What's New Is Old: Resolving the Identity of Leptothrix ochracea Using Single Cell Genomics, Pyrosequencing and FISH

Leptothrix ochracea is a common inhabitant of freshwater iron seeps and iron-rich wetlands. Its defining characteristic is copious production of extracellular sheaths encrusted with iron oxyhydroxides. Surprisingly, over 90% of these sheaths are empty, hence, what appears to be an abundant population of iron-oxidizing bacteria, consists of relatively few cells. Because L. ochracea has proven difficult to cultivate, its identification is based solely on habitat preference and morphology. We utilized cultivation-independent techniques to resolve this long-standing enigma. By selecting the actively growing edge of a Leptothrix-containing iron mat, a conventional SSU rRNA gene clone library was obtained that had 29 clones (42% of the total library) related to the Leptothrix/Sphaerotilus group (≤96% identical to cultured representatives). A pyrotagged library of the V4 hypervariable region constructed from the bulk mat showed that 7.2% of the total sequences also belonged to the Leptothrix/Sphaerotilus group. Sorting of individual L. ochracea sheaths, followed by whole genome amplification (WGA) and PCR identified a SSU rRNA sequence that clustered closely with the putative Leptothrix clones and pyrotags. Using these data, a fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) probe, Lepto175, was designed that bound to ensheathed cells. Quantitative use of this probe demonstrated that up to 35% of microbial cells in an actively accreting iron mat were L. ochracea. The SSU rRNA gene of L. ochracea shares 96% homology with its closet cultivated relative, L. cholodnii, This establishes that L. ochracea is indeed related to this group of morphologically similar, filamentous, sheathed microorganisms

Bacteria associated with iron seeps in a sulfur-rich, neutral pH, freshwater ecosystem

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Caracterização das explorações agrícolas no Ribatejo

Face à importância da adopção de incentivos à reestruturação fundiária no nosso país, é continuamente vital a análise do tipo de investimento que se vem a realizar desde a nossa entrada na Comunidade. Este trabalho constitui um primeiro estudo referente à caracterização das explorações agrícolas que beneficiaram de apoios, no Ribatejo. Numa segunda e terceira fases pretende-se relacionar os investimentos realizados com a estrutura física da exploração e uma posterior caracterização do beneficiário-tipo