Article
Limnology
John Gale, Carey Sweeney, Sara Paver, Maureen L. Coleman, Anne W. Thompson
Summary: Laurentian Great Lakes contain diverse picophytoplankton populations, with Lake Erie standing out with the highest diversity. Genotypic clusters mapped to phenotypically similar flow populations, suggesting genome-level differentiation between lakes but some degree of phenotypic convergence. This sets the foundation to test the relationship between community structure of small primary producers and biogeochemical and food web functions of the Great Lakes.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Dana E. Michels, Brett Lomenick, Tsui-Fen Chou, Michael J. Sweredoski, Alexis Pasulka
Summary: Understanding cell-level metabolic trade-offs in phytoplankton is crucial for predicting the impact of environmental changes on marine ecosystems. The BONCAT technique shows potential for studying resource allocation in phytoplankton, but its application in marine environments is limited. The uptake of a modified amino acid by marine phytoplankton demonstrates the potential use of BONCAT, but the physiological response and limitations must be carefully considered when applying this technique to different marine taxa.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhi Yang Sim, Kwan Chien Goh, Yiliang He, K. Y. H. Gin
Summary: As anthropogenic induced temperature rises and nutrient loadings increase, the ecological function of the phytoplankton community is expected to favour the picocyanobacteria, particularly Synechococcus. This study examines the responses of a novel toxin-producing Synechococcus to environmental changes that reflect climate change effects. The findings highlight the significant variations in cell abundance, growth rate, death rate, cellular stoichiometry and toxin production of Synechococcus under different temperature and nutrient conditions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Cristiana Callieri, Pedro J. Cabello-Yeves, Filippo Bertoni
Summary: Picocyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus have attracted the attention of microbial ecologists due to their ancient origin, adaptability, and presence in aquatic environments. Recent advances in molecular biology have shed light on their evolutionary history and the role they play in different aquatic ecosystems. The ability of some strains to survive in dark conditions in the Black Sea emphasizes their adaptability and raises further questions about microbial life.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ting Wang, Jialin Li, Hongmei Jing, Song Qin
Summary: Marine Synechococcus, a main group of picocyanobacteria, exhibits high phylogenetical and phenotypical diversity, and understanding its genetic variation, niche division, and potential functions is crucial for gaining a comprehensive understanding of marine ecosystems.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Tadzio Holtrop, Jef Huisman, Maayke Stomp, Levi Biersteker, Jeroen Aerts, Theophile Grebert, Frederic Partensky, Laurence Garczarek, Hendrik Jan van der Woerd
Summary: By using a radiative transfer model, the authors identified five spectral niches in aquatic ecosystems based on the vibrational modes of water molecules. These niches, in the violet, blue, green, orange, and red parts of the spectrum, are effectively captured by chlorophylls and phycobilin pigments of cyanobacteria and their eukaryotic descendants. The global distributions of these spectral niches were predicted using remote sensing and validated with observed large-scale distribution patterns of cyanobacterial pigment types, providing an explanation for the biogeographical distributions of photosynthetic pigments across lakes and oceans.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Mathilde Ferrieux, Louison Dufour, Hugo Dore, Morgane Ratin, Audrey Gueneugues, Leo Chasselin, Dominique Marie, Fabienne Rigaut-Jalabert, Florence Le Gall, Theo Sciandra, Garance Monier, Mark Hoebeke, Erwan Corre, Xiaomin Xia, Hongbin Liu, David J. Scanlan, Frederic Partensky, Laurence Garczarek
Summary: Marine Synechococcus cyanobacteria are widespread in the ocean due to their extensive genetic diversity. Different clades within the species exhibit preferences for different temperature and nutrient conditions, with the recently discovered CRD1 clade dominating iron-depleted areas and containing different thermal niches within its subgroups.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Samarpita Basu, Katherine R. M. Mackey
Summary: This study investigated the response of marine picocyanobacteria Synechococcus strains to changes in temperature and CO2 concentrations. The results showed that temperature was the main factor influencing the specific growth rates and photophysiology of the Synechococcus strains, while the carbon-concentrating mechanisms had minimal impact on the growth rates under different CO2 levels.
Article
Ecology
Pedro J. Cabello-Yeves, David J. Scanlan, Cristiana Callieri, Antonio Picazo, Lena Schallenberg, Paula Huber, Juan J. Roda-Garcia, Maciej Bartosiewicz, Olga Belykh, Irina Tikhonova, Alberto Torcello-Requena, Paula Martin De Prado, Andrew D. Millard, Antonio Camacho, Francisco Rodriguez-Valera, Richard J. Puxty
Summary: RuBisCO is an abundant enzyme that plays a crucial role in supplying fixed carbon for food chains. The genetic engineering of inorganic carbon concentrating mechanisms into plants could aid in global food security. Contrary to previous assumptions, the alpha-form of carboxysomes dominates freshwater lakes worldwide, indicating a paradigm shift in our understanding of the distribution of carboxysome types across different salinity environments.
Article
Microbiology
Lena A. Schallenberg, John K. Pearman, Carolyn W. Burns, Susanna A. Wood
Summary: An in-depth study on picocyanobacterial communities in five contrasting lakes revealed significant differences in community composition driven by environmental variables. Temporal dynamics were observed within each lake, with specific sequence variants strongly associated with environmental drivers. Rapid shifts in community structure in response to environmental changes suggest collective community adaptation for high abundances of lacustrine Pcy.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Denise Rui Ying Ong, Andres Gutierrez-Rodriguez, Laurence Garczarek, Dominique Marie, Adriana Lopes dos Santos
Summary: High-resolution marker genes, such as the petB gene, are better for characterizing the molecular diversity of marine picocyanobacterial populations than the 16S rRNA gene. The use of specific ribosomal primers and a nested PCR method can overcome the disadvantages of bacterial ribosome-based diversity analyses. The Ong_2022 approach based on the petB gene showed higher genetic diversity and lower proportions of incorrectly assigned sequences compared to the standard amplification protocol.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Marine
Ting Wang, Xi Chen, Song Qin, Jialin Li
Summary: The study focused on the phylogenetic and phenogenetic composition of Synechococcus in the coastal Yellow Sea, revealing its abundance correlation with sampling depth and nutrient contents. Eight phylogenetic lineages of Synechococcus were identified, with clade III being dominant. Phenogenetically, Synechococcus PT3 was the predominant pigment type. Co-occurrence analysis showed interactions with various prokaryotes and eukaryotes, suggesting potential roles in diverse element cycles.
JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Hidetoshi Urakawa, Jacob H. Steele, Taylor L. Hancock, Elizabeth K. Dahedl, Elizabeth R. Schroeder, V. Julia Sereda, Michael A. Kratz, Patricia E. Garcia, Rick A. Armstrong
Summary: Phytoplankton communities are influenced by complex environmental factors, and river structures can increase the occurrence of harmful algal blooms. This study aimed to determine the interaction between water flow and water chemistry and their impact on phytoplankton community successions and hydrogen peroxide abundance in the Caloosahatchee River. The results showed that phytoplankton communities were strongly influenced by human-controlled water discharge patterns.
Article
Microbiology
Dong Zhang, Yiliang He, Karina Yew-Hoong Gin
Summary: This study reveals the genetic similarities and evolutionary relationships between two novel lytic freshwater cyanophages infecting Synechococcus spp. and marine cyanophages, expanding the current knowledge on freshwater cyanophage isolates and genetic diversity.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2021)
Article
Limnology
Ji Cai, Yoshikuni Hodoki, Shin-ichi Nakano
Summary: A novel bloom of picocyanobacteria was detected in Lake Biwa during the winter of 2015-2016, with increased cell density despite lower water temperature, suggesting the dominance of cold-water-preference species. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene revealed highly diverse picocyanobacterial community in Lake Biwa, with detection of eight Synechococcus-related OTUs in different seasons. Notably, OTU04 detected during the winter bloom shows affiliation with sequences found in lakes with low trophic state and temperature, indicating a psychrotolerant lineage widely distributed in oligotrophic water systems.
Article
Ecology
Marcela Bastidas Navarro, Luca Schenone, Nicolas Martyniuk, Evelyn Vega, Beatriz Modenutti, Esteban Balseiro
Summary: This study developed a model to predict bacterial C consumption and potential residual carbon accumulation, analyzing the contributions of DOM quality and phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations to the total carbon pool. By estimating model parameters using Bayesian methods in 59 different environments, the study confirmed the effectiveness of the model in predicting C accumulation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Silvia Galafassi, Andrea Di Cesare, Lorenzo Di Nardo, Raffaella Sabatino, Andrea Valsesia, Francesco Sirio Fumagalli, Gianluca Corno, Pietro Volta
Summary: The research found that the disinfection step in wastewater treatment process can help reduce the emission of microplastic particles and improve the retention efficiency of WWTPs for MPs. Different disinfection methods can significantly impact the reduction of MPs concentration.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Cecilia Laspoumaderes, Cedric L. Meunier, Amaru Magnin, Johanna Berlinghof, James J. Elser, Esteban Balseiro, Gabriela Torres, Beatriz Modenutti, Nelly Tremblay, Maarten Boersma
Summary: In this study, we analyzed the thermal response of phosphorus requirements in different aquatic invertebrate ectotherms. We found that these organisms share a non-linear cubic thermal response, with phosphorus requirements decreasing at low to intermediate temperatures, increasing at higher temperatures, and decreasing again at excessive temperatures. This common thermal response is of great importance for understanding and predicting the impact of global warming and nutrient-driven eutrophication on ectotherm communities.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marco De Carluccio, Raffaella Sabatino, Ester M. Eckert, Andrea Di Cesare, Gianluca Corno, Luigi Rizzo
Summary: The impact of Fenton oxidation (FO) and Air stripping (AS) pre-treatments on the bacterial community of a biological activated sludge (B-AS) process for the co-treatment of mature landfill leachate (MLL) and urban wastewater (UWW) was assessed. The combination of FO and AS allowed for successful operation of the B-AS and effective treatment of MLL, by improving biodegradability and reducing ammonia concentration. For bacterial community shifting, BOD5/COD was found to be the key factor. The results suggest that a suitable combination of pre-treatments can reduce the negative effect of MLL on the B-AS process and shorten the acclimatization time for autochthonous bacteria.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ester M. Eckert, Silvia Galafassi, Marcela Bastidas Navarro, Andrea Di Cesare, Gianluca Corno
Summary: Stochastic or deterministic processes control the assembly of bacterial communities in aquatic environments exposed to antibiotics. Microdiversity influences the stability of freshwater communities, causing rare taxa to become abundant when disturbance occurs. Disturbance by antibiotics increases the similarity between bacterial communities from different freshwater systems, but the similarity decreases when the antibiotic pressure is released. Antibiotics impact bacterial communities at both the cell and community level, altering phenotypes, genotypes, and bacterial interactions.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gianluca Corno, Timothy Ghaly, Raffaella Sabatino, Ester M. Eckert, Silvia Galafassi, Michael R. Gillings, Andrea Di Cesare
Summary: This study investigated the abundance of class 1 integrons and their associated antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in a freshwater system consisting of a lake-river-lake continuum. The results showed that class 1 integrons and their associated ARGs were more abundant in riverine sampling sites receiving treated wastewater. Moreover, high-risk ARGs, including genes encoding resistance to aminoglycosides, were correlated with class 1 integrons.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Silvia Bonetta, Andrea Di Cesare, Cristina Pignata, Raffaella Sabatino, Manuela Macri, Gianluca Corno, Marco Panizzolo, Sara Bonetta, Elisabetta Carraro
Summary: This study examines the fate of antibiotic resistance in the urban water cycle in Italy, focusing on the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). Plate counting and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) were used to quantify ARB (resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin, and sulfonamides) and measure the abundance of selected ARGs. The results show higher concentrations of ARB and ARGs in WWTPs compared to DWTPs, indicating that WWTPs are hotspots for antibiotic resistance spread. Although significant reductions were observed after treatment, none of the detected ARB or ARGs were completely removed from drinking water. Therefore, it is important to integrate culture-dependent and culture-independent methods to investigate antibiotic resistance dynamics in aquatic ecosystems involved in the urban water cycle, and to monitor the presence of ARB and ARGs, especially in drinking water, as it represents a potential route of transmission to humans.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Beatriz Modenutti, Nicolas Martyniuk, Marcela Bastidas Navarro, Esteban Balseiro
Summary: We analyzed the bacterial community composition and ecological processes in three deep lakes receiving glacial meltwater in North-Patagonia, Argentina. Glacial connectivity and turbidity due to glacial particles differed among the lakes. Total dissolved solid concentration played a significant role in determining the segregation of the lakes. The newly formed lake Ventisquero Negro had a unique bacterial community related to glacier melting microorganisms.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Periyasamy Sivalingam, Raffaella Sabatino, Tomasa Sbaffi, Diego Fontaneto, Gianluca Corno, Andrea Di Cesare
Summary: Wastewater treatment plants are major sources of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. The study utilized shotgun metagenomics to investigate the distribution of ARGs in treated wastewaters before and after disinfection. The intracellular resistome was found to be richer than the extracellular one, but the latter contained different high-risk ARGs. Disinfection had a significant impact on the antibiotic resistome composition, causing shifts from intracellular to extracellular DNA and potentially posing a threat to human health.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiaole Yin, Xi Chen, Xiao-Tao Jiang, Ying Yang, Bing Li, Marcus Ho-Hin Shum, Tommy T. Y. Lam, Gabriel M. Leung, Joan Rose, Concepcion Sanchez-Cid, Timothy M. Vogel, Fiona Walsh, Thomas U. Berendonk, Janet Midega, Chibuzor Uchea, Dominic Frigon, Gerard D. Wright, Carlos Bezuidenhout, Renata C. Picao, Shaikh Z. Ahammad, Per Halkjaer Nielsen, Philip Hugenholtz, Nicholas J. Ashbolt, Gianluca Corno, Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Helmut Buergmann, Heike Schmitt, Chang-Jun Cha, Amy Pruden, Kornelia Smalla, Eddie Cytryn, Yu Zhang, Min Yang, Yong-Guan Zhu, Arnaud Dechesne, Barth F. Smets, David W. Graham, Michael R. Gillings, William H. Gaze, Celia M. Manaia, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Pedro J. J. Alvarez, Martin J. Blaser, James M. Tiedje, Edward Topp, Tong Zhang
Summary: Surveillance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in environmental sectors is increasingly conducted to complement studies in human and animal sectors. However, comparing and synthesizing results from different studies using different test methods and bioinformatic analysis approaches pose substantial challenges. This article suggests a universal unit (ARG copy per cell) for reporting biological measurements of ARGs in order to improve comparability. By comparing commonly used quantification units, this study proposes a step towards standardization.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Evelyn Vega, Marcela Bastidas Navarro, Nicolas Martyniuk, Esteban Balseiro, Beatriz Modenutti
Summary: Global climate change affects the composition of biofilm bacterial community in glacier-fed streams. Longitudinal and seasonal changes in bacterial composition are related to glacial influence and environmental factors. Dominant phyla include Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Acidobacteriota.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Adrian Cervantes-Martinez, Carlos Alberto Duran Ramirez, Manuel Elias-Gutierrez, Alma E. Garcia-Morales, Martha Gutierrez-Aguirre, Sarahi Jaime, Miroslav Macek, Alejandro M. M. Maeda-Martinez, Fernando Martinez-Jeronimo, Rosaura Mayen-Estrada, Jorge Humberto Medina-Duran, Lucia Montes-Ortiz, Jovanny Fernando Yonatan Olvera-Bautista, Victor Manuel Romero-Niembro, Eduardo Suarez-Morales
Summary: This review examines freshwater zooplankton in Mexico, including rotifers, copepods, and cladocerans, as well as other groups not commonly considered zooplankton. The study aims to integrate dispersed literature on taxonomy and diversity and explain how this knowledge has helped detect exotic and threatened species. The research divides Mexican freshwater zooplankton studies into three historical periods and concludes that knowledge has significantly increased in the past 40 years, although only a small fraction of true diversity has been documented.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Andrea Di Cesare, Raffaella Sabatino, Tomasa Sbaffi, Diego Fontaneto, Diego Brambilla, Andrea Beghi, Franca Pandolfi, Cristina Borlandelli, Davide Fortino, Giovanni Biccai, Pietro Genoni, Gianluca Corno
Summary: This study analyzed the fate of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in a lake-river-lake system in Northern Italy. The results showed that anthropogenic pressure promotes the spread of specific ARGs but also leads to a rapid decline in other ARGs.
