Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change

In the Anthropocene, in which we now live, climate change is impacting most life on Earth. Microorganisms support the existence of all higher trophic life forms. To understand how humans and other life forms on Earth (including those we are yet to discover) can withstand anthropogenic climate change, it is vital to incorporate knowledge of the microbial ‘unseen majority’. We must learn not just how microorganisms affect climate change (including production and consumption of greenhouse gases) but also how they will be affected by climate change and other human activities. This Consensus Statement documents the central role and global importance of microorganisms in climate change biology. It also puts humanity on notice that the impact of climate change will depend heavily on responses of microorganisms, which are essential for achieving an environmentally sustainable future

Efeitos da radiação ionizante na neoformação óssea: estudo histométrico em tíbias de ratos

PURPOSE: Comparing the ionizing radiation effects on bone neoformation of rats tibiae previously submitted to radiotherapy with a single dosage of 30Gy with the contralateral tibiae that have received secondary radiation. METHODS: In thirty male Wistar rats, 30 days before surgical procedure when round defects would be created on the bone, the right tibia was irradiated with 30Gy and the left tibia received a calculated secondary radiation dose of 7Gy. Sacrifices were performed after 4, 7, 14, 21, 56 and 84 postoperative days and both tibiae were removed for histological processing. RESULTS: The left tibiae that received the dose of 7Gy has shown more bone neoformation from 14th postoperative days, giving evidences of less damage to cellular population responsible by bone neoformation. On the other hand, the dose of 30Gyon right tibiae did not exhibit significant differences among the periods, suggesting damage of long-lasting or even permanent duration. CONCLUSION: Tibiae submitted to radiation dose of 30Gy have shown more damage to bone cells than tibiae that received secondary radiation dose of 7Gy, especially observed on 14th, 56th and 84th postoperative days.OBJETIVO: Comparar os efeitos da radiação ionizante na reparação óssea em tíbias de ratos, submetidas à radioterapia prévia com doses 30Gy, com as tíbias contralaterais que receberam radiação secundária. MÉTODOS: No total, 30 ratos Wistar machos foram submetidos à cirurgia para realização de defeitos circulares em ambas as tíbias de cada rato, com radioterapia prévia de 30 dias, sendo que a tíbia direita recebeu a dose de 30Gy e tíbia esquerda a dose de radiação secundária calculada em 7Gy. Os sacrifícios ocorreram em 4, 7, 14, 21, 56 e 84 dias da realização do defeito ósseo e as tíbias foram removidas para processamento histológico. RESULTADOS: O grupo de 7Gy apresentou maior neoformação a partir do período de 14 dias, indicando pouco dano aos elementos celulares responsáveis pela reparação óssea, enquanto que o grupo de 30Gy não apresentou diferenças significantes entre os períodos, sugerindo um dano de efeito prolongado ou até mesmo permanente. CONCLUSÃO: As tíbias irradiadas com 30Gy apresentaram maior dano às células ósseas do que as tíbias que receberam radiação secundária de 7Gy, principalmente observadas nos períodos de 14, 56 e 84 dias.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of Otorhinolaringology and Head and Neck SurgeryPaulista University Faculty of Dentistry Department of StomatologyUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of OncologyUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of PathologyUNIFESP, Department of Otorhinolaringology and Head and Neck SurgeryUNIFESP, Department of OncologyUNIFESP, Department of PathologySciEL

SUPLEMENTAÇÃO DE VITAMINA B12 EM DIETAS PARA LARVAS DE JUNDIÁ RHAMDIA VOULEZI

Este estudo objetivou avaliar a suplementação de vitamina B12 em dietas para larvas de jundiá Rhamdia voulezi. Foram distribuídas inteiramente ao acaso 720 larvas de jundiá com peso inicial médio de 0,0015±0,0012g em 24 aquários de vidro com volume útil de 30L, supridos com aeração constante, numa densidade de 30 peixes por unidade experimental, com seis tratamentos e quatro repetições. Estas foram alimentadas ad libtum com dietas fareladas (36% de proteína digestível e 3.600 kcal de energia digestível kg-1) suplementadas com 0,0; 0,02; 0,04; 0,08; 0,16 e 0,32 mg de vitamina B12 kg-1 de dieta. Ao final do período experimental, os peixes permaneceram em jejum por 24 horas para o esvaziamento do trato gastrointestinal, em seguida, os animais foram eutanasiados em solução de benzocaína (250 mg L-1), esse procedimento foi realizado com o intuito de avaliar o peso final médio, comprimento final médio, taxa de sobrevivência e fator de condição das larvas  vitamina B12 na dieta não influenciou (P>0,05) o desempenho produtivo das larvas. Embora as larvas de jundiá tenham apresentado, ao longo do período experimental, um comportamento agressivo com elevadas taxas de carnivoria, o que promoveu a baixa taxa de sobrevivência, não foi observado influência da adição de vitamina B12 na dieta sobre seu desenvolvimento. Portanto, os resultados indicam que a suplementação de vitamina B12 em dietas para larvas de jundiá não influenciam no seu desempenho produtivo

Global biogeography of SAR11 marine bacteria

The ubiquitous SAR11 bacterial clade is the most abundant type of organism in the worldĝ€™s oceans, but the reasons for its success are not fully elucidated. We analysed 128 surface marine metagenomes, including 37 new Antarctic metagenomes. The large size of the data set enabled internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions to be obtained from the Southern polar region, enabling the first global characterization of the distribution of SAR11, from waters spanning temperatures ĝ̂'2 to 30°C. Our data show a stable co-occurrence of phylotypes within both ĝ€̃ tropicalĝ€™ (>20°C) and ĝ€̃ polarĝ€™ (<10°C) biomes, highlighting ecological niche differentiation between major SAR11 subgroups. All phylotypes display transitions in abundance that are strongly correlated with temperature and latitude. By assembling SAR11 genomes from Antarctic metagenome data, we identified specific genes, biases in gene functions and signatures of positive selection in the genomes of the polar SAR11ĝ€"genomic signatures of adaptive radiation. Our data demonstrate the importance of adaptive radiation in the organismĝ€™s ability to proliferate throughout the worldĝ€™s oceans, and describe genomic traits characteristic of different phylotypes in specific marine biomes. © 2012 EMBO and Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved

Prevalent genome streamlining and latitudinal divergence of planktonic bacteria in the surface ocean

Planktonic bacteria dominate surface ocean biomass and influence global biogeochemical processes, but remain poorly characterized owing to difficulties in cultivation. Using large-scale single cell genomics, we obtained insight into the genome content and biogeography of many bacterial lineages inhabiting the surface ocean. We found that, compared with existing cultures, natural bacterioplankton have smaller genomes, fewer gene duplications, and are depleted in guanine and cytosine, noncoding nucleotides, and genes encoding transcription, signal transduction, and noncytoplasmic proteins. These findings provide strong evidence that genome streamlining and oligotrophy are prevalent features among diverse, freeliving bacterioplankton, whereas existing laboratory cultures consist primarily of copiotrophs. The apparent ubiquity of metabolic specialization and mixotrophy, as predicted from single cell genomes, also may contribute to the difficulty in bacterioplankton cultivation. Using metagenome fragment recruitment against single cell genomes, we show that the global distribution of surface ocean bacterioplankton correlates with temperature and latitude and is not limited by dispersal at the time scales required for nucleotide substitution to exceed the current operational definition of bacterial species. Single cell genomes with highly similar small subunit rRNA gene sequences exhibited significant genomic and biogeographic variability, highlighting challenges in the interpretation of individual gene surveys and metagenome assemblies in environmental microbiology. Our study demonstrates the utility of single cell genomics for gaining an improved understanding of the composition and dynamics of natural microbial assemblages. comparative genomics | marine microbiology | microbial ecology | microbial microevolution | operational taxonomic uni

A metagenomic assessment of winter and summer bacterioplankton from Antarctica Peninsula coastal surface waters

© The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 6 (2012): 1901-1915, doi:10.1038/ismej.2012.31.Antarctic surface oceans are well-studied during summer when irradiance levels are high, sea ice is melting and primary productivity is at a maximum. Coincident with this timing, the bacterioplankton respond with significant increases in secondary productivity. Little is known about bacterioplankton in winter when darkness and sea-ice cover inhibit photoautotrophic primary production. We report here an environmental genomic and small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) analysis of winter and summer Antarctic Peninsula coastal seawater bacterioplankton. Intense inter-seasonal differences were reflected through shifts in community composition and functional capacities encoded in winter and summer environmental genomes with significantly higher phylogenetic and functional diversity in winter. In general, inferred metabolisms of summer bacterioplankton were characterized by chemoheterotrophy, photoheterotrophy and aerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis while the winter community included the capacity for bacterial and archaeal chemolithoautotrophy. Chemolithoautotrophic pathways were dominant in winter and were similar to those recently reported in global ‘dark ocean’ mesopelagic waters. If chemolithoautotrophy is widespread in the Southern Ocean in winter, this process may be a previously unaccounted carbon sink and may help account for the unexplained anomalies in surface inorganic nitrogen content.CSR was supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biological Informatics (DBI-0532893). The research was supported by National Science Foundation awards: ANT 0632389 (to AEM and JJG), and ANT 0632278 and 0217282 (to HWD), all from the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Program

The urgent need for microbiology literacy in society

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