Changes in the bacterial rare biosphere after permanent application of composted tannery sludge in a tropical soil

Composted tannery sludge (CTS) promotes shifts in soil chemical properties, affecting microbial communities. Although the effect of CTS application on the bacterial community has been studied, it is unclear whether this impact discriminates between the dominant and rare species. This present study investigated how the dominant and rare bacterial communities respond over time to different concentrations of CTS application (0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 tons/ha) for 180 days. The richness of operational taxonomic units (OTU) was 30-fold higher in the rare than in the dominant biosphere. While some phyla shifted their relative abundance differently in the dominant and rare biosphere, some genera increased their relative abundance under higher CTS concentrations, such as Nocardioides (∼100%), Rubrobacter (∼300%), and Nordella (∼400%). Undominated processes largely governed the dominant biosphere (76.97%), followed by homogeneous (12.51%) and variable (8.03%) selection, and to a lesser extent, the dispersal limitation (2.48%). The rare biosphere was driven by the CTS application as evidenced by the exclusively homogeneous selection (100%). This study showed that the rare biosphere was more sensitive to changes in soil chemical parameters due to CTS application, which evidences the importance explore this portion of the bacterial community for its biotechnological use in contaminated soils.</p

Unique crystal structure of a novel surfactant protein from the foam nest of the frog leptodactylus vastus

Breeding by releasing eggs into stable biofoams (>foam nests>) is a peculiar reproduction mode within anurans, fish, and tunicates; not much is known regarding the biochemistry or molecular mechanisms involved. Lv-ranaspumin (Lv-RSN-1) is the predominant protein from the foam nest of the frog Leptodactylus vastus. This protein shows natural surfactant activity, which is assumed to be crucial for stabilizing foam nests. We elucidated the amino acid sequence of Lv-RSN-1 by de novo sequencing with mass-spectrometry and determined the high-resolution X-ray structure of the protein. It has a unique fold mainly composed of a bundle of 11 α-helices and two small antiparallel β-strands. Lv-RSN-1 has a surface rich in hydrophilic residues and a lipophilic cavity in the region of the antiparallel β-sheet. It possesses intrinsic surface-active properties, reducing the surface tension of water from 73 to 61 mN m-1 (15 μg mL-1). Lv-RSN-1 belongs to a new class of surfactants proteins for which little has been reported regarding structure or function. Making the perfect egg: Frog eggs and sperm are matured in >foam nests> that are stabilized by the naturally occurring surfactant protein ranaspumin. We report the amino acid sequence, crystal structure (which corresponds to a novel fold), and biochemical properties of Lv-RSN-1, the uncommon ranaspumin from the frog Leptodactylus vastus. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.D.C.H. was recipient of a scholarship provided by Consehlo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq; Process No. 201633/2012-8). This work was financially supported by Coordenaçao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), by CNPq and by the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) through project W901 (DK >Molecular Enzymology>, to K.G.)Peer Reviewe

Dynamics of archaeal community in soil with application of composted tannery sludge

Application of composted tannery sludge (CTS) could promote a shift in the structure of soil microbial communities. Although the effect of CTS on bacterial community has been studied, it is unclear how the composition and diversity of archaeal community respond to CTS amendment and which environmental factors drive the community over time. Here, we hypothesize that the Archaea structure and composition respond to CTS amendment over the time. CTS had been previously applied annually along 6 years and this assessment occurred for 180 days following the application in the 7 th year by using different rates (0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 ton ha −1 ). We used amplicon 16S rRNA sequencing to assess the changes in the structure of the archaeal community. Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota were the most abundant phyla found in soils with application of CTS, with Thaumarchaeota dominating the sequences in all samples with relative abundances of >98%. We observed a decreasing trend on the archaeal diversity over the time with increasing CTS application rate, together with an increase in the community similarity. The redundancy analyses (RDA) explained 43% of the total variation in operational taxonomic units and identified Na, pH, Cr and P as the main drivers of the archaeal community over time after application of highest CTS rates. CTS application changes the structure of Archaea community, with significant increase of Thaumarchaeota and Aenigmarchaeota groups, which can be further explored for its biotechnological use in contaminated soils. </p

Responses of soil bacterial community after seventh yearly applications of composted tannery sludge

Composted tannery sludge (CTS) contains organic compounds and inorganic elements, mainly chromium (Cr), and its long-term application in soil can alter the bacterial structure and diversity. Thus, we used the next-generation sequencing to assess the structure and diversity of bacterial communities in soils after 7 years of CTS application. CTS was applied at 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 Mg ha− 1 and the soil samples were collected at 75 days after application in the seventh year. The most abundant phyla were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Chloroflexi. The abundance of some specific groups increased with application of CTS, such as Anaerolinea S0208 and Firmicutes. Six bacterial genera differed between amended and unamended soil. The abundance of Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Symbiobacterium, Clostridium, Microlunatus, and Actinomadura increased after application of CTS. The Redundancy Analysis between the structure of the bacterial community and chemical variables in soil did not cluster all treatments clearly, but showed Cr, pH, and organic C as significant chemical variables that influenced the bacterial communities. Application of CTS in soil has a primary effect on the bacterial communities that, negatively, alter the bacterial diversity and community similarity, while that, positively, it permits to select specific bacterial groups able to resist and biodegrade contaminants

Bacterial community in biological soil crusts from a Brazilian semiarid region under desertification process

ABSTRACT Biological soil crusts (BSC) are commonly found in soils in the drylands regions, which can influence stabilization, water retention, nutrient cycling (particularly carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics), and several ecological processes. However, the composition of BSC in Brazilian soils undergoing the desertification process remains poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize the bacterial community in BSC formed in a Brazilian semiarid region under the desertification process. Thus, a highly desertified region was selected from which 34 BSC samples were collected. The total DNA of the BSC was extracted from 0.5 g samples, and the bacterial community was sequenced by a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform (Miseq – Illumina®) using universal primers (515F and 806R). Bioinformatic analysis was carried out in QIIME (v.1.9), and the Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) table was constructed following the Sumaclust methodology. The pH of BSC, C, N, and phosphorus contents was analyzed. Our study identified a diverse bacterial community in the BSCs. Cyanobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Proteobacteria phyla presented the greatest relative abundance (%) across the samples. Cyanobacteria were dominated by the orders Nostocales and Leptolyngbyales. The prediction of the putative functions found that mostf OTU were related to phototrophy, photosynthetic cyanobacteria, and photoautotrophy. The study found correlations between bacterial phyla and BSC properties, with Cyanobacteria positively related to C. Chloroflexi, Armatimonadetes, and WPS-2 were negatively correlated with C and N contents. These results suggest the critical roles bacteria communities play in BSCs from the Caatinga biome and highlight the potential impact of environmental factors on their diversity and functions

Short-term restoration practices change the bacterial community in degraded soil from the Brazilian semiarid

Abstract Land degradation by deforestation adversely impacts soil properties, and long-term restoration practices have been reported to potentially reverse these effects, particularly on soil microorganisms. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the short-term effects of restoration on the soil bacterial community in semiarid areas. This study evaluates the bacterial community in soils experiencing degradation (due to slash-and-burn deforestation) and restoration (utilizing stone cordons and revegetation), in comparison to a native soil in the Brazilian semiarid region. Three areas were selected: (a) under degradation; (b) undergoing short-term restoration; and (c) a native area, and the bacterial community was assessed using 16S rRNA sequencing on soil samples collected during both dry and rainy seasons. The dry and rainy seasons exhibited distinct bacterial patterns, and native sites differed from degraded and restoration sites. Chloroflexi and Proteobacteria phyla exhibited higher prevalence in degraded and restoration sites, respectively, while Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were more abundant in sites undergoing restoration compared to degraded sites. Microbial connections varied across sites and seasons, with an increase in nodes observed in the native site during the dry season, more edges and positive connections in the restoration site, and a higher occurrence of negative connections in the degradation site during the rainy season. Niche occupancy analysis revealed that degradation favored specialists over generalists, whereas restoration exhibited a higher prevalence of generalists compared to native sites. Specifically, degraded sites showed a higher abundance of specialists in contrast to restoration sites. This study reveals that land degradation impacts the soil bacterial community, leading to differences between native and degraded sites. Restoring the soil over a short period alters the status of the bacterial community in degraded soil, fostering an increase in generalist microbes that contribute to enhanced soil stability

Protist species richness and soil microbiome complexity increase towards climax vegetation in the Brazilian Cerrado

Araujo et al. investigate the soil microbiome across four major vegetation zones of the Brazilian Cerrado and find that protist taxon richness increases towards the tree-dominated climax vegetation. Their findings suggest that increased microbiome complexity might enhance system stability towards climax vegetation