Oxygen effects on rhamnolipids production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract Background Rhamnolipids are the most extensively studied biosurfactants and has been successfully used in various areas from bioremediation to industrial fields. Rhamnolipids structural composition decide their physicochemical properties. Different physicochemical properties influence their application potential. Rhamnolipids can be produced at both aerobic conditions and anaerobic conditions by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study aims to evaluate the oxygen effects on the rhamnolipids yield, structural composition, physicochemical properties and the rhl-genes expression in P. aeruginosa SG. Results will guide researchers to regulate microbial cells to synthesize rhamnolipids with different activity according to diverse application requirements. Results Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that rhlAB genes were down-regulated under anaerobic conditions. Therefore, strain P. aeruginosa SG anaerobically produced less rhamnolipids (0.68 g/L) than that (11.65 g/L) under aerobic conditions when grown in media containing glycerol and nitrate. HPLC–MS analysis showed that aerobically produced rhamnolipids mainly contained Rha-C8-C10, Rha–Rha-C10-C12:1 and Rha–Rha-C8-C10; anaerobically produced rhamnolipids mainly contained Rha-C10-C12 and Rha-C10-C10. Anaerobically produced rhamnolipids contained more mono-rhamnolipids (94.7%) than that (54.8%) in aerobically produced rhamnolipids. rhlC gene was also down-regulated under anaerobic conditions, catalyzing less mono-rhamnolipids to form di-rhamnolipids. Aerobically produced rhamnolipids decreased air–water surface tension (ST) from 72.2 to 27.9 mN/m with critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 60 mg/L; anaerobically produced rhamnolipids reduced ST to 33.1 mN/m with CMC of 80 mg/L. Anaerobically produced rhamnolipids emulsified crude oil with EI24 = 80.3%, and aerobically produced rhamnolipids emulsified crude oil with EI24 = 62.3%. Both two rhamnolipids products retained surface activity (ST  60.0%) under temperatures (4–121 °C), pH values (4–10) and NaCl concentrations less than 90 g/L. Conclusions Oxygen affected the rhl-genes expression in P. aeruginosa, thus altering the rhamnolipids yield, structural composition and physicochemical properties. Rhamnolipids produced at aerobic or anaerobic conditions was structurally distinct. Two rhamnolipids products had different application potential in diverse biotechnologies. Although both rhamnolipids products were thermo-stable and halo-tolerant, aerobically produced rhamnolipids possessed better surface activity, implying its well wetting activity and desorption property; anaerobically produced rhamnolipids exhibited better emulsifying activity, indicating its applicability for enhanced oil recovery and bioremediation of petroleum pollution

Data_Sheet_1_Unraveling the functional instability of bacterial consortia in crude oil degradation via integrated co-occurrence networks.pdf

IntroductionSoil ecosystems are threatened by crude oil contamination, requiring effective microbial remediation. However, our understanding of the key microbial taxa within the community, their interactions impacting crude oil degradation, and the stability of microbial functionality in oil degradation remain limited.MethodsTo better understand these key points, we enriched a crude oil-degrading bacterial consortium generation 1 (G1) from contaminated soil and conducted three successive transfer passages (G2, G3, and G4). Integrated Co-occurrence Networks method was used to analyze microbial species correlation with crude oil components across G1-G4.Results and discussionIn this study, G1 achieved a total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) degradation rate of 32.29% within 10 days. Through three successive transfer passages, G2-G4 consortia were established, resulting in a gradual decrease in TPH degradation to 23.14% at the same time. Specifically, saturated hydrocarbon degradation rates ranged from 18.32% to 14.17% among G1-G4, and only G1 exhibited significant aromatic hydrocarbon degradation (15.59%). Functional annotation based on PICRUSt2 and FAPROTAX showed that functional potential of hydrocarbons degradation diminished across generations. These results demonstrated the functional instability of the bacterial consortium in crude oil degradation. The relative abundance of the Dietzia genus showed the highest positive correlation with the degradation efficiency of TPH and saturated hydrocarbons (19.48, 18.38, p < 0.05, respectively), Bacillus genus demonstrated the highest positive correlation (21.94, p < 0.05) with the efficiency of aromatic hydrocarbon degradation. The key scores of Dietzia genus decreased in successive generations. A significant positive correlation (16.56, p < 0.05) was observed between the Bacillus and Mycetocola genera exclusively in the G1 generation. The decline in crude oil degradation function during transfers was closely related to changes in the relative abundance of key genera such as Dietzia and Bacillus as well as their interactions with other genera including Mycetocola genus. Our study identified key bacterial genera involved in crude oil remediation microbiome construction, providing a theoretical basis for the next step in the construction of the oil pollution remediation microbiome.</p

Viral Abundance and Diversity of Production Fluids in Oil Reservoirs

Viruses are widely distributed in various ecosystems and have important impacts on microbial evolution, community structure and function and nutrient cycling in the environment. Viral abundance, diversity and distribution are important for a better understanding of ecosystem functioning and have often been investigated in marine, soil, and other environments. Though microbes have proven useful in oil recovery under extreme conditions, little is known about virus community dynamics in such systems. In this study, injection water and production fluids were sampled in two blocks of the Daqing oilfield limited company where water flooding and microbial flooding were continuously used to improve oil recovery. Virus-like particles (VLPs) and bacteria in these samples were extracted and enumerated with epifluorescence microscopy, and viromes of these samples were also sequenced with Illumina Hiseq PE150. The results showed that a large number of viruses existed in the oil reservoir, and VLPs abundance of production wells was 3.9 ± 0.7 × 108 mL−1 and virus to bacteria ratio (VBR) was 6.6 ± 1.1 during water flooding. Compared with water flooding, the production wells of microbial flooding had relative lower VLPs abundance (3.3 ± 0.3 × 108 mL−1) but higher VBR (7.9 ± 2.2). Assembled viral contigs were mapped to an in-house virus reference data separate from the GenBank non-redundant nucleotide (NT) database, and the sequences annotated as virus accounted for 35.34 and 55.04% of total sequences in samples of water flooding and microbial flooding, respectively. In water flooding, 7 and 6 viral families were identified in the injection and production wells, respectively. In microbial flooding, 6 viral families were identified in the injection and production wells. The total number of identified viral species in the injection well was higher than that in the production wells for both water flooding and microbial flooding. The Shannon diversity index was higher in the production well of water flooding than in the production well of microbial flooding. These results show that viruses are very abundant and diverse in the oil reservoir’s ecosystem, and future efforts are needed to reveal the potential function of viral communities in this extreme environment

Warming-driven migration of core microbiota indicates soil property changes at continental scale

Terrestrial species are predicted to migrate northward under global warming conditions, yet little is known about the direction and magnitude of change in microbial distribution patterns. In this continental-scale study with more than 1600 forest soil samples, we verify the existence of core microbiota and lump them into a manageable number of eco-clusters based on microbial habitat preferences. By projecting the abundance differences of eco-clusters between future and current climatic conditions, we observed the potential warming-driven migration of the core microbiota under warming, partially verified by a field warming experiment at Southwest China. Specifically, the species that favor low pH are potentially expanding and moving northward to medium-latitudes (25 degrees-45 degrees N), potentially implying that warm temperate forest would be under threat of soil acidification with warming. The eco-cluster of high-pH with high-annual mean temperature (AMT) experienced significant abundance increases at middle- (35 degrees-45 degrees N) to high-latitudes (> 45 degrees N), especially under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5, likely resulting in northward expansion. Furthermore, the eco-cluster that favors low-soil organic carbon (SOC) was projected to increase under warming scenarios at low-latitudes ( 45 degrees N) the changes in relative abundance of this eco-cluster is inversely related with the temperature variation trends, suggesting microbes-mediated soil organic carbon changes are more responsive to temperature variation in colder areas. These results have vital implications for the migration direction of microbial communities and its potential ecological consequences in future warming scenarios. (C) 2021 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. All rights reserved

Forest carbon stocks increase with higher dominance of ectomycorrhizal trees in high latitude forests

Abstract Understanding the mechanisms controlling forest carbon accumulation is crucial for predicting and mitigating future climate change. Yet, it remains unclear whether the dominance of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) trees influences the carbon accumulation of entire forests. In this study, we analyzed forest inventory data from over 4000 forest plots across Northeast China. We find that EcM tree dominance consistently exerts a positive effect on tree, soil, and forest carbon stocks. Moreover, we observe that these positive effects are more pronounced during unfavorable climate conditions, at lower tree species richness, and during early successional stages. This underscores the potential of increasing the dominance of native EcM tree species not only to enhance carbon stocks but also to bolster resilience against climate change in high-latitude forests. Here we show that forest managers can make informed decisions to optimize carbon accumulation by considering various factors such as mycorrhizal types, climate, successional stages, and species richness