Rhizosphere and soil bacteria are important drivers in nearly all biochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems and participate in maintaining health and productivity of soil in agriculturally managed systems. However, the effect of agricultural management systems on bacterial communities is still poorly understood. In this study, cultural methods and advanced molecular methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and 454- pyrosequencing) were used to identify shifts in soil and rhizosphere bacterial diversity, community composition, and functions under different cropping systems in Manitoba, Canada. This included monoculture vs. rotation, zero tillage vs. conventional tillage, and organic farming vs. conventional farming. Results showed that: (1) different cropping systems did not significantly influence the diversity of bacterial communities. However, a significant variation in relative abundances of bacterial communities at both the phylum and genus level was observed among different cropping systems. Compared to conventional farming systems, organic farming system had a higher percentage of the phylum Proteobacteria (many Plant Growth Promoting Rhizosbacteria) and a lower percentage of the phylum Actinobacteria. When canola monoculture was compared to wheat-oat-canola-pea rotation, a significantly higher percentage of Proteobacteria and a lower percentage of Actinobacteria were found in the rotational system. Wheat monoculture shared similar bacterial communities with wheat-oat-canola-pea rotation. Zero tillage did not change bacterial community profiles except for an increase in Firmicutes (many PGPR), compared to conventional tillage. At the genus level, significant differences were found for the dominant genera Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Stenotrophomonas, Brevundimonas, Burkholderia, Marmoricola, Microlunatus, and Solirubrobacter. The bacterial distribution was strongly associated with soil pH. (2) The cropping systems also influenced the antibiotic-producing Pseudomonas populations determined through PCR-based screening for the detection of genes involved in the biosynthesis of antibiotics. It was found that pyrrolnitrin- and phenazine- producing Pseudomonas spp. were more prevalent in the soil under zero tillage and organic farming systems, while 2,4-DAPG and pyoluteorin-producing strains were not found in this study. This comprehensive study provided fundamental information on how different cropping systems affect soil and rhizosphere bacterial communities, which can be used to guide Manitoba farmers to choose proper farming systems to maintain soil health and increase PGPR populations in soil.

Rhizosphere and soil bacteria are important drivers in nearly all biochemical cycles in terrestrial ecosystems and participate in maintaining health and productivity of soil in agriculturally managed systems. However, the effect of agricultural management systems on bacterial communities is still poorly understood. In this study, cultural methods and advanced molecular methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and 454- pyrosequencing) were used to identify shifts in soil and rhizosphere bacterial diversity, community composition, and functions under different cropping systems in Manitoba, Canada. This included monoculture vs. rotation, zero tillage vs. conventional tillage, and organic farming vs. conventional farming. Results showed that: (1) different cropping systems did not significantly influence the diversity of bacterial communities. However, a significant variation in relative abundances of bacterial communities at both the phylum and genus level was observed among different cropping systems. Compared to conventional farming systems, organic farming system had a higher percentage of the phylum Proteobacteria (many Plant Growth Promoting Rhizosbacteria) and a lower percentage of the phylum Actinobacteria. When canola monoculture was compared to wheat-oat-canola-pea rotation, a significantly higher percentage of Proteobacteria and a lower percentage of Actinobacteria were found in the rotational system. Wheat monoculture shared similar bacterial communities with wheat-oat-canola-pea rotation. Zero tillage did not change bacterial community profiles except for an increase in Firmicutes (many PGPR), compared to conventional tillage. At the genus level, significant differences were found for the dominant genera Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Stenotrophomonas, Brevundimonas, Burkholderia, Marmoricola, Microlunatus, and Solirubrobacter. The bacterial distribution was strongly associated with soil pH. (2) The cropping systems also influenced the antibiotic-producing Pseudomonas populations determined through PCR-based screening for the detection of genes involved in the biosynthesis of antibiotics. It was found that pyrrolnitrin- and phenazine- producing Pseudomonas spp. were more prevalent in the soil under zero tillage and organic farming systems, while 2,4-DAPG and pyoluteorin-producing strains were not found in this study. This comprehensive study provided fundamental information on how different cropping systems affect soil and rhizosphere bacterial communities, which can be used to guide Manitoba farmers to choose proper farming systems to maintain soil health and increase PGPR populations in soil.

Water reuse is increasingly pursued to alleviate global water scarcity. However, wastewater treatment process does not achieve full removal of biological contaminants from wastewater, and hence some microorganisms and their genetic elements can be disseminated into the reclaimed water distribution systems (RWDS). A systematic identification and characterization of these biological contaminants is required. However, a broad characterization for large-scale data are limited. In this study, reclaimed water samples are investigated through metagenomic analyses to assess their bacterial and functional (metal resistance genes (MRGs); virulence factors (VFs)) communities at the entry and exit points of the RWDS. Furthermore, water quality data are investigated to evaluate the potential relationship with these metagenomic annotations. This study found that the organic carbon content was likely relevant to the increase of bacteria and functional genes in RWDS. It was also found that the variation of functional genes was not associated with their host, inferring the role of horizontal gene transfers or promiscuity of hosts for various functional genes. Furthermore, Pseudomonas was identified in one RWDS with significant increase at both bacterial and functional levels.

No description available.

O atual cenário mundial das mudanças climáticas, somado ao aquecimento global e ao aumento das áreas em processo de desertificação tem impactado diretamente nos padrões de produção agrícola. A Caatinga é um bioma que só ocorre no Brasil e possui um clima semiárido, quente e de baixa pluviosidade, sendo que na estação seca a temperatura do solo pode chegar até 60ºC. A Caatinga apresenta uma grande riqueza de ambientes e espécies, e boa parte dessa diversidade não é encontrada em nenhum outro bioma. Uma característica muito peculiar da Caatinga é a existência de duas estações bem contrastantes durante o ano, o inverno caracterizado por ser a estação da chuva e o verão a época da seca. A vegetação é composta por Euforbiáceas, Bromeliáceas e Cactáceas, dentre as quais destacam-se o Cereus jamacaru (mandacaru), Pilosocereus gounellei (xique-xique) e Melocactus sp. (cabeça-de-frade). O mandacaru planta que sobrevive às altas temperaturas e baixa disponibilidade de água da Caatinga possui adaptações morfológicas estruturais que contribuem para a sobrevivência da mesma. Além dessas adaptações a comunidade microbiana da rizosfera foi estudada para descobrir quais micro-organismos presentes nesse ambiente auxiliam na manutenção do hospedeiro frente a essas condições adversas. Assim como, quais grupos e funções são mais abundantes nessas condições. Nesse estudo foi feito o sequenciamento parcial do gene 16S rRNA e do DNA total da rizosfera de mandacaru. A comunidade bacteriana foi bem representada pelos filos Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria e Acidobacteria, sendo que o filo Actinobacteria foi mais abundante na seca de acordo com o sequenciamento metagenômico e o filo Acidobacteria foi mais abundante no período de chuva. Em geral o sequenciamento do gene 16S rRNA, indicou que Actinobacteria e Proteobacteria são os filos mais abundantes e os genes relacionados às funções de resistência a doenças foram mais abundantes na estação seca, enquanto genes relacionados ao metabolismo do nitrogênio foram mais abundantes durante o período chuvoso, revelando assim, um pouco do potencial que o microbioma da rizosfera de mandacaru possui para auxiliar a planta hospedeira. / The present world scenario of climate change, global warming and the increase in areas undergoing desertification, have directly impacted on current patterns of agricultural crop production. The Caatinga is a specific Brazilian biome because of its semi-arid climate, hot and low rainfall, and the temperature that reaches the 60°C in the dry season. The Caatinga has a huge biodiversity and much of its diversity is not found in any other biome. A peculiar characteristic of the Caatinga biome is the occurrence of two very contrasting seasons during the year, the winter which is characterized by a rainy season and summer the dry season. The vegetation is composed by Euphorbiaceae , Bromeliaceae and Cactaceae, represented by Cereus jamacaru (Mandacaru) Pilosocereus gounellei (xique-xique) and Melocactus sp. (head-to-brother). Mandacaru is the plant that can survive through the specifics climate conditions of the Caatinga biome such as high temperatures and low water availability and this is probably due to some structural and morphological adaptations that contribute to its survival. Therefore, we assessed which microorganisms are associated with the plant rhizosphere, and which microbial groups contribute to the maintenance of the host throughout these adverse conditions. Also, we identified which are the most abundant microbial groups in these conditions and which microbial functions are more abundant in both evaluated seasons. Thus the present study assessed the mandacaru rhizosphere microbiome through a partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic sequencing. The bacterial community was well represented by the phyla Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria. The Actinobacteria was the most abundant microbial phyla in the dry season according to shotgun sequencing while the Acidobacteria was the most abundant microbial phyla in the rainy season. Overall, the 16S rRNA sequencing indicated that Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were the most abundant groups and additionally, and genes related to disease resistance functions were more abundant in the dry season. Genes related to nitrogen metabolism were more abundant during the rainy season revealing some of the potential traits that the mandacaru can explore from its microbiome.

O atual cenário mundial das mudanças climáticas, somado ao aquecimento global e ao aumento das áreas em processo de desertificação tem impactado diretamente nos padrões de produção agrícola. A Caatinga é um bioma que só ocorre no Brasil e possui um clima semiárido, quente e de baixa pluviosidade, sendo que na estação seca a temperatura do solo pode chegar até 60ºC. A Caatinga apresenta uma grande riqueza de ambientes e espécies, e boa parte dessa diversidade não é encontrada em nenhum outro bioma. Uma característica muito peculiar da Caatinga é a existência de duas estações bem contrastantes durante o ano, o inverno caracterizado por ser a estação da chuva e o verão a época da seca. A vegetação é composta por Euforbiáceas, Bromeliáceas e Cactáceas, dentre as quais destacam-se o Cereus jamacaru (mandacaru), Pilosocereus gounellei (xique-xique) e Melocactus sp. (cabeça-de-frade). O mandacaru planta que sobrevive às altas temperaturas e baixa disponibilidade de água da Caatinga possui adaptações morfológicas estruturais que contribuem para a sobrevivência da mesma. Além dessas adaptações a comunidade microbiana da rizosfera foi estudada para descobrir quais micro-organismos presentes nesse ambiente auxiliam na manutenção do hospedeiro frente a essas condições adversas. Assim como, quais grupos e funções são mais abundantes nessas condições. Nesse estudo foi feito o sequenciamento parcial do gene 16S rRNA e do DNA total da rizosfera de mandacaru. A comunidade bacteriana foi bem representada pelos filos Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria e Acidobacteria, sendo que o filo Actinobacteria foi mais abundante na seca de acordo com o sequenciamento metagenômico e o filo Acidobacteria foi mais abundante no período de chuva. Em geral o sequenciamento do gene 16S rRNA, indicou que Actinobacteria e Proteobacteria são os filos mais abundantes e os genes relacionados às funções de resistência a doenças foram mais abundantes na estação seca, enquanto genes relacionados ao metabolismo do nitrogênio foram mais abundantes durante o período chuvoso, revelando assim, um pouco do potencial que o microbioma da rizosfera de mandacaru possui para auxiliar a planta hospedeira. / The present world scenario of climate change, global warming and the increase in areas undergoing desertification, have directly impacted on current patterns of agricultural crop production. The Caatinga is a specific Brazilian biome because of its semi-arid climate, hot and low rainfall, and the temperature that reaches the 60°C in the dry season. The Caatinga has a huge biodiversity and much of its diversity is not found in any other biome. A peculiar characteristic of the Caatinga biome is the occurrence of two very contrasting seasons during the year, the winter which is characterized by a rainy season and summer the dry season. The vegetation is composed by Euphorbiaceae , Bromeliaceae and Cactaceae, represented by Cereus jamacaru (Mandacaru) Pilosocereus gounellei (xique-xique) and Melocactus sp. (head-to-brother). Mandacaru is the plant that can survive through the specifics climate conditions of the Caatinga biome such as high temperatures and low water availability and this is probably due to some structural and morphological adaptations that contribute to its survival. Therefore, we assessed which microorganisms are associated with the plant rhizosphere, and which microbial groups contribute to the maintenance of the host throughout these adverse conditions. Also, we identified which are the most abundant microbial groups in these conditions and which microbial functions are more abundant in both evaluated seasons. Thus the present study assessed the mandacaru rhizosphere microbiome through a partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic sequencing. The bacterial community was well represented by the phyla Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria. The Actinobacteria was the most abundant microbial phyla in the dry season according to shotgun sequencing while the Acidobacteria was the most abundant microbial phyla in the rainy season. Overall, the 16S rRNA sequencing indicated that Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were the most abundant groups and additionally, and genes related to disease resistance functions were more abundant in the dry season. Genes related to nitrogen metabolism were more abundant during the rainy season revealing some of the potential traits that the mandacaru can explore from its microbiome.

Exotic plant invasions represent a significant threat to the integrity of native grasslands. Across the Northern Great Plains, grasslands invaded by smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss) support lower plant diversity, potentially resulting in important consequences for ecosystem function. Previous research on smooth brome has primarily focused on aboveground changes in plant communities, but there is growing evidence that the soil ecosystem can be significantly altered with invasion. The two objectives of this thesis were to examine whether smooth brome invasion alters soil nitrogen cycling, and to determine if changes in plant community diversity or productivity influence soil bacterial communities. Relationships between smooth brome and the soil ecosystem were assessed using data collected from a Festuca hallii Vasey (Piper) (plains rough fescue) grassland located near Macrorie, SK. Gross rates of nitrogen cycling and community productivity from smooth brome invaded and native grassland sites were compared to determine the potential influence of smooth brome invasion on the soil nitrogen cycle. The relationship between increasing smooth brome abundance and soil bacterial structure and composition was also studied. Gross mineralization rates and total soil nitrogen were significantly higher in smooth brome-invaded areas relative to native grassland. Bacterial and archaeal amoA, used as indicators of ammonia-oxidizer population sizes, were altered by smooth brome cover. Higher gross mineralization rates were likely due to stimulated microbial activity caused by increased litter and root production in areas invaded by smooth brome. Smooth brome decreased plant species richness through increased litter production, but had the opposite effect on bacterial communities. Bacterial communities had higher species richness and evenness in soils invaded by smooth brome, and smooth brome invasion was also associated with bacteria important for soil nitrogen cycling. As bacteria dominate microbial biomass and are important for decomposition processes, a more even bacterial community may have supported increased mineralization rates in smooth brome-invaded soils. Specifically, a more even bacterial community may have increased mineralization rates through greater resource utilization and niche partitioning. The responses observed in these studies suggest that belowground changes with smooth brome invasion have the potential to have important consequences for ecosystem processes.

Bacteria are mediators of biogeochemical cycles and are in this way vital for maintaining life on earth. Their distribution, abundance and functioning are driven by environmental heterogeneity and dynamic change in abiotic and biotic factors. Both, freshwater lakes and oceans play central roles in the global carbon cycle and bacteria in these systems perform many services for the ecosystems, such as the transfer of organic carbon from primary producers to higher trophic levels. With estimated relative abundances up to 50% of the total bacterioplankton, the Alphaproteobacteria lineage SAR11 is the most abundant group of aquatic bacteria. It is globally distributed and can be partitioned into multiple sub-clades, one of which is exclusive to freshwaters. Until recently, the distribution, abundance and ecological role of this freshwater SAR11 named LD12 was unknown. The aim of the thesis was to study the drivers and mechanisms that influence the dynamics of aquatic bacterial communities in general and the SAR11 and LD12 groups in particular. The thesis consists of environmental surveys of a mesotrophic Lake Erken and the western Southern Ocean, an experiment and a data-mining exercise to reveal the phylogenetic structure of the SAR11 lineage on various temporal and spatial scales. The analysis of a long-term bacterioplankton community survey in lake Erken provided insights about the dynamics of the entire bacterial community and the LD12 population over an annual cycle. The results demonstrate that LD12 can be an equally abundant member of freshwater communities as marine SAR11 in oceans. LD12 featured strong seasonality and was positively coupled to environmental conditions indicative for an oligotrophic lifestyle. LD12 as well as other dominant lake bacterioplankton also maintained stable populations throughout spatial and temporal varying environments, but at high phylogenetic resolution, habitat preferences were revealed, particularly in response to oxygen concentrations. The later was not the case in LD12 as a single ribotype dominated. This is in stark contrast to the habitat partitioning with light availability, depth and water masses observed for marine SAR11 subclades in the Southern Ocean. The global data-mining corroborated that LD12 as a group was much less diverse than SAR11 furthermore, suggesting that the marine-freshwater barrier acted as a population bottleneck. My work shows that bacterial populations can respond in very different ways to environmental drivers, highlight the importance of highly resolved temporal and spatial scales as well as the need for high phylogenetic resolutions to target ecologically coherent populations.

Coral bleaching, i.e. the loss of photosynthetic algal symbionts, caused by ocean warming is now the main factor driving reef decline, but not all corals are affected equally. Corals from the Arabian Seas have unusually high temperature tolerances, and recently studies implicated salinity as one of the contributing factors. In particular, a recent heat stress experiment at different salinities using the model system Aiptasia and Red Sea corals, showed that cnidaria at large bleach less at heat stress under high salinities and that this is associated with an increase of the osmolyte, floridoside Here we were interested to assess microbial community changes under heat stress at different salinity levels and whether this could help to explain the increase in thermal tolerance of the metaorganism at high salinities. We determined microbial community composition via HiSeq 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of two anemone strains that differ in their associated symbionts, namely H2-SSB01 (type B1) and CC7-SSA01 (type A4), after six days under ambient (25 °C) and heat stress (34 °C) temperatures at salinities of 36, 39, and 42. Both anemones harbored distinct microbial communities, irrespective of temperature or salinity, that were also different from the bacteria in surrounding seawater. Within both host-endosymbiont pairings, the bacterial community composition at low (36) and intermediate (39) salinities did not differ between ambient and heat stress, but was significantly different at high (42) salinities. Subsequent elucidation of bacterial indicator species revealed several taxa that could be associated with a response to temperature and salinity. Our results underline that microbial community composition adjusts under different environmental settings. Importantly, microbial community dynamics of H2-SSB01 aligned with observed differences in bleaching susceptibility and thermal tolerance, whereas the pattern remains unclear for CC7-SSA01, which harbors an intrinsically higher thermal tolerance. Such responses could argue for a contribution of the microbiome to the observed increase in temperature tolerance of the Aiptasia metaorganism at increased salinities. An alternative interpretation is that the microbiome changes denotes a parallel response to changing salinities.

No description available.