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Evaluation Of Locally Isolated Entomopathogenic Fungi Against Multiple Life Stages Of Bactrocera Zonata And Bactrocera Dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): Laboratory And Field Study, Muhammad Usman, Waqas Wakil, Jaime C. Piñero, Shaohui Wu, Michael D. Toews, David Ian Shapiro-Ilan Jan 2021

Evaluation Of Locally Isolated Entomopathogenic Fungi Against Multiple Life Stages Of Bactrocera Zonata And Bactrocera Dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): Laboratory And Field Study, Muhammad Usman, Waqas Wakil, Jaime C. Piñero, Shaohui Wu, Michael D. Toews, David Ian Shapiro-Ilan

Stockbridge Faculty Publication Series

Fruit flies including Bactrocera zonata and B. dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) are considered major pests of orchard systems in Pakistan. This study evaluated the laboratory virulence, sub-lethal effects, horizontal transmission, greenhouse, and field-cage efficacy of locally isolated entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) against B. zonata and B. dorsalis. In virulence assays against third instars and adults, all 21 EPF isolates (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) tested were pathogenic and caused varying levels of mortality to the fruit flies. Based on the initial screening, four isolates (B. bassiana WG-21 and WG-18 and M. anisopliae WG-07 and WG-02) were selected for further study. The isolate …


Genome Sequence Of Aspergillus Aculeatinus Ic_8, Isolated From An Indoor Air Sample Of An Urban Housing Complex In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Shu Zhao, David Koffi, Jean-Paul Latge, Karidia Sylla, John G. Gibbons Jan 2021

Genome Sequence Of Aspergillus Aculeatinus Ic_8, Isolated From An Indoor Air Sample Of An Urban Housing Complex In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Shu Zhao, David Koffi, Jean-Paul Latge, Karidia Sylla, John G. Gibbons

Food Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Aspergillus aculeatinus is an industrially important species of Aspergillus section Nigri capable of producing bioactive, antibiotic, and antitumor compounds. We sequenced the genome of a strain of A. aculeatinus that was isolated from the interior of a housing complex in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.


Population Genomic Analysis Of Listeria Monocytogenes From Food Reveals Substrate-Specific Genome Variation, Tyler D. Bechtel, John G. Gibbons Jan 2021

Population Genomic Analysis Of Listeria Monocytogenes From Food Reveals Substrate-Specific Genome Variation, Tyler D. Bechtel, John G. Gibbons

Food Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Listeria monocytogenes is the major causative agent of the foodborne illness listeriosis. Listeriosis presents as flu-like symptoms in healthy individuals, and can be fatal for children, elderly, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals. Estimates suggest that L. monocytogenes results in similar to 1,600 illnesses and similar to 260 deaths annually in the United States. L. monocytogenes can survive and persist in a variety of harsh environments, including conditions encountered in production of fermented dairy products such as cheese. For instance, microbial growth is often limited in soft cheese fermentation because of harsh pH, water content, and salt concentrations. However, L. monocytogenes …


Cloning, Heterologous Expression, And Characterization Of A Βκ-Carrageenase From Marine Bacterium Wenyingzhuangia Funcanilytica: A Specific Enzyme For The Hybrid Carrageenan–Furcellaran, Siqi Cao, Yuying Zhang, Guangning Chen, Jingjing Shen, Jin Han, Yaoguang Chang, Hang Xiao, Changhu Xue Jan 2021

Cloning, Heterologous Expression, And Characterization Of A Βκ-Carrageenase From Marine Bacterium Wenyingzhuangia Funcanilytica: A Specific Enzyme For The Hybrid Carrageenan–Furcellaran, Siqi Cao, Yuying Zhang, Guangning Chen, Jingjing Shen, Jin Han, Yaoguang Chang, Hang Xiao, Changhu Xue

Food Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Carrageenan is a group of important food polysaccharides with high structural heterogeneity. Furcellaran is a typical hybrid carrageenan, which contains the structure consisted of alternative beta-carrageenan and kappa-carrageenan motifs. Although several furcellaran-hydrolyzing enzymes have been characterized, their specificity for the glycosidic linkage was still unclear. In this study, we cloned, expressed, and characterized a novel GH16_13 furcellaran-hydrolyzing enzyme Cgbk16A_Wf from the marine bacterium Wenyingzhuangia fucanilytica CZ1127. Cgbk16A_Wf exhibited its maximum activity at 50 degrees C and pH 6.0 and showed high thermal stability. The oligosaccharides in enzymatic products were identified by liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and …


Comparison Of Two Aspergillus Oryzae Genomes From Different Clades Reveals Independent Evolution Of Alpha-Amylase Duplication, Variation In Secondary Metabolism Genes, And Differences In Primary Metabolism, Katherine Chacón-Vargas, Colin O. Mccarthy, Dasol Choi, Long Wang, Jae-Hyuk Yu, John G. Gibbons Jan 2021

Comparison Of Two Aspergillus Oryzae Genomes From Different Clades Reveals Independent Evolution Of Alpha-Amylase Duplication, Variation In Secondary Metabolism Genes, And Differences In Primary Metabolism, Katherine Chacón-Vargas, Colin O. Mccarthy, Dasol Choi, Long Wang, Jae-Hyuk Yu, John G. Gibbons

Food Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Microbes (bacteria, yeasts, molds), in addition to plants and animals, were domesticated for their roles in food preservation, nutrition and flavor. Aspergillus oryzae is a domesticated filamentous fungal species traditionally used during fermentation of Asian foods and beverage, such as sake, soy sauce, and miso. To date, little is known about the extent of genome and phenotypic variation of A. oryzae isolates from different clades. Here, we used long-read Oxford Nanopore and short-read Illumina sequencing to produce a highly accurate and contiguous genome assemble of A. oryzae 14160, an industrial strain from China. To understand the relationship of this isolate, …


Comparison Of Two 16s Rrna Primers (V3–V4 And V4–V5) For Studies Of Arctic Microbial Communities, Eduard Fadeev, Magda G. Cardozo-Mino, Josephine Z. Rapp, Christina Bienhold, Ian Salter, Verena Salman-Carvalho, Massimiliano Molari, Halina E. Tegetmeyer, Pier Luigi Buttigieg Jan 2021

Comparison Of Two 16s Rrna Primers (V3–V4 And V4–V5) For Studies Of Arctic Microbial Communities, Eduard Fadeev, Magda G. Cardozo-Mino, Josephine Z. Rapp, Christina Bienhold, Ian Salter, Verena Salman-Carvalho, Massimiliano Molari, Halina E. Tegetmeyer, Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Microbial communities of the Arctic Ocean are poorly characterized in comparison to other aquatic environments as to their horizontal, vertical, and temporal turnover. Yet, recent studies showed that the Arctic marine ecosystem harbors unique microbial community members that are adapted to harsh environmental conditions, such as near-freezing temperatures and extreme seasonality. The gene for the small ribosomal subunit (16S rRNA) is commonly used to study the taxonomic composition of microbial communities in their natural environment. Several primer sets for this marker gene have been extensively tested across various sample sets, but these typically originated from low-latitude environments. An explicit evaluation …


Direct Observation Of Electrically Conductive Pili Emanating From Geobacter Sulfurreducens, Xinying Liu, David J. F. Walker, Stephen S. Nonnenmann, Dezhi Sun, Derek R. Lovley Jan 2021

Direct Observation Of Electrically Conductive Pili Emanating From Geobacter Sulfurreducens, Xinying Liu, David J. F. Walker, Stephen S. Nonnenmann, Dezhi Sun, Derek R. Lovley

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a model microbe for elucidating the mechanisms for extracellular electron transfer in several biogeochemical cycles, bioelectrochemical applications, and microbial metal corrosion. Multiple lines of evidence previously suggested that electrically conductive pili (e-pili) are an essential conduit for long-range extracellular electron transport in G. sulfurreducens. However, it has recently been reported that G. sulfurreducens does not express e-pili and that filaments comprised of multi-heme c-type cytochromes are responsible for long-range electron transport. This possibility was directly investigated by examining cells, rather than filament preparations, with atomic force microscopy. Approximately 90% of the filaments emanating from wild-type cells had …


Trehalose Recycling Promotes Energy-Efficient Biosynthesis Of The Mycobacterial Cell Envelope, Amol Arunrao Pohane, Caleb R. Carr, Jaishree Garhyan, Benjamin M. Swarts, M. Sloan Siegrist Jan 2021

Trehalose Recycling Promotes Energy-Efficient Biosynthesis Of The Mycobacterial Cell Envelope, Amol Arunrao Pohane, Caleb R. Carr, Jaishree Garhyan, Benjamin M. Swarts, M. Sloan Siegrist

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

The mycomembrane layer of the mycobacterial cell envelope is a barrier to environmental, immune, and antibiotic insults. There is considerable evidence of mycomembrane plasticity during infection and in response to host-mimicking stresses. Since mycobacteria are resource and energy limited under these conditions, it is likely that remodeling has distinct requirements from those of the well-characterized biosynthetic program that operates during unrestricted growth. Unexpectedly, we found that mycomembrane remodeling in nutrient-starved, nonreplicating mycobacteria includes synthesis in addition to turnover. Mycomembrane synthesis under these conditions occurs along the cell periphery, in contrast to the polar assembly of actively growing cells, and both …


Spatial Distribution Of Arctic Bacterioplankton Abundance Is Linked To Distinct Water Masses And Summertime Phytoplankton Bloom Dynamics (Fram Strait, 79°N), Magda G. Cardozo-Mino, Eduard Fadeev, Verena Salman-Carvalho, Antje Boetius Jan 2021

Spatial Distribution Of Arctic Bacterioplankton Abundance Is Linked To Distinct Water Masses And Summertime Phytoplankton Bloom Dynamics (Fram Strait, 79°N), Magda G. Cardozo-Mino, Eduard Fadeev, Verena Salman-Carvalho, Antje Boetius

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

The Arctic is impacted by climate warming faster than any other oceanic region on Earth. Assessing the baseline of microbial communities in this rapidly changing ecosystem is vital for understanding the implications of ocean warming and sea ice retreat on ecosystem functioning. Using CARD-FISH and semi-automated counting, we quantified 14 ecologically relevant taxonomic groups of bacterioplankton (Bacteria and Archaea) from surface (0-30 m) down to deep waters (2,500 m) in summer ice-covered and ice-free regions of the Fram Strait, the main gateway for Atlantic inflow into the Arctic Ocean. Cell abundances of the bacterioplankton communities in surface waters varied from …


How Do Shipworms Eat Wood? Screening Shipworm Gill Symbiont Genomes For Lignin-Modifying Enzymes, Stefanos Stravoravdis, J. Reuben Shipway, Barry Goodell Jan 2021

How Do Shipworms Eat Wood? Screening Shipworm Gill Symbiont Genomes For Lignin-Modifying Enzymes, Stefanos Stravoravdis, J. Reuben Shipway, Barry Goodell

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Shipworms are ecologically and economically important mollusks that feed on woody plant material (lignocellulosic biomass) in marine environments. Digestion occurs in a specialized cecum, reported to be virtually sterile and lacking resident gut microbiota. Wood-degrading CAZymes are produced both endogenously and by gill endosymbiotic bacteria, with extracellular enzymes from the latter being transported to the gut. Previous research has predominantly focused on how these animals process the cellulose component of woody plant material, neglecting the breakdown of lignin - a tough, aromatic polymer which blocks access to the holocellulose components of wood. Enzymatic or non-enzymatic modification and depolymerization of lignin …


One Versus Many: Polymicrobial Communities And The Cystic Fibrosis Airway, Fabrice Jean-Pierre, Arsh Vyas, Thomas H. Hampton, Michael A. Henson, George A. O'Toole Jan 2021

One Versus Many: Polymicrobial Communities And The Cystic Fibrosis Airway, Fabrice Jean-Pierre, Arsh Vyas, Thomas H. Hampton, Michael A. Henson, George A. O'Toole

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publication Series

Culture-independent studies have revealed that chronic lung infections in persons with cystic fibrosis (pwCF) are rarely limited to one microbial species. Interactions among bacterial members of these polymicrobial communities in the airways of pwCF have been reported to modulate clinically relevant phenotypes. Furthermore, it is clear that a single polymicrobial community in the context of CF airway infections cannot explain the diversity of clinical outcomes. While large 16S rRNA gene- based studies have allowed us to gain insight into the microbial composition and predicted functional capacities of communities found in the CF lung, here we argue that in silico approaches …


Species And Population Specific Gene Expression In Blood Transcriptomes Of Marine Turtles, Shreya M. Banerjee, Jamie Adkins Stoll, Camryn D. Allen, Jennifer M. Lynch, Heather S. Harris, Lauren Kenyon, Richard E. Connon, Eleanor J. Sterling, Eugenia Naro-Maciel, Kathryn Mcfadden Jan 2021

Species And Population Specific Gene Expression In Blood Transcriptomes Of Marine Turtles, Shreya M. Banerjee, Jamie Adkins Stoll, Camryn D. Allen, Jennifer M. Lynch, Heather S. Harris, Lauren Kenyon, Richard E. Connon, Eleanor J. Sterling, Eugenia Naro-Maciel, Kathryn Mcfadden

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Background: Transcriptomic data has demonstrated utility to advance the study of physiological diversity and organisms' responses to environmental stressors. However, a lack of genomic resources and challenges associated with collecting high-quality RNA can limit its application for many wild populations. Minimally invasive blood sampling combined with de novo transcriptomic approaches has great potential to alleviate these barriers. Here, we advance these goals for marine turtles by generating high quality de novo blood transcriptome assemblies to characterize functional diversity and compare global transcriptional profiles between tissues, species, and foraging aggregations.ResultsWe generated high quality blood transcriptome assemblies for hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead …


Stress-Induced Reorganization Of The Mycobacterial Membrane Domain, Jennifer M. Hayashi, Kirill Richardson, Emily S. Melzer, Steven J. Sandler, Bree B. Aldridge, M. Sloan Siegrist, Yasu S. Morita Jan 2018

Stress-Induced Reorganization Of The Mycobacterial Membrane Domain, Jennifer M. Hayashi, Kirill Richardson, Emily S. Melzer, Steven J. Sandler, Bree B. Aldridge, M. Sloan Siegrist, Yasu S. Morita

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Cell elongation occurs primarily at the mycobacterial cell poles, but the molecular mechanisms governing this spatial regulation remain elusive. We recently reported the presence of an intracellular membrane domain (IMD) that was spatially segregated from the conventional plasma membrane in Mycobacterium smegmatis. The IMD is enriched in the polar region of actively elongating cells and houses many essential enzymes involved in envelope biosynthesis, suggesting its role in spatially restricted elongation at the cell poles. Here, we examined reorganization of the IMD when the cells are no longer elongating. To monitor the IMD, we used a previously established reporter strain …


Genome Sequence Of Verrucomicrobium Sp. Strain Gas474, A Novel Bacterium Isolated From Soil, Grace Pold, Erin M. Conlon, Marcel Huntemann, Manoj Pillay, Natalia Mikhailova, Dimitrios Stamatis, T.B.K. Reddy, Chris Daum, Nicole Shapiro, Nikos Kyrpides, Tanja Woyke, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2018

Genome Sequence Of Verrucomicrobium Sp. Strain Gas474, A Novel Bacterium Isolated From Soil, Grace Pold, Erin M. Conlon, Marcel Huntemann, Manoj Pillay, Natalia Mikhailova, Dimitrios Stamatis, T.B.K. Reddy, Chris Daum, Nicole Shapiro, Nikos Kyrpides, Tanja Woyke, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Verrucomicrobium sp. strain GAS474 was isolated from the mineral soil of a temperate deciduous forest in central Massachusetts. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of this phylogenetically novel organism, which consists of a total of 3,763,444 bp on a single scaffold, with a 65.8% GC content and 3,273 predicted open reading frames.


Demethylmenaquinone Methyl Transferase Is A Membrane Domain-Associated Protein Essential For Menaquinone Homeostasis In Mycobacterium Smegmatis, Julia Puffal, Jacob A. Mayfield, D. Branch Moody, Yasu S. Morita Jan 2018

Demethylmenaquinone Methyl Transferase Is A Membrane Domain-Associated Protein Essential For Menaquinone Homeostasis In Mycobacterium Smegmatis, Julia Puffal, Jacob A. Mayfield, D. Branch Moody, Yasu S. Morita

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

The intracellular membrane domain (IMD) in mycobacteria is a spatially distinct region of the plasma membrane with diverse functions. Previous comparative proteomic analysis of the IMD suggested that menaquinone biosynthetic enzymes are associated with this domain. In the present study, we determined the subcellular site of these enzymes using sucrose density gradient fractionation. We found that the last two enzymes, the methyltransferase MenG, and the reductase MenJ, are associated with the IMD in Mycobacterium smegmatis. MenA, the prenyltransferase that mediates the first membrane-associated step of the menaquinone biosynthesis, is associated with the conventional plasma membrane. For MenG, we additionally …


Multi-Time Series Rna-Seq Analysis Of Enterobacter Lignolyticus Scf1 During Growth In Lignin-Amended Medium, Roberto Orellana, Gina Chaput, Lye Meng Markillie, Hugh Mitchell, Matt Gaffrey, Gayla Orr, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2017

Multi-Time Series Rna-Seq Analysis Of Enterobacter Lignolyticus Scf1 During Growth In Lignin-Amended Medium, Roberto Orellana, Gina Chaput, Lye Meng Markillie, Hugh Mitchell, Matt Gaffrey, Gayla Orr, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

The production of lignocellulosic-derived biofuels is a highly promising source of alternative energy, but it has been constrained by the lack of a microbial platform capable to efficiently degrade this recalcitrant material and cope with by-products that can be toxic to cells. Species that naturally grow in environments where carbon is mainly available as lignin are promising for finding new ways of removing the lignin that protects cellulose for improved conversion of lignin to fuel precursors. Enterobacter lignolyticus SCF1 is a facultative anaerobic Gammaproteobacteria isolated from tropical rain forest soil collected in El Yunque forest, Puerto Rico under anoxic growth …


High-Quality Draft Genome Sequences Of Four Lignocellulose-Degrading Bacteria Isolated From Puerto Rican Forest Soil: Gordonia Sp., Paenibacillus Sp., Variovorax Sp., And Vogesella Sp., Hannah L. Woo, Kristen Deangelis, Hazuki Teshima, Karen Davenport, Hajnalka Daligault, Tracy Erkkila, Lynne Goodwin, Wei Gu, Chien-Chi Lo, Christine Munk, Matthew Scholz, Yan Xu, Patrick Chain, David Bruce, Chris Detter, Roxanne Tapia, Cliff Han, Blake A. Simmons, Terry C. Hazen Jan 2017

High-Quality Draft Genome Sequences Of Four Lignocellulose-Degrading Bacteria Isolated From Puerto Rican Forest Soil: Gordonia Sp., Paenibacillus Sp., Variovorax Sp., And Vogesella Sp., Hannah L. Woo, Kristen Deangelis, Hazuki Teshima, Karen Davenport, Hajnalka Daligault, Tracy Erkkila, Lynne Goodwin, Wei Gu, Chien-Chi Lo, Christine Munk, Matthew Scholz, Yan Xu, Patrick Chain, David Bruce, Chris Detter, Roxanne Tapia, Cliff Han, Blake A. Simmons, Terry C. Hazen

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Here, we report the high-quality draft genome sequences of four phylogenetically diverse lignocellulose-degrading bacteria isolated from tropical soil (Gordonia sp., Paenibacillus sp., Variovorax sp., and Vogesella sp.) to elucidate the genetic basis of their ability to degrade lignocellulose. These isolates may provide novel enzymes for biofuel production.


Changes In Substrate Availability Drive Carbon Cycle Response To Chronic Warming, Grace Pold, A. Stuart Grandy, Jerry M. Melillo, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2017

Changes In Substrate Availability Drive Carbon Cycle Response To Chronic Warming, Grace Pold, A. Stuart Grandy, Jerry M. Melillo, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

As earth's climate continues to warm, it is important to understand how the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to retain carbon (C) will be affected. We combined measurements of microbial activity with the concentration, quality, and physical accessibility of soil carbon to microorganisms to evaluate the mechanisms by which more than two decades of experimental warming has altered the carbon cycle in a Northeast US temperate deciduous forest. We found that concentrations of soil organic matter were reduced in both the organic and mineral soil horizons. The molecular composition of the carbon was altered in the mineral soil with …


Hydrogen Production And Enzyme Activities In The Hyperthermophile Thermococcus Paralvinellae Grown On Maltose, Tryptone, And Agricultural Waste, Sarah A. Hensley, Emily Moreira, James F. Holden Jan 2016

Hydrogen Production And Enzyme Activities In The Hyperthermophile Thermococcus Paralvinellae Grown On Maltose, Tryptone, And Agricultural Waste, Sarah A. Hensley, Emily Moreira, James F. Holden

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Thermococcus may be an important alternative source of H2 in the hot subseafloor in otherwise low H2environments such as some hydrothermal vents and oil reservoirs. It may also be useful in industry for rapid agricultural waste treatment and concomitant H2 production. Thermococcus paralvinellae grown at 82°C without sulfur produced up to 5 mmol of H2 L−1 at rates of 5–36 fmol H2 cell−1 h−1 on 0.5% (wt vol−1) maltose, 0.5% (wt vol−1) tryptone, and 0.5% maltose + 0.05% tryptone media. Two potentially inhibiting conditions, the presence of 10 mM acetate and low pH (pH 5) in maltose-only medium, did not …


Long-Term Warming Alters Carbohydrate Degradation Potential In Temperate Forest Soils, Grace Pold, Andrew F. Billings, Jeff L. Blanchard, Daniel B. Burkhardt, Serita D. Frey, Jerry M. Melillo, Julia Schnabel, Linda T.A. Van Diepen, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2016

Long-Term Warming Alters Carbohydrate Degradation Potential In Temperate Forest Soils, Grace Pold, Andrew F. Billings, Jeff L. Blanchard, Daniel B. Burkhardt, Serita D. Frey, Jerry M. Melillo, Julia Schnabel, Linda T.A. Van Diepen, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

As Earth's climate warms, soil carbon pools and the microbial communities that process them may change, altering the way in which carbon is recycled in soil. In this study, we used a combination of metagenomics and bacterial cultivation to evaluate the hypothesis that experimentally raising soil temperatures by 5°C for 5, 8, or 20 years increased the potential for temperate forest soil microbial communities to degrade carbohydrates. Warming decreased the proportion of carbohydrate-degrading genes in the organic horizon derived from eukaryotes and increased the fraction of genes in the mineral soil associated with Actinobacteria in all studies. Genes associated with …


Two Decades Of Warming Increases Diversity Of A Potentially Lignolytic Bacterial Community, Grace Pold, Jerry M. Melillo, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2015

Two Decades Of Warming Increases Diversity Of A Potentially Lignolytic Bacterial Community, Grace Pold, Jerry M. Melillo, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

As Earth's climate warms, the massive stores of carbon found in soil are predicted to become depleted, and leave behind a smaller carbon pool that is less accessible to microbes. At a long-term forest soil-warming experiment in central Massachusetts, soil respiration and bacterial diversity have increased, while fungal biomass and microbially-accessible soil carbon have decreased. Here, we evaluate how warming has affected the microbial community's capability to degrade chemically-complex soil carbon using lignin-amended BioSep beads. We profiled the bacterial and fungal communities using PCR-based methods and completed extracellular enzyme assays as a proxy for potential community function. We found that …


Genome Sequence And Description Of The Anaerobic Lignin-Degrading Bacterium Tolumonas Lignolytica Sp. Nov., Andrew F. Billings, Julian L. Fortney, Terry C. Hazen, Blake Simmons, Karen W. Davenport, Lynne Goodwin, Natalia Ivanova, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Konstantinos Mavromatis, Tanya Woyke, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2015

Genome Sequence And Description Of The Anaerobic Lignin-Degrading Bacterium Tolumonas Lignolytica Sp. Nov., Andrew F. Billings, Julian L. Fortney, Terry C. Hazen, Blake Simmons, Karen W. Davenport, Lynne Goodwin, Natalia Ivanova, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Konstantinos Mavromatis, Tanya Woyke, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Tolumonas lignolytica BRL6-1T sp. nov. is the type strain of T. lignolytica sp. nov., a proposed novel species of the Tolumonas genus. This strain was isolated from tropical rainforest soils based on its ability to utilize lignin as a sole carbon source. Cells of Tolumonas lignolytica BRL6-1T are mesophilic, non-spore forming, Gram-negative rods that are oxidase and catalase negative. The genome for this isolate was sequenced and returned in seven unique contigs totaling 3.6Mbp, enabling the characterization of several putative pathways for lignin breakdown. Particularly, we found an extracellular peroxidase involved in lignin depolymerization, as well as several enzymes involved …


Long-Term Forest Soil Warming Alters Microbial Communities In Temperate Forest Soils, Kristen Deangelis, Grace Pold, Begüm D. Topçuoğlu, Linda T.A. Van Diepen, Rebecca M. Varney, Jeffrey L. Blanchard, Jerry Melillo, Serita D. Frey Jan 2015

Long-Term Forest Soil Warming Alters Microbial Communities In Temperate Forest Soils, Kristen Deangelis, Grace Pold, Begüm D. Topçuoğlu, Linda T.A. Van Diepen, Rebecca M. Varney, Jeffrey L. Blanchard, Jerry Melillo, Serita D. Frey

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Soil microbes are major drivers of soil carbon cycling, yet we lack an understanding of how climate warming will affect microbial communities. Three ongoing field studies at the Harvard Forest Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) site (Petersham, MA) have warmed soils 5°C above ambient temperatures for 5, 8, and 20 years. We used this chronosequence to test the hypothesis that soil microbial communities have changed in response to chronic warming. Bacterial community composition was studied using Illumina sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, and bacterial and fungal abundance were assessed using quantitative PCR. Only the 20-year warmed site exhibited significant …


Complete Genome Sequence Of The Lignin-Degrading Bacterium Klebsiella Sp. Strain Brl6-2, Hannah L. Woo, Nicholas R. Ballor, Terry C. Hazen, Julian L. Fortney, Blake Simmons, Karen Walston Davenport, Lynne Goodwin, Natalia Ivanova, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Konstantinos Mavromatis, Tanja Woyke, Janet Jansson, Jeff Kimbrell, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2014

Complete Genome Sequence Of The Lignin-Degrading Bacterium Klebsiella Sp. Strain Brl6-2, Hannah L. Woo, Nicholas R. Ballor, Terry C. Hazen, Julian L. Fortney, Blake Simmons, Karen Walston Davenport, Lynne Goodwin, Natalia Ivanova, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Konstantinos Mavromatis, Tanja Woyke, Janet Jansson, Jeff Kimbrell, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

In an effort to discover anaerobic bacteria capable of lignin degradation, we isolated Klebsiella sp. strain BRL6-2 on minimal media with alkali lignin as the sole carbon source. This organism was isolated anaerobically from tropical forest soils collected from the Bisley watershed at the Ridge site in the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, USA, part of the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Station. At this site, the soils experience strong fluctuations in redox potential and are characterized by cycles of iron oxidation and reduction. Genome sequencing was targeted because of its ability to grow on lignin anaerobically and lignocellulolytic …


Enzyme Activities Of Aerobic Lignocellulolytic Bacteria Isolated From Wet Tropical Forest Soils, Hannah L. Woo, Terry C. Hazen, Blake A. Simmons, Kristen Deangelis Jan 2014

Enzyme Activities Of Aerobic Lignocellulolytic Bacteria Isolated From Wet Tropical Forest Soils, Hannah L. Woo, Terry C. Hazen, Blake A. Simmons, Kristen Deangelis

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Lignocellulolytic bacteria have promised to be a fruitful source of new enzymes for next-generation lignocellulosic biofuel production. Puerto Rican tropical forest soils were targeted because the resident microbes decompose biomass quickly and to near-completion. Isolates were initially screened based on growth on cellulose or lignin in minimal media. 75 Isolates were further tested for the following lignocellulolytic enzyme activities: phenol oxidase, peroxidase, β-d-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, β-xylopyranosidase, chitinase, CMCase, and xylanase. Cellulose-derived isolates possessed elevated β-d-glucosidase, CMCase, and cellobiohydrolase activity but depressed phenol oxidase and peroxidase activity, while the contrary was true of lignin isolates, suggesting that these bacteria are specialized to …


Draft Genome Sequence Of The Lignin-Degrading Burkholderia Sp. Strain Lig30, Isolated From Wet Tropical Forest Soil, Hannah L. Woo, Sagar Utturkar, Dawn Klingeman, Blake A. Simmons, Kristen Deangelis, Steven D. Brown, Terry C. Hazen Jan 2014

Draft Genome Sequence Of The Lignin-Degrading Burkholderia Sp. Strain Lig30, Isolated From Wet Tropical Forest Soil, Hannah L. Woo, Sagar Utturkar, Dawn Klingeman, Blake A. Simmons, Kristen Deangelis, Steven D. Brown, Terry C. Hazen

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Burkholderia species are common soil Betaproteobacteria capable of degrading recalcitrant aromatic compounds and xenobiotics. Burkholderia sp. strain LIG30 was isolated from wet tropical forest soil and is capable of utilizing lignin as a sole carbon source. Here we report the draft genome sequence of Burkholderia sp. strain LIG30.


Fluctuations In Species-Level Protein Expression Occur During Element And Nutrient Cycling In The Subsurface, Michael Wilkins, Kelly Wrighton, Carrie Nicora, Kenneth Williams, Lee Mccue, Kim Handley, Chris Miller, Ludovic Giloteaux, Alison Montogomery, Derek Lovley, Jillian Banfield, Philip Long, Mary Lipton Jan 2013

Fluctuations In Species-Level Protein Expression Occur During Element And Nutrient Cycling In The Subsurface, Michael Wilkins, Kelly Wrighton, Carrie Nicora, Kenneth Williams, Lee Mccue, Kim Handley, Chris Miller, Ludovic Giloteaux, Alison Montogomery, Derek Lovley, Jillian Banfield, Philip Long, Mary Lipton

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

While microbial activities in environmental systems play a key role in the utilization and cycling of essential elements and compounds, microbial activity and growth frequently fluctuates in response to environmental stimuli and perturbations. To investigate these fluctuations within a saturated aquifer system, we monitored a carbon-stimulated in situ Geobacter population while iron reduction was occurring, using 16S rRNA abundances and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry proteome measurements. Following carbon amendment, 16S rRNA analysis of temporally separated samples revealed the rapid enrichment of Geobacter-like environmental strains with strong similarity to G. bemidjiensis. Tandem mass spectrometry proteomics measurements suggest high carbon flux through …


When Is A Microbial Culture "Pure"? Persistent Cryptic Contaminant Escapes Detection Even With Deep Genome Sequencing, Pravin Malla, Kelly Nevin, Minita Shrestha, Derek Lovley Jan 2013

When Is A Microbial Culture "Pure"? Persistent Cryptic Contaminant Escapes Detection Even With Deep Genome Sequencing, Pravin Malla, Kelly Nevin, Minita Shrestha, Derek Lovley

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Geobacter sulfurreducens strain KN400 was recovered in previous studies in which a culture of the DL1 strain of G. sulfurreducens served as the inoculum in investigations of microbial current production at low anode potentials (_400 mV versus Ag/AgCl). Differences in the genome sequences of KN400 and DL1 were too great to have arisen from adaptive evolution during growth on the anode. Previous deep sequencing (80-fold coverage) of the DL1 culture failed to detect sequences specific to KN400, suggesting that KN400 was an external contaminant inadvertently introduced into the anode culturing system. In order to evaluate this further, a portion of …


Aromatic Amino Acids Required For Pili Conductivity And Long-Range Extracellular Electron Transport In Geobacter Sulfurreducens, Madeline Vargas, Nikhil Malvankar, Pier-Luc Tremblay, Ching Leang, Jessica Smith, Pranav Patel, Oona Synoeyenbos-West, Kelly Nevin, Derek Lovley Jan 2013

Aromatic Amino Acids Required For Pili Conductivity And Long-Range Extracellular Electron Transport In Geobacter Sulfurreducens, Madeline Vargas, Nikhil Malvankar, Pier-Luc Tremblay, Ching Leang, Jessica Smith, Pranav Patel, Oona Synoeyenbos-West, Kelly Nevin, Derek Lovley

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

It has been proposed that Geobacter sulfurreducens requires conductive pili for long-range electron transport to Fe(III) oxides and for high-density current production in microbial fuel cells. In order to investigate this further, we constructed a strain of G. sulfurreducens, designated Aro-5, which produced pili with diminished conductivity. This was accomplished by modifying the amino acid sequence of PilA, the structural pilin protein. An alanine was substituted for each of the five aromatic amino acids in the carboxyl terminus of PilA, the region in which G. sulfurreducens PilA differs most significantly from the PilAs of microorganisms incapable of long-range extracellular electron …


Evidence Supporting Dissimilatory And Assimilatory Lignin Degradation In Enterobacter Lignolyticus Scf1, Kristen Deangelis, Deepak Sharma, Rebecca Varney, Blake Simmons, Nancy G. Isern, Lye Meng Markillie, Carrie Nicora, Angela D. Norbeck, Ronald C. Taylor, Joshua T. Aldrich, Errol W. Robinson Jan 2013

Evidence Supporting Dissimilatory And Assimilatory Lignin Degradation In Enterobacter Lignolyticus Scf1, Kristen Deangelis, Deepak Sharma, Rebecca Varney, Blake Simmons, Nancy G. Isern, Lye Meng Markillie, Carrie Nicora, Angela D. Norbeck, Ronald C. Taylor, Joshua T. Aldrich, Errol W. Robinson

Microbiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Lignocellulosic biofuels are promising as sustainable alternative fuels, but lignin inhibits access of enzymes to cellulose, and by-products of lignin degradation can be toxic to cells. The fast growth, high efficiency and specificity of enzymes employed in the anaerobic litter deconstruction carried out by tropical soil bacteria make these organisms useful templates for improving biofuel production. The facultative anaerobe Enterobacter lignolyticus SCF1 was initially cultivated from Cloud Forest soils in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico, based on anaerobic growth on lignin as sole carbon source. The source of the isolate was tropical forest soils that decompose litter rapidly …