The Environmental Microbiome and Its Interactions

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2022) | Viewed by 10798

Special Issue Editor

College of Science and Technology, Bellevue University, Bellevue, NE 68005, USA
Interests: microbial symbiosis; extremophiles; microbial photosensors; evolutionary microbiology; biochemistry; NGS; algal biofuels and algal biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The soil and water microbiome plays a crucial role in nutrient cycling within an environmental ecosystem. In recent years, thanks to metagenomic next-generation sequencing, we have begun to understand more about the vast diversity of microorganisms in many ecosystems on the planet. There is much more to be discovered and documented, however it has become clear that no cell lives and dies alone. There is a complex network of interactions between all forms of life, much of which still needs to be discovered.

Past research has mainly focused on parasitic or pathogenic interactions, but more recently we are starting to shed light on the complex syntrophic and other symbiotic interactions that occur between bacteria, protists, plants, and animals in environmental systems. With metagenomic analysis becoming more accessible, we can now also start comparing seasonal, temporal and spactial variations of microorganisms within an ecosystem. This presents a new level of understanding of the adaptation, resilience, and evolution of microbial ecosystems.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present advances in our understanding of microbial interactions (amongst each other or with plant or animal systems), in the fluctuations and resilience of microbial ecosystems, and broaden our understanding of the complex environmental microbiome in the era of metagenomics.

For this purpose, we welcome the submission of research articles, review articles, and short communications that provide novel insights into the various aspects of the environmental microbiome: the metagenomic analysis of microbiomes of novel or extreme environments, studies on microbial resilience or temporal fluctuations, symbiosis and co-evolution of the microbiome, novel microbial interactions (bacterial-–host interactions or symbiosis), modeling of nutrient cycling within environmental microbiomes, and technical challenges and interpretation issues of mNGS.

Dr. John Kyndt
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Microbial ecosystems
  • Metagenomics
  • Microbial interactions
  • Symbiosis
  • Microbiome resilience
  • Nutrient cycling
  • Next-generation sequencing

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

8 pages, 1076 KiB  
Article
Possible Antagonism between Cladosporium cladosporioides and Microcystis aeruginosa in a Freshwater Lake during Bloom Seasons
by Larry Wymer, Stephen Vesper, Ian Struewing, Joel Allen and Jingrang Lu
Life 2022, 12(5), 742; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12050742 - 17 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1967
Abstract
To ensure drinking-water safety, it is necessary to understand the factors that regulate harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs) and the toxins they produce. One controlling factor might be any relationship between fungi and the cyanobacteria. To test this possibility, water samples were obtained from [...] Read more.
To ensure drinking-water safety, it is necessary to understand the factors that regulate harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs) and the toxins they produce. One controlling factor might be any relationship between fungi and the cyanobacteria. To test this possibility, water samples were obtained from Harsha Lake in southwestern Ohio during the 2015, 2016, and 2017 bloom seasons, i.e., late May through September. In each water sample, the concentration of the filamentous fungus Cladosporium cladosporioides was determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay, and Microcystis aeruginosa microcystin-gene transcript copy number (McyG TCN) was quantified by reverse-transcriptase qPCR (RT-qPCR) analyses. The results showed that during each bloom season, the C. cladosporioides concentration and McyG TCN appeared to be interrelated. Therefore, C. cladosporioides concentrations were statistically evaluated via regression on McyG TCN in the water samples for lag times of 1 to 7 days. The regression equation developed to model the relationship demonstrated that a change in the C. cladosporioides concentration resulted in an opposing change in McyG TCN over an approximately 7-day interval. Although the interaction between C. cladosporioides and McyG TCN was observed in each bloom season, the magnitude of each component varied yearly. To better understand this possible interaction, outdoor Cladosporium spore-count data for the Harsha Lake region were obtained for late May through September of each year from the South West Ohio Air Quality Agency. The average Cladosporium spore count in the outdoor air samples was significantly greater in 2016 than in either 2015 or 2017, and the M. aeruginosa McyG TCN was significantly lower in Harsha Lake water samples in 2016 compared to 2015 or 2017. These results suggest that there might be a “balanced antagonism” between C. cladosporioides and M. aeruginosa during the bloom season. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Microbiome and Its Interactions)
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16 pages, 1763 KiB  
Article
Microbial Surface Biofilm Responds to the Growth-Reproduction-Senescence Cycle of the Dominant Coral Reef Macroalgae Sargassum spp.
by Bettina Glasl, Jasmine B. Haskell, Tania Aires, Ester A. Serrão, David G. Bourne, Nicole S. Webster and Pedro R. Frade
Life 2021, 11(11), 1199; https://doi.org/10.3390/life11111199 - 6 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3152
Abstract
Macroalgae play an intricate role in microbial-mediated coral reef degradation processes due to the release of dissolved nutrients. However, temporal variabilities of macroalgal surface biofilms and their implication on the wider reef system remain poorly characterized. Here, we study the microbial biofilm of [...] Read more.
Macroalgae play an intricate role in microbial-mediated coral reef degradation processes due to the release of dissolved nutrients. However, temporal variabilities of macroalgal surface biofilms and their implication on the wider reef system remain poorly characterized. Here, we study the microbial biofilm of the dominant reef macroalgae Sargassum over a period of one year at an inshore Great Barrier Reef site (Magnetic Island, Australia). Monthly sampling of the Sargassum biofilm links the temporal taxonomic and putative functional metabolic microbiome changes, examined using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenomic sequencing, to the pronounced growth-reproduction-senescence cycle of the host. Overall, the macroalgal biofilm was dominated by the heterotrophic phyla Firmicutes (35% ± 5.9% SD) and Bacteroidetes (12% ± 0.6% SD); their relative abundance ratio shifted significantly along the annual growth-reproduction-senescence cycle of Sargassum. For example, Firmicutes were 1.7 to 3.9 times more abundant during host growth and reproduction cycles than Bacteroidetes. Both phyla varied in their carbohydrate degradation capabilities; hence, temporal fluctuations in the carbohydrate availability are potentially linked to the observed shift. Dominant heterotrophic macroalgal biofilm members, such as Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, are implicated in exacerbating or ameliorating the release of dissolved nutrients into the ambient environment, though their contribution to microbial-mediated reef degradation processes remains to be determined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Microbiome and Its Interactions)
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17 pages, 3339 KiB  
Article
Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure of a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill: A Source of Lignocellulolytic Potential
by Ogechukwu Bose Chukwuma, Mohd Rafatullah, Husnul Azan Tajarudin and Norli Ismail
Life 2021, 11(6), 493; https://doi.org/10.3390/life11060493 - 28 May 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3917
Abstract
Omics have given rise to research on sparsely studied microbial communities such as the landfill, lignocellulolytic microorganisms and enzymes. The bacterial diversity of Municipal Solid Waste sediments was determined using the illumina MiSeq system after DNA extraction and Polymerase chain reactions. Data analysis [...] Read more.
Omics have given rise to research on sparsely studied microbial communities such as the landfill, lignocellulolytic microorganisms and enzymes. The bacterial diversity of Municipal Solid Waste sediments was determined using the illumina MiSeq system after DNA extraction and Polymerase chain reactions. Data analysis was used to determine the community’s richness, diversity, and correlation with environmental factors. Physicochemical studies revealed sites with mesophilic and thermophilic temperature ranges and a mixture of acidic and alkaline pH values. Temperature and moisture content showed the highest correlation with the bacteria community. The bacterial analysis of the community DNA revealed 357,030 effective sequences and 1891 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) assigned. Forty phyla were found, with the dominant phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidota, while Aerococcus, Stenotrophomonas, and Sporosarcina were the dominant species. PICRUSt provided insight on community’s metabolic function, which was narrowed down to search for lignocellulolytic enzymes’ function. Cellulase, xylanase, esterase, and peroxidase were gene functions inferred from the data. This article reports on the first phylogenetic analysis of the Pulau Burung landfill bacterial community. These results will help to improve the understanding of organisms dominant in the landfill and the corresponding enzymes that contribute to lignocellulose breakdown. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Microbiome and Its Interactions)
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