Evolution and diversity of the Microviridae viral family through a collection of 81 new complete genomes assembled from virome reads.

International audienceRecent studies suggest that members of the Microviridae (a family of ssDNA bacteriophages) might play an important role in a broad spectrum of environments, as they were found in great number among the viral fraction from seawater and human gut samples. 24 completely sequenced Microviridae have been described so far, divided into three distinct groups named Microvirus, Gokushovirinae and Alpavirinae, this last group being only composed of prophages. In this study, we present the analysis of 81 new complete Microviridae genomes, assembled from viral metagenomes originating from various ecosystems. The phylogenetic analysis of the core genes highlights the existence of four groups, confirming the three sub-families described so far and exhibiting a new group, named Pichovirinae. The genomic organizations of these viruses are strikingly coherent with their phylogeny, the Pichovirinae being the only group of this family with a different organization of the three core genes. Analysis of the structure of the major capsid protein reveals the presence of mushroom-like insertions conserved within all the groups except for the microviruses. In addition, a peptidase gene was found in 10 Microviridae and its analysis indicates a horizontal gene transfer that occurred several times between these viruses and their bacterial hosts. This is the first report of such gene transfer in Microviridae. Finally, searches against viral metagenomes revealed the presence of highly similar sequences in a variety of biomes indicating that Microviridae probably have both an important role in these ecosystems and an ancient origin

Assessment of viral community functional potential from viral metagenomes may be hampered by contamination with cellular sequences.

International audienceAlthough the importance of viruses in natural ecosystems is widely acknowledged, the functional potential of viral communities is yet to be determined. Viral genomes are traditionally believed to carry only those genes that are directly pertinent to the viral life cycle, though this view was challenged by the discovery of metabolism genes in several phage genomes. Metagenomic approaches extended these analyses to a community scale, and several studies concluded that microbial and viral communities encompass similar functional potentials. However, these conclusions could originate from the presence of cellular DNA within viral metagenomes. We developed a computational method to estimate the proportion and origin of cellular sequences in a set of 67 published viromes. A quarter of the datasets were found to contain a substantial amount of sequences originating from cellular genomes. When considering only viromes with no cellular DNA detected, the functional potential of viral and microbial communities was found to be fundamentally different-a conclusion more consistent with the actual picture drawn from known viruses. Yet a significant number of cellular metabolism genes was still retrieved in these viromes, suggesting that the presence of auxiliary genes involved in various metabolic pathways within viral genomes is a general trend in the virosphere

Phylogenetic Affiliation of SSU rRNA Genes Generated by Massively Parallel Sequencing: New Insights into the Freshwater Protist Diversity

International audienceRecent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies spur progress in determining the microbial diversity in various ecosystems by highlighting, for example, the rare biosphere. Currently, high-throughput pyrotag sequencing of PCR-amplified SSU rRNA gene regions is mainly used to characterize bacterial and archaeal communities, and rarely to characterize protist communities. In addition, although taxonomic assessment through phylogeny is considered as the most robust approach, similarity and probabilistic approaches remain the most commonly used for taxonomic affiliation. In a first part of this work, a tree-based method was compared with different approaches of taxonomic affiliation (BLAST and RDP) of 18S rRNA gene sequences and was shown to be the most accurate for near full-length sequences and for 400 bp amplicons, with the exception of amplicons covering the V5-V6 region. Secondly, the applicability of this method was tested by running a full scale test using an original pyrosequencing dataset of 18S rRNA genes of small lacustrine protists (0.2-5 mm) from eight freshwater ecosystems. Our results revealed that i) fewer than 5% of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) identified through clustering and phylogenetic affiliation had been previously detected in lakes, based on comparison to sequence in public databases; ii) the sequencing depth provided by the NGS coupled with a phylogenetic approach allowed to shed light on clades of freshwater protists rarely or never detected with classical molecular ecology approaches; and iii) phylogenetic methods are more robust in describing the structuring of under-studied or highly divergent populations. More precisely, new putative clades belonging to Mamiellophyceae, Foraminifera, Dictyochophyceae and Euglenida were detected. Beyond the study of protists, these results illustrate that the tree-based approach for NGS based diversity characterization allows an in-depth description of microbial communities including taxonomic profiling, community structuring and the description of clades of any microorganisms (protists, Bacteria and Archaea)

Virus, bactéries et protistes pathogènes du phytoplancton, le rôle insoupçonné des parasites dans le fonctionnement des écosystèmes aquatiques

International audienceMicroscopiques, les parasites sont la plupart du temps invisibles, mais présents partout. Ils infectent tous les organismes du monde vivant. La dernière décennie a révélé une incroyable diversité chez les parasites viraux, bactériens et eucaryotes. Ceux infectant le phytoplancton pourraient avoir une importance capitale dans la dynamique des populations algales et dans le fonctionnement des écosystèmes aquatiques, mais leur rôle est encore très largement méconnu à ce jour (Brussaard, 2004). Sur ces questions, la recherche ne fait que commencer

Temporal Dynamics of Active Prokaryotic Nitrifiers and Archaeal Communities from River to Sea

International audienceTo test if different niches for potential nitrifiers exist in estuarine systems, we assessed by pyrosequencing the diversity of archaeal gene transcript markers for taxonomy (16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)) during an entire year along a salinity gradient in surface waters of the Charente estuary (Atlantic coast, France). We further investigated the potential for estuarine prokaryotes to oxidize ammonia and hydrolyze urea by quantifying thaumarchaeal amoA and ureC and bacterial amoA transcripts. Our results showed a succession of different nitrifiers from river to sea with bacterial amoA transcripts dominating in the freshwater station while archaeal transcripts were predominant in the marine station. The 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that Thaumarchaeota marine group I (MGI) were the most abundant overall but other archaeal groups like Methanosaeta were also potentially active in winter (December–March) and Euryarchaeota marine group II (MGII) were dominant in seawater in summer (April–August). Each station also contained different Thaumarchaeota MGI phylogenetic clusters, and the clusters' microdiversity was associated to specific environmental conditions suggesting the presence of ecotypes adapted to distinct ecological niches. The amoA and ureC transcript dynamics further indicated that some of the Thaumarchaeota MGI sub-clusters were involved in ammonia oxidation through the hy-drolysis of urea. Our findings show that ammonia-oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria were adapted to contrasted conditions and that the Thaumarchaeota MGI diversity probably corresponds to distinct metabolisms or life strategies

Portage de ePANAM sur la grille de calcul

Portage de ePANAM sur la grille de calcu

Diversity, spatial distribution and activity of fungi in freshwater ecosystems

High-throughput sequencing has given new insights into aquatic fungal community ecology over the last 10 years. Based on 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequences publicly available, we investigated fungal richness and taxonomic composition among 25 lakes and four rivers. We used a single pipeline to process the reads from raw data to the taxonomic affiliation. In addition, we studied, for a subset of lakes, the active fraction of fungi through the 18S rRNA transcripts level. These results revealed a high diversity of fungi that can be captured by 18S rRNA primers. The most OTU-rich groups were Dikarya (47%), represented by putative filamentous fungi more diverse and abundant in freshwater habitats than previous studies have suggested, followed by Cryptomycota (17.6%) and Chytridiomycota (15.4%). The active fraction of the community showed the same dominant groups as those observed at the 18S rRNA genes level. On average 13.25% of the fungal OTUs were active. The small number of OTUs shared among aquatic ecosystems may result from the low abundances of those microorganisms and/or they constitute allochthonous fungi coming from other habitats (e.g., sediment or catchment areas). The richness estimates suggest that fungi have been overlooked and undersampled in freshwater ecosystems, especially rivers, though they play key roles in ecosystem functioning as saprophytes and parasites

Protist taxonomic and functional diversity in soil, freshwater and marine ecosystems

Protists dominate eukaryotic diversity and play key functional roles in all ecosystems, particularly by catalyzing carbon and nutrient cycling. To date, however, a comparative analysis of their taxonomic and functional diversity that compares the major ecosystems on Earth (soil, freshwater and marine systems) is missing. Here, we present a comparison of protist diversity based on standardized high throughput 18S rRNA gene sequencing of soil, freshwater and marine environmental DNA. Soil and freshwater protist communities were more similar to each other than to marine protist communities, with virtually no overlap of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) between terrestrial and marine habitats. Soil protists showed higher γ diversity than aquatic samples. Differences in taxonomic composition of the communities led to changes in a functional diversity among ecosystems, as expressed in relative abundance of consumers, phototrophs and parasites. Phototrophs (eukaryotic algae) dominated freshwater systems (49% of the sequences) and consumers soil and marine ecosystems (59% and 48%, respectively). The individual functional groups were composed of ecosystem- specific taxonomic groups. Parasites were equally common in all ecosystems, yet, terrestrial systems hosted more OTUs assigned to parasites of macro-organisms while aquatic systems contained mostly microbial parasitoids. Together, we show biogeographic patterns of protist diversity across major ecosystems on Earth, preparing the way for more focused studies that will help understanding the multiple roles of protists in the biosphere

Assessing the Diversity and Specificity of Two Freshwater Viral Communities through Metagenomics

Transitions between saline and fresh waters have been shown to be infrequent for microorganisms. Based on host-specific interactions, the presence of specific clades among hosts suggests the existence of freshwater-specific viral clades. Yet, little is known about the composition and diversity of the temperate freshwater viral communities, and even if freshwater lakes and marine waters harbor distinct clades for particular viral sub-families, this distinction remains to be demonstrated on a community scale

Structure et dynamique de la communauté bactérienne libre et attachée dans les écosystèmes lacustres

C'est essentiellement sur les bactéries libres que portent les études récentes en écologie microbienne d'eau douce, et seulement quelques études ont concerné les communautés bactériennes attachées. Dans cette étude basée sur l'analyse des séquences du gène 16SARNr, la diversité des communautés bactériennes attachées ainsi que de la fraction libre a été étudiée sur deux systèmes d'eau douce ; un lac mésotrophe (le lac du Bourget) et un lac hypereutrophe (le lac Villerest). La diversité des Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria et Verrucomicrobia libres et attachées a été étudié en relation avec les variables environnementales, dans le lac du Bourget pendant deux périodes à dominances contrastées de phytoplancton. L'analyse des résultats a montré une différence au niveau phylogénétique entre les communautés bactériennes attachées et libres des trois groupes de bactéries étudiées. Le clade betaI, dominait les Betaproteobacteria des fractions libres et attachées, avec 57,8% de la totalité des unités taxinomiques opérationnelles (OTUs). Pour les Actinobacteria, le groupe d'acIV a été détecté comme le plus abondant, suivi par acI avec respectivement 45% et 25% du total des OTUs. De même, les groupes Verrucomicrobia d'eau douce, à savoir CREPA29, FukuN18, CL120-10 sont apparus comme les plus importants, avec 22,3%, 16,15% et 14,61% des OTUs respectivement. Cette étude a permis de définir 15 nouveaux clades putatifs représentant la diversité bactérienne d'eau douce des Betaproteobacteria (lbI-lbVIII), Actinobacteria (acLBI) et Verrucomicrobia (CRE-PA29, FukuS27, BourFI-BourFIV). Par ailleurs, 12 groupes représentant la diversité de phylogénétique des Betaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria et Verrucomicrobia contiennent exclusivement des OTUs de la fraction attachée. La dynamique saisonnière souligne les changements des phylotypes bactériens distincts pour les deux communautés attaché et libre. Les Actinobacteria dans la fraction attachée était associée avec la biomasse des Chrysophyceae et N-NO3, et les Betaproteobacteria avec la biomasse de Chlorophyceae et de la richesse du phytoplancton tandis que les Verrucomicrobia de cette même fraction ont semblé être principalement influencés par la richesse du phytoplancton, l abondance des rotifères et les nutriments inorganiques (N-NO3, SiO2). D'autre part, dans les communautés libres, peu de clades d'actinobacterie dépendent des nutriments ou du phytoplancton, alors que les Betaproteobacteria et Verrucomicrobia ont été principalement associés avec les paramètres biologiques (i.e. phytoplancton et copépodes). Pendant le bloom des cyanobacteries (Microcystis sp.) dans le lac Villerest, les Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes et Actinobacteria ont été détectés comme taxa dominants dans les banques de clones du gène 16S ARNr. Toutefois Verrucomicrobia et Deinococcus-Thermus sont apparus relativement moins abondants dans les deux fractions, tandis que,Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, Deltaproteobacteria, Firmicutes et Op11 sont apparus comme des phyla mineurs dans la banque de clones des communautés bactériennes attaché et libre. Les Betaproteobacteria (n=118) attachées sont apparus comme le groupe dominant, suivi par Gammaproteobacteria (n=74) et Bacteroidetes (n=52). L'analyse phylogénétique des séquences obtenues pour la banque de clone de la fraction libre a montré que la plupart des OTUs appartiennent à Betaproteobacteria (n=192), suivi par Bacteroidetes (n=132) et Actinobacteria (n=61). Tandis que les Gammaproteobacteria (n=42) et Alphaproteobacteria (n=42) sont présents dans des proportions égales dans la banque de clones du 16S ARNr libre. (...)The free-living bacteria point of view dominates in recent research of freshwater microbial ecology, only a few studies have focused on attached bacterial communities. In present study, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, diversity of attached and free-living bacterial community was investigated from two freshwater aquatic systems ; a mesotrophic lake Bourget and a hypereutrophic lake Villerest. The diversity of attached and free-living Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, in relation to environmental variables was investigated from lake Bourget during two contrasting periods of phytoplankton dominance. Comparison analyses showed a phylogenetic difference between attached and free-living bacterial communities of all three studied bacterial groups. The betaI, appeared as most dominant among all clades representing phylogenetic diversity of freshwater Betaproteobacteria, for both attached and free-living fractions, contributing to 57.8% of of the total retrieved opertational taxonomic units (OTUs). For Actinobacteria, the acIV cluster was detected as dominant, followed by acI accounting for 45% and 25% of the total retrieved OTUs respectively. Similarly, freshwater Verrucomicrobia cluster namely, CRE-PA29, FukuN18, CL120-10 appeared as dominant, comprising 22.3%, 16.15% and 14.61% of the total retrieved OTUs respectively. This study allowed defining 15 new putative clades representing the freshwater bacterial divesity of Betaproteobacteria (lbI-lbVIII), Actinobacteria (acLBI) and Verrucomicrobia (CRE-PA29, FukuS27, BourFI-BourFIV). In addition, 12 clusters representing the phylogenetic diversity of Betaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia were exclusively comprised of OTUs from the attached fraction. The seasonal dynamics of environmental variables have been reflected as changes in distinct bacterial phylotypes for both attached and free-living communities. The attached bacterial communities of Actinobacteria showed affiliation with Chrysophyceae biomass and N-NO3, while attached Betaproteobacteria were affiliated with biomass of Chlorophyceae and phytoplankton richness. Similarly attached verrucomicrobial communities appeared to be mainly influenced by phytoplankton richness, rotifers abundances and inorganic nutrients (NNO3,SiO2). On the other hand, within free-living communities, few actinobacterial clades were found to be dependent on either nutrients or phytoplankton communities, whereas Betaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia were mainly associated with biological parameters (i.e. phytoplankton and copepods communities). In another study during a cyanobacterial (Microcystis sp.) bloom from lake Villerest, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were detected as prevalent taxa among the 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, however, Verrucomicrobia and Deinococcus-Thermus appeared as comparatively less abundant bacterial groups in both fractions. Whereas, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, Deltaproteobacteria, Firmicutes and Op11 were appeared as minor phyla in clone libraries of attached and free-living bacterial communities. For attached bacterial communities Betaproteobacteria (n=118) appeared as most dominant group, followed by Gammaproteobacteria (n=74) and Bacteroidetes (n=52). The phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained for the clone library from free-living fraction showed that most of the OTUs belonged to Betaproteobacteria (n=192) followed in decreasing order by Bacteroidetes (n=132) and Actinobacteria (n=61) whereas Gammaproteobacteria (n=42) and Alphaproteobacteria (n=42) appeared in equal proportion in free-living 16S rRNA clone libraries. (...)CLERMONT FD-Bib.électronique (631139902) / SudocSudocFranceF