Orientadores: Valéria Maia Merzel, Anete Pereira de Souza / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T11:36:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SierraGarcia_IsabelNatalia_M.pdf: 3475320 bytes, checksum: 79a474111daa5266a55171dde25ca3b5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: A ocorrência de óleos biodegradados nos reservatórios de petróleo, juntamente com o isolamento das primeiras bactérias a partir destes ambientes, forneceu evidências de micro-organismos ativos no subsolo profundo. Os micro-organismos, habitantes comuns de reservatórios de petróleo, desenvolveram estratégias eficazes de biodegradação, baseados em sistemas enzimáticos e vias metabólicas especializadas, de maneira a acessar os hidrocarbonetos como fonte de carbono e energia. No entanto, o conhecimento atual da diversidade microbiana e dos processos metabólicos envolvidos na biodegradação em reservatórios de petróleo ainda é limitado, principalmente devido à dificuldade em recuperar a complexa comunidade microbiana presente em tais ambientes extremos. Essa limitação imposta pelo uso de técnicas de cultivo convencionais pode ser superada através do uso de abordagens independentes de cultivo, como a metagenômica, a qual permite o acesso ao potencial metabólico dos micro-organismos não cultivados. Em trabalho prévio, uma biblioteca metagenômica fosmidial derivada de enriquecimentos aeróbios e anaeróbios de petróleo foi construída e avaliada para a capacidade de crescimento microbiano em hexadecano como fonte de única de carbono. No presente estudo, foi analisada a capacidade de biodegradação de hexadecano e fenantreno pelos clones selecionados dessa biblioteca através de cromatografia gasosa acoplada a espectrometria de massas (CG-EM). As análises que se sucederam tiveram como objetivos a identificação e caracterização das sequências metagenômicas responsáveis pela biodegradação de hidrocarbonetos. A estratégia de clonagem aleatória "shotgun" seguida de sequenciamento dos clones foi utilizada para determinar a sequência inteira dos insertos fosmidias que mostraram relevantes capacidades de biodegradação. Cerca de 30 kb de sequência foram montados para o fosmideo 1A (91% de degradação do hexadecano e 5% do fenantreno) e 37 kb para o fosmideo 2B (98% de degradação do hexadecano e 44% do fenantreno), e em cada um foram reconhecidos 23 ORFs e 40 ORFs, respectivamente. As proteínas putativas foram identificadas por comparação das sequências de aminoácidos deduzidas. Várias proteínas envolvidas na degradação aeróbia e anaeróbia de diferentes compostos de hidrocarbonetos foram encontradas. As sequências que codificam estas enzimas não mostraram-se agrupadas em clusters completos de degradação, semelhantes aos encontrados nas bactérias degradadoras de hidrocarbonetos conhecidas. Os fragmentos metagenômicos continham apenas subconjuntos de genes pertencentes a várias vias, mostrando novos arranjos gênicos. Esses resultados reforçam o potencial da abordagem metagenômica para a prospecção e elucidação de novos genes e vias metabólicas, contribuindo para uma visão mais abrangente dos processos de biodegradação que ocorrem nos reservatórios de petróleo / Abstract: The occurrence of biodegraded oil in petroleum reservoirs, along with the isolation of the first bacteria from such environments, provided evidence for active microorganisms in the deep subsurface. Microorganisms are common inhabitants of petroleum reservoirs and they may have effective biodegrading strategies, based on specialized enzyme systems and metabolic pathways, as a form to access hydrocarbons as carbon and energy sources. However, the current knowledge of the microbial diversity and metabolic pathways involved in hydrocarbon biodegradation in petroleum reservoirs is still limited, mostly due to the difficulty in recovering the complex community present in such extreme environments. This limitation imposed by conventional culturing techniques can be circumvented by the metagenomic approach, which is a culture-independent molecular method that allows the access to the metabolic potential of previously uncultured microorganisms. In a previous work, a metagenomic fosmid library derived from aerobic and anaerobic petroleum enrichments were constructed and screened for the detection of microbial growth on hexadecane as sole carbon source. In this study, the biodegradation abilities on hexadecane and phenanthrene of selected clones were analyzed using Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and subsequent analyses aimed at the identification and characterization of metagenomic sequences responsible for the hydrocarbon biodegradation. The shotgun sequencing approach was used to determine the whole insert sequence of two fosmid clones showing different and relevant biodegradation capacities, FOS1A (91% hexadecane and 5% phenanthrene degradation) and FOS2B (98% hexadecane and 44% phenanthrene degradation). About 30 kb in sequence were assembled for the fosmid 1A and 37 kb for fosmid 2B, and 23 ORFs and 40 ORFs were recognized in each one, respectively. Putative proteins were identified by comparison of deduced aminoacid sequences. Several proteins involved in the degradation of different hydrocarbon compounds by aerobic and anaerobic pathways were found. The sequences coding these enzymes were not grouped together into complete clusters of degradation pathways similar to those already described in known hydrocarbon degrading bacteria. The metagenomic fragments contained only subsets of gene belonging to different pathways, showing novel gene arrangements. The results obtained in this study reinforce the potential of the metagenomic approach for the prospection and elucidation of new genes and pathways, contributing to a broader perspective of the biodegradation processes that take place in petroleum reservoirs / Mestrado / Genetica de Microorganismos / Mestre em Genética e Biologia Molecular

Les mycotoxines telles que la fumonisine B1 (FB1) produites par les champignons du genre Fusarium sont particulièrement préoccupantes pour la filière maïsicole. L’ensilage de maïs est un processus de fermentation naturel susceptible de favoriser l’évolution des teneurs en FB1. La maîtrise du risque de contamination par la FB1 et la recherche de moyens permettant la décontamination des ensilages est donc nécessaire. L’objectif de ce travail est de caractériser le devenir de la FB1 dans les ensilages de maïs grain et de mettre en évidence l’existence d’agents microbiens capables de dégrader cette toxine. Pour cela, des mini-silos contenant du maïs grain naturellement contaminé en FB1 provenant de différents parcelles et issus des deux années de récolte ont été préparés. La stratégie analytique basée sur le dosage de la FB1 libre et la FB1 complexée par HPLC-MS/MS a révélé une diminution significative de la teneur en FB1 totale qui ne peut être attribuée à un mécanisme de complexation et résulte d’un mécanisme de dégradation. La recherche du microbiote associé à la dégradation de la FB1 a été réalisée par deux approches complémentaires : Une analyse métagénomique combinant l’extraction sélective de l’ADN microbien et le séquençage haut débit «shotgun» afin de comparer la diversité taxonomique et fonctionnelle d’un ensilage dégradant la FB1 et d’un ensilage moins dégradant. En parallèle, un criblage de microorganismes cultivables capables de métaboliser la FB1 a été conduit et a permis de confirmer les résultats de l’analyse globale. Ce travail apporte une première image du microbiote potentiellement associé à la dégradation de la FB1, ainsi que des activités microbiennes responsables. / Fungi of the genus Fusarium are one of the major contaminants of maize that can produce mycotoxins, such as the fumonisin B1 (FB1). Maize silage which is based on the fermentation of whole crop plant or grains is considered the main source of monogastrics and cattle feeding in Europe. The ensiling process could favor changes in FB1 content; however this has scarcely been documented. This led to questioning regarding the possibility of managing the microbiota during ensiling in order to reduce the level of mycotoxins exposure and improve feed quality. The aim of this work is to study the fate of FB1 during ensiling process of high moisture maize grain and to identify an endemic microbiota capable of degrading FB1. Laboratory scale silages were prepared with naturally contaminated FB1 grains from two cropping years. An analytical procedure allowed assessing both free and matrix associated FB1 forms and showed a significant decrease in total FB1 content that are not linked to the presence of bound FB1. Additionally, our data showed that the FB1 content decrease was mainly due to a degradation process. Identification of a potential microbiota responsible for FB1 degradation was conducted. A metagenomics approach combining a selective microbial DNA extraction and high-throughput shotgun sequencing showed microbial specific patterns between FB1 degrading and weakly degrading silage. These results were also supported by the isolation of microbial strains able to metabolize FB1. Ultimately, this work evidenced a microbiota associated to FB1 degradation and the functional diversity involved in this activity. Bacteria and yeasts have been obtained for further studies on degradation activities and their usage as silage starter.

La métagénomique comparative est dite de novo lorsque les échantillons sont comparés sans connaissances a priori. La similarité est alors estimée en comptant le nombre de séquences d’ADN similaires entre les jeux de données. Un projet métagénomique génère typiquement des centaines de jeux de données. Chaque jeu contient des dizaines de millions de courtes séquences d’ADN de 100 à 200 nucléotides (appelées lectures). Dans le contexte du début de cette thèse, il aurait fallu des années pour comparer une telle masse de données avec les méthodes usuelles. Cette thèse présente des approches de novo pour calculer très rapidement la similarité entre de nombreux jeux de données. Les travaux que nous proposons se basent sur le k-mer (mot de taille k) comme unité de comparaison des métagénomes. La méthode principale développée pendant cette thèse, nommée Simka, calcule de nombreuses mesures de similarité en remplacement les comptages d’espèces classiquement utilisés par des comptages de grands k-mers (k > 21). Simka passe à l’échelle sur les projets métagénomiques actuels grâce à un nouvelle stratégie pour compter les k-mers de nombreux jeux de données en parallèle. Les expériences sur les données du projet Human Microbiome Projet et Tara Oceans montrent que les similarités calculées par Simka sont bien corrélées avec les similarités basées sur des comptages d’espèces ou d’OTUs. Simka a traité ces projets (plus de 30 milliards de lectures réparties dans des centaines de jeux) en quelques heures. C’est actuellement le seul outil à passer à l’échelle sur une telle quantité de données, tout en étant complet du point de vue des résultats de comparaisons. / Metagenomics studies the genomic content of a sample extracted from a natural environment. Among available analyses, comparative metagenomics aims at estimating the similarity between two or more environmental samples at the genomic level. The traditional approach compares the samples based on their content in known identified species. However, this method is biased by the incompleteness of reference databases. By contrast, de novo comparative metagenomics does not rely on a priori knowledge. Sample similarity is estimated by counting the number of similar DNA sequences between datasets. A metagenomic project typically generates hundreds of datasets. Each dataset contains tens of millions of short DNA sequences ranging from 100 to 150 base pairs (called reads). In the context of this thesis, it would require years to compare such an amount of data with usual methods. This thesis presents novel de novo approaches to quickly compute the similarity between numerous datasets. The main idea underlying our work is to use the k-mer (word of size k) as a comparison unit of the metagenomes. The main method developed during this thesis, called Simka, computes several similarity measures by replacing species counts by k-mer counts (k > 21). Simka scales-up today’s metagenomic projects thanks to a new parallel k-mer counting strategy on multiple datasets. Experiments on data from the Human Microbiome Project and Tara Oceans show that the similarities computed by Simka are well correlated with reference-based and OTU-based similarities. Simka processed these projects (more than 30 billions of reads distributed in hundreds of datasets) in few hours. It is currently the only tool able to scale-up such projects, while providing precise and extensive comparison results.

Les données présentées dans ce manuscrit de thèse sont principalement basées sur l'analyse de séquences d'ADN extraites directement de l'environnement (et en particulier du sol) en les comparant aux données cumulées au fil des siècles sur les microorganismes cultivés en laboratoire. Les objectifs, difficultés, résultats et perspectives de cette approche, que l'on nomme « métagénomique », sont décrits. Un métagénome représente la diversité génétique d'un habitat défini (par exemple un sol du champ agricole) dans sa globalité. Ainsi, générer un métagénome a notamment pour but d’accéder à la diversité génétique de la majorité d'espèces récalcitrantes à la culture. Elle permet aussi d'estimer le potentiel fonctionnel d'un jeu de données métagénomiques représentant un écosystème, puis de le comparer à d'autres jeux de données, représentant quant à eux d'autres environnements. Enfin, un autre intérêt de cette approche est la possibilité, dans certains cas, d'assembler partiellement ou entièrement un métagénome, et ainsi de permettre la reconstruction de structures génétiques complexes, qu'elles représentent des plasmides ou des génomes, circulaires ou non. Ce manuscrit de thèse présente ces aspects de la métagénomique (extraction, séquençage, annotation, comparaison, assemblage) sur l'environnement sol, en se basant sur une prairie anglaise (Park Grass, Rothamsted Research) étudiée depuis plus de 150 ans. Les communautés microbiennes prédominantes ont été partiellement caractérisées, leur potentiel fonctionnel comparé à d'autre environnements majeurs de notre planète (océans, sédiments, neige, etc.). Parce que l'assemblage de ces données est très limité dû à une trop grande diversité, des expérimentations ont été faites en microcosmes afin de stimuler une partie de la communauté avant de générer de nouveaux jeux de données, hautement simplifiés. Cette approche a permis l'assemblage et l'étude structurelle de génomes correspondant à des espèces résistant à des conditions extrêmes (par exemple un apport considérable de mercure, ou de métaux lourds).Lorsque l'on regarde la métagénomique dans sa globalité, les perspectives apparaissent clairement : usant d'outils de plus en plus performants (séquençage, annotation, assemblage, etc.), les microbiologistes peuvent d'ores et déjà récolter le fruit de plus de trois milliards d'années d'évolution et d'adaptation microbienne. / Microbial ecology is beginning to interact with metagenomics and many microbiologists are attracted to metagenomics in the hope of discovering novel relationships between microorganisms and/or confirming that work done on isolates applies to the remaining uncultured members of the different ecosystems. With a growing number of available metagenomic datasets, metagenomes can be intensively mined by microbial ecologists in search of previously undetected correlations (both structural and functional). Here, we provide a preliminary exploration of 77 publically available metagenomes corresponding to DNA samples extracted from oceans, atoll corals, deep oceans, Antarctic aquatic environments, Arctic snows, terrestrial environments (sediments, soils, sludges, microbial fuel cell anode biofilms, acid mine drainage biofilms), polluted air, and animal and human microbiomes (human feces, mouse and chicken cecum, and cow rumen). Results show well-defined environmental specificities that emphasize microbial adaptation and evolution capabilities. Unexpected observations were also made for several ecosystems, thus providing new hypotheses about the life style of their microbial communities. Available metagenomes are a gold mine of underexploited information that could be used to explore specific microbial structural and functional relationships. The statistical analysis provided here depends in part on replicates from the different ecosystems. With the continued emphasis on metagenomic sequencing, future analyses should support rigorous statistical treatment. This preliminary metagenomic decryption could represent a pilot-scale test for a future Earth microbiome global comparison

Background During the first stages of development human infants are either fed human milk or human milk substitutes (infant formulas). The composition of infant formulas and human milk differ drastically, including a difference in protein constituents and bacterial load. Due to the high global frequency of infant formula use, the humanization of infant formulas to better reflect the complex nature of human milk is warranted. To better understand the role of human milk components, the fate and function of a key bacterial sensor in human milk, soluble CD14, was determined. Additionally, the microbiome of human milk was analyzed from a metagenomic standpoint in an attempt to determine which types of bacteria are present in human milk and what their potential biological function might be. Results In rodent models, ingested sCD14 persisted in the gastrointestinal tract and was transferred intact into the blood stream. Once transferred to the blood, ingested sCD14 retained its ability to recognize lipopolysaccharide and initiate an immune response in pups. This transfer of sCD14 across the epithelial barrier was also observed in human cells in vitro, where it appears to be dependent on Toll-like receptor 4. Using Illumina sequencing and the MG-RAST pipeline, the human milk metagenome of ten mothers was sequenced. DNA from human milk aligned to over 360 prokaryotic genera, and contained 30,128 open reading frames assigned to various functional categories. The DNA from human milk was also found to harbor immune-modulatory DNA motifs that may play a significant role in immune development of the infant. Conclusions Given the complex nature of human milk in comparison to its bovine or plant based substitutes, the results presented in this thesis warrant future modification of infant formulas to include non-nutritive bioactive components. Current human milk components not yet present in infant formulas include the diverse microbiome of human milk, the immune-modulatory DNAs which those microbes harbor, and bioactive human proteins such as sCD14.

Orientadores: Valéria Maia Merzel, Suzan Pantaroto de Vasconcellos / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T20:16:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dellagnezze_BrunaMartins_D.pdf: 5318956 bytes, checksum: ea46ea243dab1c96e35480b724029b55 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: A poluição é um problema mundial amplamente discutido, incluindo os derramamentos de petróleo ocorridos através de acidentes ou por atividades humana, os quais acarretam grande impacto ambiental e econômico. O processo de biorremediação utiliza micro-organismos, associados ou não a outros compostos como biossurfactantes e até mesmo enzimas, com o objetivo de transformar compostos orgânicos em inorgânicos, levando à formação de compostos inertes ou não tóxicos. Deste modo, a biorremediação representa um modo efetivo e sustentável para se tratar áreas contaminadas. Neste trabalho foi possível avaliar o potencial de clones metagenômicos obtidos a partir da construção de uma biblioteca fosmidial e de linhagens de bactérias, todos provenientes de amostras de petróleo de reservatórios brasileiros em escala de microcosmos e mesocosmos, visando futura aplicação em processos de biorremediação. Em um primeiro ensaio os micro-organismos foram avaliados na forma livre, em 50 mL de água do mar artificial e petróleo bruto como única fonte de carbono, a cada sete dias durante 21 dias. Posteriormente, os micro-organismos com melhor potencial de biodegradação foram selecionados e aprisionados em esferas de quitosana e testados novamente em microcosmos, em diferentes escalas, durante 21 e 30 dias. Com base nos resultados observados nos ensaios de degradação em microcosmos, um último ensaio foi realizado empregando-se um consórcio contendo quatro clones metagenômicos e uma linhagem de Bacillus subtilis, o qual foi avaliado em ensaio de mesocosmos em 3000 litros de água do mar não-estéril. Nesta etapa, parâmetros como a contagem total dos micro-organismos (DAPI) e a demanda biológica de oxigênio (DBO) foram avaliados, e a cromatografia gasosa (CG) foi empregada para avaliar a degradação de hidrocarbonetos do petróleo. Os resultados demonstraram a capacidade desses micro-organismos em degradar compostos do petróleo bruto, tanto hidrocarbonetos alifáticos como aromáticos. Em microcosmos, na forma livre, as linhagens de Dietzia maris e Micrococcus sp. apresentaram o melhor desempenho, alcançando ao final de 21 dias 99% de degradação de hidrocarbonetos alifáticos e de 63-99% de degradação de aromáticos (fenantreno e metilfenantreno). Dentre os clones, o clone 2B apresentou o melhor desempenho para degradar tanto hidrocarbonetos alifáticos (47%) como aromáticos (94%). Na forma aprisionada, os micro-organismos também apresentaram capacidade para degradar petróleo bruto em mesocosmos, exibindo valores de degradação de 90 a 100 % para hidrocarbonetos saturados e 70 a 100% para aromáticos, ao final de 30 dias de avaliação. Os resultados indicam um resultado promissor e inédito, onde um consórcio combinado contendo clones metagenômicos e Bacillus subtillis pode ser futuramente utilizado em estratégias de bioaumento, em sistemas de contenção, como ferramenta para biorremediação de ambientes contaminados com hidrocarbonetos / Abstract: Pollution is a global environmental problem widely discussed, including oil spills that occur accidentally or due to human activities, which cause huge environmental and economic impacts. Bioremediation process uses biological agents, associated or not to other compounds like biosurfactants or even their enzymes, to mineralize or complex organic and inorganic pollutant compounds, transforming them into inert or non-toxic compounds. Thus, bioremediation represents an ecofriendly and effective way to treat impacted areas. In this work, the biodegradation potential of clones obtained from metagenomic libraries and bacterial isolates, all originated from Brazilian petroleum reservoirs, was evaluated in microcosm and mesocosm scale aiming at a future application in bioremediation process. In the first assay, microorganisms were evaluated as free cells, in 50 mL-volume of artificial seawater and using crude oil as sole carbon source. The experiment was monitored each seven days during 21 days. Further, the best performing microorganisms were selected, immobilized in chitosan beads and evaluated in microcosm assays, at different scales, during 21 and 30 days. Finally, in the last experiment, one consortium containing four metagenomic clones and a Bacillus subtilis strain was evaluated in mesocosmos assay in 3000 L-volume of non-sterile seawater. Parameters such as total counting of microorganisms by DAPI and biological oxygen demand (BOD) were evaluated, and petroleum degradation was monitored by chromatographic analysis. Results demonstrated the ability of the microorganisms to degrade aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. In microcosms, using free cells, the strains of Dietzia maris and Micrococcus sp. showed the best performance, reaching 99% of aliphatic hydrocarbon degradation and 63-99% of aromatic compound degradation in 21 days. Among metagenomic clones, clone 2B presented the best performance to degrade aliphatic (47%) and aromatic hydrocarbons (94%). In chitosan beads, the microorganisms were also able to degrade crude petroleum, showing percentages between 90 and 100% for aliphatic hydrocarbons and 70 and 100% to aromatic. The results gathered in this work demonstrate that a microbial consortium containing metagenomic clones and one bacterial strain is able to achieve high extents of hydrocarbon degradation, offering a promising tool to be further used in bioaugmentation approaches for treating contaminated environments / Doutorado / Genetica de Microorganismos / Doutora em Genética e Biologia Molecular

No description available.

This diploma thesis deals with taxonomy independent methods for classification of metagenomic signals, aquired by a MinION sequencer. It describes the formation and character of metagenomic data and already existing methods of metagenomic data classification and their development. This thesis also evaluates an impact of the third generation sequencing techniques in the world of metagenomics and further specialises on the function of the Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing device. Lastly, a custom method for metagenomic data classification, based on data obtained from a MinION sequencer, is proposed and compared with an already existing method of classification.

Ces travaux de thèse reposent sur le double objectif de proposer des approches innovantes pour l’étude des relations entre un hôte et son microbiote, et de les appliquer à la description fine de l’holobionte du puceron du pois par des données métagénomiques. Les relations symbiotiques façonnent le fonctionnement et l’évolution de tous les organismes, mais restent décrites de manière imparfaite, notamment à cause de la difficulté à caractériser la diversité génomique des partenaires microbiens constitutifs des holobiontes. L’essor des technologies de séquençage métagénomique révolutionne l’étude de ces systèmes, mais pose également des problèmes méthodologiques pour analyser les jeux de données métagénomiques. La métagénomique est ici appliquée au puceron du pois, un modèle d’étude des relations symbiotiques qui abrite une communauté bactérienne d’une complexité modérée, idéale pour développer de nouvelles approches de caractérisation de la diversité microbienne. Cette thèse vise à mieux décrire la communauté de symbiotes qu’abrite cet holobionte, notamment en distinguant les différents niveaux de variabilité génomique en son sein. Nous présentons une démarche pour l’analyse métagénomique d’holobiontes, qui repose d’abord sur l’assignation taxonomiques des lectures par alignement à des génomes de référence ou préalablement assemblés, puis sur la recherche de variants génomiques. L’étude de génotypes complets de symbiotes permet de retracer l’histoire évolutive des relations hôte-microbiote avec une résolution élevée. Chez le puceron du pois, nous mettons en évidence des niveaux et structures de diversité génomique différents selon les symbiotes, que nous proposons d’expliquer par les modalités de transmission ou l’histoire évolutive propre à chacun des partenaires microbiens. Cette approche repose sur la disponibilité d’un génome de référence adapté, qui est souvent difficile à obtenir en métagénomique. Dans un second temps, nous présentons donc une méthode d’assemblage guidé par référence en contexte métagénomique. Cette méthode se déroule en deux temps : le recrutement et l’assemblage de lectures par alignement sur un génome de référence distant, puis l’assemblage de novo ciblé des régions manquantes, permis par des développements complémentaires apportés au logiciel MindTheGap. Comparativement à un assembleur métagénomique, cette méthode permet l’assemblage d’un seul génome en un temps réduit, et permet de détecter d’éventuels variants structuraux sur le génome ciblé. Appliqué au puceron du pois, MindTheGap a réalisé l’assemblage du symbiote obligatoire Buchnera en un seul contig, et a permis d’identifier différents variants structuraux du bactériophage APSE. Ces travaux ouvrent la voie à la fois à une caractérisation plus précise des relations hôte-microbiote chez le puceron du pois par des approches fonctionnelles et métaboliques, ainsi qu’à l’application des outils présentés à des systèmes plus complexes. / The aim of this PhD thesis is to develop innovative approaches to characterize host-microbiota relationships, and to apply them to finely explore the pea aphid microbiota using metagenomic data. Symbiotic relationships play a major role in the life and evolution of all organisms, but are imperfectly described, essentially because of the difficult characterization of the genomic diversity of the microbial partners. The rise of high throughput metagenomic sequencing is a game changer for the study of those systems, but also raises methodological issues to analyze large metagenomic datasets. Metagenomic is here applied to the pea aphid holobiont, a model system for the study of symbiotic relationships, sheltering a moderately complex microbial community. This level of complexity seems to be ideal to develop new approaches for the strain-resolved characterization of host-microbiota relationships. This thesis aims at a better description of this symbiotic community by distinguishing several scales of metagenomic diversity. In a first part, we present a framework for the metagenomic analysis of holobionts, relying first on the taxonomic assignation of reads by alignment to reference or newly assembled genomes, and then on the detection of genomic variants. Whole genome variant profiles make possible to track the evolutionary history of host-microbiota associations with a high resolution. In the case of the pea aphid, we highlight different scales and structures for the metagenomic diversity of the different symbionts, accounting for different transmission modes or evolutionary histories specific to each microbial partner. This framework is based on the availability of a suitable reference genome, that may be hard to obtain in a metagenomic context. In a second part, we therefore present a novel method for reference guided genome assembly from metagenomic data. This method is based on two steps. First, the recruitment and assembly of reads by mapping metagenomic reads on a distant reference genome, and second, the de novo assembly of the missing regions, allowed by the development of an improved version of the software MindTheGap. Compared to a standard metagenomic assembler, this methods makes possible to assemble a single genome in a reasonable time, and allows to detect eventual structural variations within the targeted genome. When applied to the pea aphid holobiont, MindTheGap yielded single contig assemblie of the obligatory symbiont Buchnera aphidicola, and helped to identify different structural variants of the bacteriophage APSE. This works paves the way to a finer characterization of host-microbiota interactions, and to the application of the presented approaches to more complex systems.

Cyanobateria are promising cell factories due to their minimal nutrient requirements and utilization of asmospheric carbon di-oxide as its sole carbon source. In particular, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is an industrially useful bio plastic that is produced naturally by some cyanobacteria. Furthermore, PHB biosynthetic pathway is a starting point for production of the biofuel, 1-butanol. There has been much genetic engineering effort toward increasing the production of PHB from cyanobacteria. These have been focused on increasing the pool of acetyl-CoA precursor, or increasing the amount of the reductant NADPH. The upstream process for increasing these reactants is complex and involves many genes. In this contect, cyanobacteria libraries will contribute to reveal genes or gene fragments that are responsible for production of PHB, alkanes and other high value compounds. In pursuit of finding these novel genes or genefragments, a transcription factor library is created in this study with 50 transcription factors. Furthermore, the process is optimized towards the creation of genomic fragment library and metagenomic fragment library with 26 diverse strains. Membersof the transcription factor library are over-expressed by a PHB - producing host Synechocystis PCC 6803 and the process towards creation of genomic and metagenomic libraries is optimized. The members of the metagenomic library can be screened for increased PHB, alkanes, lactate and other high value products and the potential members can be isolated and characterized.