-far unknown role of the phytoplasma-secreted proteins. Further, we demonstrated that despite the diverse subcellular localizations in the N. benthamiana cells, the six HR-suppressing ncSecPs enhanced the gene expression of several known cell death inhibitors, including pathogenesis-related proteins (NbPR-1, NbPR-2, and NbPR-5) and Bax inhibitor-1 (NbBI-1 and NbBI-2). Together, our data indicated that Ca. P. ziziphi has evolved an arsenal of ncSecPs that jointly circumvent HR by activating the plant cell death inhibitors, thus providing new insight into understanding the pathogenesis of phytoplasmas.