Biotechnology


Publications (174)

An endolysin gene from Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus confers dual resistance to huanglongbing and citrus canker

Citation
Xu et al. (2023). Horticulture Research 10 (9)
Names (1)
Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus
Subjects
Biochemistry Biotechnology Genetics Horticulture Plant Science
Abstract
Abstract The most damaging citrus diseases are Huanglongbing (HLB) and citrus canker, which are caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas) and Xanthomonas citri pv. citri (Xcc), respectively. Endolysins from bacteriophages are a possible option for disease resistance in plant breeding. Here, we report improvement of citrus resistance to HLB and citrus canker using the LasLYS1 and LasLYS2 endolysins from CaLas. LasLYS2 demonstrated bactericidal efficacy against several Rhizobiaceae bacteria and Xcc, according to inhibition zone analyses. The two genes, driven by a strong promoter from Cauliflower mosaic virus, 35S, were integrated into Carrizo citrange via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. More than 2 years of greenhouse testing indicated that LasLYS2 provided substantial and long-lasting resistance to HLB, allowing transgenic plants to retain low CaLas titers and no obvious symptoms while also clearing CaLas from infected plants in the long term. LasLYS2 transgenic plants with improved HLB resistance also showed resistance to Xcc, indicating that LasLYS2 had dual resistance to HLB and citrus canker. A microbiome study of transgenic plants revealed that the endolysins repressed Xanthomonadaceae and Rhizobiaceae populations in roots while increasing Burkholderiaceae and Rhodanobacteraceae populations, which might boost the citrus defense response, according to transcriptome analysis. We also found that Lyz domain 2 is the key bactericidal motif of LasLYS1 and LasLYS2. Four endolysins with potential resistance to HLB and citrus canker were found based on the structures of LasLYS1 and LasLYS2. Overall, the work shed light on the mechanisms of resistance of CaLas-derived endolysins, providing insights for designing endolysins to develop broad-spectrum disease resistance in citrus.

Candidatus Subterrananammoxibiaceae,” a New Anammox Bacterial Family in Globally Distributed Marine and Terrestrial Subsurfaces

Citation
Zhao et al. (2023). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 89 (8)
Names (1)
Ca. Subterrananammoxibiaceae
Subjects
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Biotechnology Ecology Food Science
Abstract
Microorganisms called anammox bacteria are efficient in removing bioavailable nitrogen from many natural and human-made environments. They exist in almost every anoxic habitat where both ammonium and nitrate/nitrite are present.

Candidatus Nealsonbacteria” Are Likely Biomass Recycling Ectosymbionts of Methanogenic Archaea in a Stable Benzene-Degrading Enrichment Culture

Citation
Chen et al. (2023). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 89 (5)
Names (1)
Ca. Nealsonbacteria
Subjects
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Biotechnology Ecology Food Science
Abstract
An anaerobic microbial enrichment culture was used to study members of candidate phyla that are difficult to grow in the lab. We were able to visualize tiny “ Candidatus Nealsonbacteria” cells attached to a large Methanothrix cell, revealing a novel episymbiosis.

Effects of reducing, stabilizing, and antibiotic agents on “Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis”

Citation
Ude et al. (2023). Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 107 (5-6)
Names (1)
Ca. Kuenenia stuttgartiensis
Subjects
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Biotechnology General Medicine
Abstract
Abstract Anaerobic ammon ium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria oxidize ammonium and reduce nitrite, producing N2, and could play a major role in energy-optimized wastewater treatment. However, sensitivity to various environmental conditions and slow growth currently hinder their wide application. Here, we attempted to determine online the effect of environmental stresses on anammox bacteria by using an overnight batch activity test with whole cells, in which anammox activity was calculated by quantifying N2 production via headspace-pressure monitoring. A planktonic mixed culture dominated by “Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis” strain CSTR1 was cultivated in a 30-L semi-continuous stirring tank reactor. In overnight resting-cell anammox activity tests, oxygen caused strong inhibition of anammox activity, which was reversed by sodium sulfite (30 µM). The tested antibiotics sulfamethoxazole, kanamycin, and ciprofloxacin elicited their effect on a dose-dependent manner; however, strain CSTR1 was highly resistant to sulfamethoxazole. Anammox activity was improved by activated carbon and Fe2O3. Protein expression analysis from resting cells after anammox activity stimulation revealed that NapC/NirT family cytochrome c (KsCSTR_12840), hydrazine synthase, hydrazine dehydrogenase, hydroxylamine oxidase, and nitrate:nitrite oxidoreductase were upregulated, while a putative hydroxylamine oxidoreductase HAO (KsCSTR_49490) was downregulated. These findings contribute to the growing knowledge on anammox bacteria physiology, eventually leading to the control of anammox bacteria growth and activity in real-world application. Key Points • Sulfite additions can reverse oxygen inhibition of the anammox process • Anammox activity was improved by activated carbon and ferric oxide • Sulfamethoxazole marginally affected anammox activity Graphical abstract

Occurrence, Diversity, and Genomes of “ Candidatus Patescibacteria” along the Early Diagenesis of Marine Sediments

Citation
Zhao et al. (2022). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 88 (24)
Names (1)
Ca. Patescibacteria
Subjects
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Biotechnology Ecology Food Science
Abstract
Ultrasmall-celled “ Ca. Patescibacteria” have been estimated to account for one-quarter of the total microbial diversity on Earth, the parasitic lifestyle of which may exert a profound control on the overall microbial population size of the local ecosystems. However, their diversity and metabolic functions in marine sediments, one of the largest yet understudied ecosystems on Earth, remain virtually uncharacterized.

Dehalogenation of Chlorinated Ethenes to Ethene by a Novel Isolate, “ Candidatus Dehalogenimonas etheniformans”

Citation
Chen et al. (2022). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 88 (12)
Names (1)
Ca. Dehalogenimonas etheniformans
Subjects
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Biotechnology Ecology Food Science
Abstract
Chlorinated ethenes are risk drivers at many contaminated sites, and current bioremediation efforts focus on organohalide-respiring Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains to achieve detoxification. We isolated and characterized the first non- Dehalococcoides bacterium, “ Candidatus Dehalogenimonas etheniformans” strain GP, capable of metabolic reductive dechlorination of TCE, all DCE isomers, and VC to environmentally benign ethene.