MSc (Med), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / The HER2 gene is amplified in 20-30% of breast cancers, a common cancer amongst South African women. HER2 amplification is associated with a poor prognosis and predicts response to treatments such as Herceptin. The gold standard for HER2 testing is Fluorescent in situ Hybridisation (FISH) with dual colour probes for the HER2 gene and chromosome 17 centromere (CEP17) internal control. According to international guidelines, a HER2/CEP17 ratio >2.2 is considered positive. The HER2 FISH test is complicated by the emergence of ambiguous cases with increased CEP17 signals that cannot be accounted for by chromosome 17 polysomy (> 6 copies of CEP17) and that may hide true HER2 gene amplification. The aims of this study were to characterise the HER2 amplicon, in particular the copy number of genes in the vicinity of the HER2 gene, and to design an alternative control probe that could clarify the HER2 gene status in ambiguous cases. In addition, results on 1558 breast cancer specimens sent for routine testing were analysed to determine the trends of HER2 amplification amongst South African women. The rate of HER2 gene amplification was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in African patients (52%) than in Caucasian patients (43%). In Caucasian women, the rate of HER2 amplification in the younger group (68%) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in the general Caucasian group (43%), while the same was not seen in the African cohort. Nineteen ambiguous cases with more than 9 copies of CEP17 were further investigated. FISH assays with four different probe kits (PathVysion HER-2: Poseidon Repeat free TOP2A, HER2, CEP17: and Vysis PML-RARA respectively) were performed to determine the copy number of the HER2, TOP2A, RARA genes and CEP17. An in-house dual colour probe kit was designed using the ACTG1 gene as a control for HER2. Of the 19 ambiguous cases, 16 had centromeric amplification, showing that CEP17 is no longer an adequate internal control in FISH HER2 testing. The TOP2A gene was only amplified in HER2 positive cases and the RARA gene was only amplified when the TOP2A gene was also amplified. FISH with ACTG1 as v a control clearly revealed HER2 amplification in ambiguous cases on image analysis and gave HER2/ACTG1 ratios significantly higher than HER2/CEP17 ratios. However, screening of an additional 40 unambiguous cases showed an increased copy number, although limited ( 8), of the ACTG1 gene in four patients; this warrants further testing to assess the value of this gene as a control. Interestingly, a trend was observed for ACTG1 increased copy number in HER2 negative cases, this may point to the presence of a driver gene whose amplification tends to be mutually exclusive from HER2 amplification.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system has become a promising tool for targeted gene editing in a variety of organisms including plants. In this system, a 20 nt sequence on a single guide RNA (sgRNA) is the only gene-specific information required to modify a target gene. Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating disease in wheat caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum. The trichothecene it produces, deoxynivalenol (DON), is a major mycotoxin contaminant causing food production loss both in quality and yield. In this project, we used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to modify three wheat genes identified in previous experiments, including an ABC transporter (TaABCC6), and the Nuclear Transcription Factor X box-binding-Like 1 (TaNFXL1), both associated with FHB susceptibility, and a non-specific Lipid Transfer Protein (nsLTP) named TansLTP9.4 which correlates with FHB resistance. Two sgRNAs were designed to target each gene and were shown in an in vitro CRISPR/Cas9 assay to guide the sequence-specific cleavage with high efficiency. Another assay for CRISPR/Cas9 was established by the optimization of a wheat protoplast isolation and transformation system. Using a construct expressing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a positive control, estimated transformation efficiencies of about 60% were obtained with different batches of protoplasts. High-throughput sequencing of PCR amplicons from protoplasts transformed with editing constructs clearly showed that the three genes have been successfully edited with efficiencies of up to 42.2%. In addition, we also characterized by RT-qPCR the expression pattern of 10 genes in DON-treated protoplasts; seven of the genes were induced by DON in the protoplasts, consistent with their previously identified DON induction in treated wheat heads, while three genes expressed differentially between DON-treated wheat heads and protoplasts. Preliminary bioinformatics analyses showed that these differentially expressed genes are involved in different plant defense mechanisms.

Soil-borne oomycetes include plant pathogens that cause substantial losses in the agricultural sector. To better manage this important group of pathogens, it is critical to understand how they respond to common agricultural practices, such as tillage and crop rotation. Here, a long-term field experiment with a split-plot design with tillage as the main plot factor (conventional tillage [CT] vs. no till [NT], 2 levels) and rotation as the subplot factor (monocultures of soybean, corn, or wheat, and corn-soybean-wheat rotation, 4 levels) was sampled. Post-harvest oomycete communities were characterized over three consecutive years (2016-2018) by metabarcoding the Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1) region of soil DNA extracts. The community contained 292 Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) and was dominated by Globisporangium spp. (85.1% in abundance, 203 ASV) and Pythium spp. (10.4%, 51 ASV). NT decreased diversity and community compositional structure heterogeneity, while crop rotation only affected the community structure under CT. Soil and crop health represented by soybean seedling vitality was lowest in soils under CT cultivating soybean or corn, while grain yield of the three crops responded differently to tillage and crop rotation regimes. The interaction effects of tillage and rotation on most oomycetes species accentuated the complexity of managing these pathogens.

The mangrove ecosystem is a marginal and complex ecosystem. Mangrove trees can tolerate heat, desiccation, high salinity, radiation, and anoxic conditions. The physiological features of mangroves help them tolerate these stressors, but their relationship with prokaryotic communities also plays a role in a productive mangrove ecosystem, mainly in nutrient cycling and biogeochemical transformation. In Saudi Arabia, a few studies were conducted to understand the microbial communities residing in the mangrove ecosystem. Most of the studies were focused on the sediments or rhizosphere of the most dominant species in the kingdom, Avicennia marina. In this study, the bacterial composition of two mangrove species (Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata) and the relationship between them was explored using next generation amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA. In both species, samples from four compartments were collected (sediments, rhizosphere, roots, and leaves). Both species had a similar microbial composition, with Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi being the most dominant phyla in all compartments. The lack of difference in alpha diversity measures (number of ASVs and Shannon-diversity index) between species highlights the symbiotic relationship between the trees. Previous studies have reported that A. marina has a more diverse microbial community than R. mucronata, however this difference was not significant in our samples. The multivariate analysis showed us that the microbial composition of the leaf and root samples was grouped separately from the microbial composition of sediment and rhizosphere samples, highlighting the specific microbial composition of each compartment. In addition, the enriched strains in each cluster were explored and related to the surrounding environment of the mangrove ecosystem, followed by the exploration of unique strains in each compartment using SIMPER analysis. In conclusion, this study provides the first information on the Red Sea Northern mangrove (Al-Wajh region) tree microbiomes, encompassing roots, leaves, rhizosphere, and sediments. Furthermore, by showing that some bacteria can colonize different plant compartments we contribute to disentangling their propagation channels within plants.

Microorganisms play central roles in planet Earth’s geochemical cycles, in food production, and in health and disease of humans and livestock. In spite of this, most microbial life forms remain unknown and unnamed, their ecological importance and potential technological applications beyond the realm of speculation. This is due both to the magnitude of microbial diversity and to technological limitations. Of the many advances that have enabled microbiology to reach new depth and breadth in the past decade, one of the most important is affordable high-throughput DNA sequencing. This technology plays a central role in each paper in this thesis. Papers I and II are focused on developing methods to survey microbial diversity based on marker gene amplification and sequencing. In Paper I we proposed a computational strategy to design primers with the highest coverage among a given set of sequences and applied it to drastically improve one of the most commonly used primer pairs for ecological surveys of prokaryotes. In Paper II this strategy was applied to an eukaryotic marker gene. Despite their importance in the food chain, eukaryotic microbes are much more seldom surveyed than bacteria. Paper II aimed at making this domain of life more amenable to high-throughput surveys. In Paper III, the primers designed in papers I and II were applied to water samples collected up to twice weekly from 2011 to 2013 at an offshore station in the Baltic proper, the Linnaeus Microbial Observatory. In addition to tracking microbial communities over these three years, we created predictive models for hundreds of microbial populations, based on their co-occurrence with other populations and environmental factors. In paper IV we explored the entire metagenomic diversity in the Linnaeus Microbial Observatory. We used computational tools developed in our group to construct draft genomes of abundant bacteria and archaea and described their phylogeny, seasonal dynamics and potential physiology. We were also able to establish that, rather than being a mixture of genomes from fresh and saline water, the Baltic Sea plankton community is composed of brackish specialists which diverged from other aquatic microorganisms thousands of years before the formation of the Baltic itself. / <p>QC 20150505</p>

In recent years the increase of global plant trade and human movement has promoted the risk of introduction of invasive plants and exotic pathogens. Biological invasions operate globally and are considered to be the second cause of biodiversity loss after direct habitat alteration and destruction. In this context, Phytophthora is one of the most important and aggressive plant pathogen in agriculture and forestry. Early detection and identification of its pathways are of high importance to minimize the threat that they pose to natural ecosystems. Different molecular-based methods, including real-time PCR and Next Generation Sequencing, have been developed and applied for the detection of plant pathogens in environmental samples. These methods allow fast and accurate pathogen detection and identification even when the inoculum amount is low. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis was the development of a new method for Phytophthora detection in environmental samples starting from extraction of environmental DNA (eDNA) from different sources (soil, roots and water) and different ecosystems. Different studies have applied High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) for the detection of Phytophthora species in soil samples, but not, to date, for water. In the Chapter 3, genus-specific primers were adapted to assess Phytophthora species diversity in natural ecosystems using high-throughput amplicon pyrosequencing of eDNA from soil and water environments, based in the polymorphic and widely accepted barcoding target Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS1). The assay was validated with a control reaction with DNA of pure cultures. The objectives raised and developed of this study were: a) as main objective, development and application of HTS (High Throughput Sequencing) of Phytophthora-specific PCR amplicons to investigate the presence of Phytophthora in soil samples from different plant communities in natural forests, plantations and aquatic environments in the north of Spain; b) optimization of the conditions for emPCR amplification in order to obtain the best results in the pyrosequencing run; c) development of a bioinformatics pipeline for NGS data, focusing in the optimization of a barcoding threshold value to separate Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs). Different score coverage threshold values were tested for optimal Phytophthora species separation in the bioinformatics analyses. Clustering at 99 % was the best criteria to separate most of the Phytophthora species. Multiple Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) corresponding to 36 distinct Phytophthora species were amplified in the environmental samples. Pyrosequencing of amplicons from soil samples revealed low Phytophthora diversity (13 species) in comparison with the 35 species detected in water samples. Thirteen of the MOTUs detected in rivers and streams did not show significant matches to sequences in international sequence databases, revealing that eDNA pyrosequencing is a useful strategy to assess Phytophthora species diversity in natural ecosystems. Once the technique was developed and validated, another objective was proposed in Chapter 2, focused on the oak decline. The evergreen holm oak (Quercus ilex) is the most representative tree species in the Iberian Peninsula and the main tree in oak-rangeland ecosystems (dehesas). Oak decline in non-calcareous soils in south-western Spain has been associated with Phytophthora cinnamomi for decades. However, other Phytophthora species such as P. quercina and P. psychrophila have been associated with Quercus decline in the eastern part of Spain where calcareous soils are predominant. With the aim of investigating the involvement of Phytophthora spp. in oak decline in eastern Spain, two forests in different geographical areas (Alcoi and Vallivana) were selected as sampling sites. Soil and root samples were analysed in parallel by amplicon pyrosequencing and real-time PCR. Metabarcoding analyses showed Phytophthora / En los últimos años, el aumento del comercio mundial de plantas y el movimiento humano ha promovido el riesgo de introducción de plantas invasoras y patógenos exóticos. Las invasiones biológicas operan a nivel mundial y se consideran como la segunda causa de pérdida de biodiversidad después de la alteración y destrucción directas del hábitat. En este contexto, Phytophthora es uno de los patógenos vegetales más importantes y agresivos en la agricultura y la silvicultura. La detección temprana y la identificación de sus vías son de gran importancia para minimizar la amenaza que representan para los ecosistemas naturales. Se han desarrollado y aplicado diferentes métodos moleculares para la detección de patógenos de plantas en muestras ambientales. Estos métodos permiten una detección e identificación de patógenos rápida y precisa incluso cuando la cantidad de inóculo es baja. Por lo tanto, se propone un nuevo método mejorado para su detección en muestras ambientales a partir de la extracción de ADN ambiental (eDNA) de diferentes fuentes (suelo, raíces y agua) y diferentes ecosistemas. El objetivo del primer capítulo fue aplicar HTS (High Throughput Sequencing) para investigar la presencia de Phytophthora en diferentes comunidades de plantas en bosques naturales, plantaciones y ambientes acuáticos en el norte de España. El eDNA se extrajo del suelo y del agua de los ríos y arroyos de los bosques de Fagus sylvatica y Abies alba y de plantaciones de Chamaecyparis lawsoniana y Pseudotsuga menziesii en el norte de España (bosque de Irati y Villanúa). Se diseñó y aplicó un ensayo específico para la detección de Phytophthora mediante la secuenciación masiva de amplicones basado en la región ITS1. Diferentes valores de threshold se analizaron para la separación óptima de especies de Phytophthora en los análisis bioinformáticos. El agrupamiento al 99% fue el mejor criterio para separar la mayor parte de las especies de Phytophthora. Múltiples Unidades Operacionales Taxonómicas Moleculares (MOTU) correspondientes a 36 especies distintas de Phytophthora se amplificaron en las muestras ambientales. La pirosequenciación de amplicones de muestras de suelo reveló una diversidad baja de Phytophthora (13 especies) en comparación con las 35 especies detectadas en muestras de agua. Trece de los MOTU detectados en los ríos y arroyos no mostraron homología con secuencias depositadas en las bases de datos, lo que revela que la pirosequenciación del ADN ambiental es una estrategia útil para evaluar la diversidad de especies Phytophthora en los ecosistemas naturales. Una vez que la técnica fue desarrollada y validada, se propuso otro objetivo enfocado en el decaimiento de la carrasca. La carrasca (Quercus ilex) es la especie arbórea más representativa de la Península Ibérica y el árbol principal de las dehesas. El decaimiento de la carrasca en suelos no calcáreos en el suroeste de España se ha asociado con Phytophthora cinnamomi durante décadas. Sin embargo, otras especies de Phytophthora como P. quercina y P. psychrophila se han asociado con el declive de Quercus en la parte oriental de España donde predominan los suelos calcáreos. Con el objetivo de investigar la implicación de Phytophthora spp. en el declive de la carrasca en el este de España, se seleccionaron dos bosques en diferentes zonas geográficas (Alcoi y Vallivana) como lugares de muestreo. Las muestras de suelo y raíz se analizaron por pirosequenciación de amplicones. Los resultados de la secuenciación masiva mostraron la diversidad de especies de Phytophthora, y reveló que un taxón nunca aislado de Phytophthora, llamado provisional Phytophthora taxon ballota, fue la especie predominante en ambas áreas. Además, se desarrolló un ensayo de PCR a tiempo real, basado en los resultados de la pirosequenciación, para la detección de este taxón de Phytophthora nunca aislado, y también para la detección de P. quercina / En els últims anys, l'augment del comerç mundial de plantes i el moviment humà ha promogut el risc d'introducció de plantes invasores i patògens exòtics. Les invasions biològiques operen a nivell mundial i es consideren de com la segona causa de pèrdua de biodiversitat després de l'alteració i destrucció directa de l'hàbitat. En aquest context, Phytophthora és un dels mes importants patògens vegetals i agressius en l'agricultura i la silvicultura. La detecció primerenca i la identificació de les seves vies resulten de gran importància per a minimitzar l'amenaça que representen per als ecosistemes naturals. S'han desenvolupat i aplicat diferents mètodes moleculars per a la detecció de patògens de plantes en mostres ambientals. Aquests mètodes permeten una detecció i identificació de patògens ràpida i precisa fins i tot quan la quantitat d'inòcul és baixa. Per tant, es proposa un nou mètode millorat per a la seva detecció en mostres ambientals a partir de l'extracció d'ADN ambiental (eDNA) de diferents fonts (sòl, arrels i aigua) i diferents ecosistemes. L'objectiu del primer capítol va ser aplicar HTS (High Throughput Sequencing) per investigar la presència de Phytophthora en diferents comunitats de plantes en boscos naturals, plantacions i ambients aquàtics al nord d'Espanya. L'eDNA es va extraure del sòl i de l'aigua dels rius i rierols dels boscos de Fagus sylvatica i Abies alba i de plantacions de Chamaecyparis lawsoniana i Pseudotsuga menziesii al nord d'Espanya (bosc d'Irati i Villanúa). Es va dissenyar i va aplicar un assaig específic per a la detecció de Phytophthora mitjançant la seqüenciació massiva de amplicons basat en la regió ITS1. Diferents valors de threshold es van analitzar per a la separació òptima d'espècies de Phytophthora en les anàlisis bioinformàtics. L'agrupament al 99% va ser el millor criteri per separar la major part de les espècies de Phytophthora. Múltiples Unitats Operacionals Taxonòmiques Moleculars (MOTU) corresponents a 36 espècies diferents de Phytophthora es van amplificar en les mostres ambientals. La piroseqüenciació d'amplicons de mostres de sòl va revelar una diversitat baixa de Phytophthora (13 espècies) en comparació amb les 35 espècies detectades en mostres d'aigua. Tretze dels MOTU detectats en els rius i rierols no van mostrar homologia amb seqüències dipositades en les bases de dades, el que revela que la pirosequenciació de l'ADN ambiental és una estratègia útil per avaluar la diversitat d'espècies de Phytophthora en els ecosistemes naturals. Una vegada que la tècnica va ser desenvolupada i validada, es va proposar un altre objectiu enfocat en el decaïment de la carrasca. La carrasca (Quercus ilex) és l'espècie arbòria més representativa de la Península Ibèrica i l'arbre principal de les deveses. El decaïment de la carrasca en sòls no calcaris al sud-oest d'Espanya s'ha associat amb Phytophthora cinnamomi durant dècades. No obstant això, altres espècies de Phytophthora com P. quercina i P. psychrophila s'han associat amb el declivi de Quercus a la part oriental d'Espanya on predominen els sòls calcaris. Amb l'objectiu d'investigar la implicació de Phytophthora spp. en el declivi de la carrasca a l'est d'Espanya, es van seleccionar dos boscos en diferents zones geogràfiques (Alcoi i Vallivana) com a llocs de mostreig. Les mostres de sòl i arrel es van analitzar per piroseqüenciació d'amplicons. Els resultats de la seqüenciació massiva van mostrar la diversitat d'espècies de Phytophthora, i va revelar que un taxó mai aïllat de Phytophthora, anomenat de forma provisional Phytophthora taxon ballota, va ser l'espècie predominant en les dues àrees. A més, es va desenvolupar un assaig de PCR a temps real, basat en els resultats de la piroseqüenciació, per a la detecció d'aquest taxó de Phytophthora mai aïllat, i també per a la detecció de P. quercina. Els assajos de qPCR es van aplicar en mo / Catalá García, S. (2017). Development of DNA massive sequencing techniques and Real-Time PCR for the detection, identification and quantitation of Phytophthora spp. in environmental samples [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90644 / TESIS

Taxon composition and biodiversity analyses are known powerful parameters for environmental site status and environment diagnosis. Many ecological studies assess taxon composition through traditional species identification and use bioindicator species to evaluate environmental conditions. The recent breakthrough in bulk sample sequencing combined with DNA barcoding has created a new era for environmental monitoring. Metabarcoding approaches are more robust in studying alpha, and beta diversity compare to the DNA barcoding and the conventional method of species identification, particularly for rare and cryptic species. Here we built upon ecological studies of bioindicator species and transferred the traditionally named taxa to DNA-based approaches. We developed a small customized DNA database for biodiversity assessment and taxonomic identification of environmental DNA samples using high-throughput amplicon sequences. It contains macroinvertebrate species that are known as indicators of specific environmental conditions. By implementing this small database into the KRAKEN algorithm for the first time, we were able to assess environmental biodiversity compared to other popular methods of taxonomic classification, especially in polluted environments where the taxonomic composition globally change by the presence of anthropogenic drivers. Our method is incredibly faster, and it requires significantly less computational power in contrast to common homology-based techniques. To evaluate our approach, we have also studied the importance of database’s size and the depth of sequencing in taxonomic classification of high-throughput DNA sequences. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / We developed a small customized DNA database for biodiversity assessment and taxonomic identification of environmental DNA samples using high-throughput amplicon sequences. It contains macroinvertebrate species that are known as indicators of specific environmental conditions. By implementing this small database into the KRAKEN algorithm for the first time, we were able to assess environmental biodiversity compared to other popular methods of taxonomic classification, especially in polluted environments where the taxonomic composition globally change by the presence of anthropogenic drivers. Our method is incredibly faster, and it requires significantly less computational power in contrast to common homology-based techniques.

No description available.

As áreas alagáveis naturais representam a mais importante fonte não-antropogênica de metano (CH4), com emissões estimadas entre 177 a 284 Tg ano-1, representando de 26 a 42% das emissões globais de CH4. A bacia do Rio Amazonas cobre uma grande porção dos trópicos úmidos, e a rede de drenagem deste rio excede a extensão de mais de um milhão de quilômetros quadrados. As grandes várzeas da bacia Amazônica são as maiores fontes naturais de CH4 desta região e estima-se que sua contribuição para as emissões totais de áreas alagadas no mundo seja na ordem de 5%. O CH4 produzido nas zonas anaeróbicas dos sedimentos por arquéias metanogênicas pode ser oxidado a CO2 pelos microrganismos metanotróficos. Com base na hipótese de que o fluxo de CH4 se altera sazonalmente em áreas alagáveis e que a microbiota presente está diretamente relacionada a esse processo, o presente estudo teve como objetivo geral avaliar a dinâmica dos genes funcionais envolvidos no ciclo do CH4 em épocas contrastantes, correlacionando com o fluxo do gás, variáveis ambientais e perfil taxonômico de Bacteria e Archaea em sedimentos de três áreas alagáveis e solo de floresta primária, da Amazônia Oriental (Belterra e Santarém-PA). Foram realizadas amostragem de gases, sedimentos e solo em duas épocas contrastantes (maio e outubro de 2016 - cheia e seca), para determinação da concentração de CH4 retido no sedimento durante a época cheia, cálculo do fluxo de CH4 durante a época seca, análises físico-químicas e extração de DNA dos sedimentos e solo para realização da qPCR dos genes funcionais mcrA e pmoA e dos genes marcadores filogenéticos 16S rRNA de Bacteria e Archaea, e sequenciamento do gene 16S rRNA de Bacteria e Archaea. A partir das amostragens de gases, foi possível observar que as áreas alagáveis possuem potencial de atuarem como fonte de CH4 durante a época cheia, e como fonte ou dreno de metano durante a época seca, confirmado pelas análises de qPCR, uma vez que a abundância do gene pmoA aumenta durante a época seca. Já no solo de floresta, o gene mcrA foi considerado como não detectado, portanto, a floresta pode ser considerada somente como potencial dreno de CH4. O estimador ACE e o índice Shannon mostraram que os sedimentos de áreas alagáveis possuem maior riqueza e diversidade de Bacteria e Archaea quando comparados ao solo de floresta. Todas as áreas apresentaram perfis taxonômicos do domínio Bacteria semelhantes, porém, a grande diferença entre as comunidades está relacionada ao domínio Archaea. A comunidade de arqueias no solo de floresta é majoritariamente composta por representantes do filo Thaumarchaeota. O solo de floresta apresentou baixa abundância dos filos potencialmente produtores de CH4, Bathyarchaeota e Euryarchaeota, e o contrário foi observado nas áreas alagáveis. Os dados gerados no presente estudo incentivam a continuidade de trabalhos relacionados ao ciclo do CH4 em áreas alagáveis da bacia Amazônica, incluindo investigações acerca do papel do filo Bathyarchaeota nessas áreas, principalmente em relação ao ciclo do CH4 / Natural wetlands represent the most important non-anthropogenic source of methane (CH4), with emissions estimated of 177-284 Tg year-1, accounting for 26-42% of global CH4 emissions. The Amazon basin covers a large portion of the humid tropics, and the drainage network of this river exceeds the extent of more than one million square kilometers. The wetlands of the Amazon basin are the largest natural sources of CH4 in this region and it is estimated that their contribution to the total emissions of wetlands in the world is around 5%. The CH4 produced in the anaerobic zones of the sediments by methanogenic archaea can be oxidized to CO2 by the methanotrophic microorganisms. Based on the hypothesis that methane flux changes seasonally in wetlands and its microbiota is directly related to this process, this research has the main objective to evaluate the dynamics of the functional genes involved in the CH4 cycle in contrasting seasons, correlating with the CH4 flux, environmental variables and taxonomic profile of Bacteria and Archaea in three wetlands and one primary forest of the Eastern Amazon (Belterra and Santarém-PA). The sampling of gas, sediments and soil was performed in May and October 2016 (wet and dry seasons) to determine the concentration of CH4 retained in the sediment in the wet season, measurement of CH4 flux in the dry season, physicochemical properties and molecular analysis (qPCR of the mcrA, pmoA functional genes and phylogenetic marker genes 16S rRNA of Bacteria and Archaea and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of Bacteria and Archaea). From gas samplings, it was possible to observe that wetlands have the potential to act as source of CH4 during the wet season, and as a source or drain of CH4 during the dry season, confirmed by qPCR analyzes, due the abundance increases of the pmoA gene during the dry season. In the forest soil, the mcrA gene was not detected, therefore, the forest could be considered only as CH4 drain potential. The ACE estimator and the Shannon index showed that the sediments of wetlands have higher richness and diversity of Bacteria and Archaea when compared to the forest soil. All areas presented similar taxonomic profiles of Bacteria, however, the main difference between the communities is related to the Archaea. The archaeal community in the forest soil is mostly composed of representatives of the phylum Thaumarchaeota. The forest soil presented low abundance of the phyla with potential CH4 producers, Bathyarchaeota and Euryarchaeota, however the opposite was observed in the wetlands. The data generated in the present study encourage the continuity of work related to the CH4 cycle in wetlands of the Amazon basin, including investigations about the role of the Bathyarchaeota phylum in these areas, especially in relation to the CH4 cycle

As áreas alagáveis naturais representam a mais importante fonte não-antropogênica de metano (CH4), com emissões estimadas entre 177 a 284 Tg ano-1, representando de 26 a 42% das emissões globais de CH4. A bacia do Rio Amazonas cobre uma grande porção dos trópicos úmidos, e a rede de drenagem deste rio excede a extensão de mais de um milhão de quilômetros quadrados. As grandes várzeas da bacia Amazônica são as maiores fontes naturais de CH4 desta região e estima-se que sua contribuição para as emissões totais de áreas alagadas no mundo seja na ordem de 5%. O CH4 produzido nas zonas anaeróbicas dos sedimentos por arquéias metanogênicas pode ser oxidado a CO2 pelos microrganismos metanotróficos. Com base na hipótese de que o fluxo de CH4 se altera sazonalmente em áreas alagáveis e que a microbiota presente está diretamente relacionada a esse processo, o presente estudo teve como objetivo geral avaliar a dinâmica dos genes funcionais envolvidos no ciclo do CH4 em épocas contrastantes, correlacionando com o fluxo do gás, variáveis ambientais e perfil taxonômico de Bacteria e Archaea em sedimentos de três áreas alagáveis e solo de floresta primária, da Amazônia Oriental (Belterra e Santarém-PA). Foram realizadas amostragem de gases, sedimentos e solo em duas épocas contrastantes (maio e outubro de 2016 - cheia e seca), para determinação da concentração de CH4 retido no sedimento durante a época cheia, cálculo do fluxo de CH4 durante a época seca, análises físico-químicas e extração de DNA dos sedimentos e solo para realização da qPCR dos genes funcionais mcrA e pmoA e dos genes marcadores filogenéticos 16S rRNA de Bacteria e Archaea, e sequenciamento do gene 16S rRNA de Bacteria e Archaea. A partir das amostragens de gases, foi possível observar que as áreas alagáveis possuem potencial de atuarem como fonte de CH4 durante a época cheia, e como fonte ou dreno de metano durante a época seca, confirmado pelas análises de qPCR, uma vez que a abundância do gene pmoA aumenta durante a época seca. Já no solo de floresta, o gene mcrA foi considerado como não detectado, portanto, a floresta pode ser considerada somente como potencial dreno de CH4. O estimador ACE e o índice Shannon mostraram que os sedimentos de áreas alagáveis possuem maior riqueza e diversidade de Bacteria e Archaea quando comparados ao solo de floresta. Todas as áreas apresentaram perfis taxonômicos do domínio Bacteria semelhantes, porém, a grande diferença entre as comunidades está relacionada ao domínio Archaea. A comunidade de arqueias no solo de floresta é majoritariamente composta por representantes do filo Thaumarchaeota. O solo de floresta apresentou baixa abundância dos filos potencialmente produtores de CH4, Bathyarchaeota e Euryarchaeota, e o contrário foi observado nas áreas alagáveis. Os dados gerados no presente estudo incentivam a continuidade de trabalhos relacionados ao ciclo do CH4 em áreas alagáveis da bacia Amazônica, incluindo investigações acerca do papel do filo Bathyarchaeota nessas áreas, principalmente em relação ao ciclo do CH4 / Natural wetlands represent the most important non-anthropogenic source of methane (CH4), with emissions estimated of 177-284 Tg year-1, accounting for 26-42% of global CH4 emissions. The Amazon basin covers a large portion of the humid tropics, and the drainage network of this river exceeds the extent of more than one million square kilometers. The wetlands of the Amazon basin are the largest natural sources of CH4 in this region and it is estimated that their contribution to the total emissions of wetlands in the world is around 5%. The CH4 produced in the anaerobic zones of the sediments by methanogenic archaea can be oxidized to CO2 by the methanotrophic microorganisms. Based on the hypothesis that methane flux changes seasonally in wetlands and its microbiota is directly related to this process, this research has the main objective to evaluate the dynamics of the functional genes involved in the CH4 cycle in contrasting seasons, correlating with the CH4 flux, environmental variables and taxonomic profile of Bacteria and Archaea in three wetlands and one primary forest of the Eastern Amazon (Belterra and Santarém-PA). The sampling of gas, sediments and soil was performed in May and October 2016 (wet and dry seasons) to determine the concentration of CH4 retained in the sediment in the wet season, measurement of CH4 flux in the dry season, physicochemical properties and molecular analysis (qPCR of the mcrA, pmoA functional genes and phylogenetic marker genes 16S rRNA of Bacteria and Archaea and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of Bacteria and Archaea). From gas samplings, it was possible to observe that wetlands have the potential to act as source of CH4 during the wet season, and as a source or drain of CH4 during the dry season, confirmed by qPCR analyzes, due the abundance increases of the pmoA gene during the dry season. In the forest soil, the mcrA gene was not detected, therefore, the forest could be considered only as CH4 drain potential. The ACE estimator and the Shannon index showed that the sediments of wetlands have higher richness and diversity of Bacteria and Archaea when compared to the forest soil. All areas presented similar taxonomic profiles of Bacteria, however, the main difference between the communities is related to the Archaea. The archaeal community in the forest soil is mostly composed of representatives of the phylum Thaumarchaeota. The forest soil presented low abundance of the phyla with potential CH4 producers, Bathyarchaeota and Euryarchaeota, however the opposite was observed in the wetlands. The data generated in the present study encourage the continuity of work related to the CH4 cycle in wetlands of the Amazon basin, including investigations about the role of the Bathyarchaeota phylum in these areas, especially in relation to the CH4 cycle