Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species
Abstract Background In Antarctica, summer sunlight enables phototrophic microorganisms to drive primary production, thereby “feeding” ecosystems to enable their persistence through the long, dark winter months. In Ace Lake, a stratified marine-derived system in the Vestfold Hills of East Antarctica,...
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ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5724971 2023-05-15T14:03:13+02:00 Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species Panwar, Pratibha Allen, Michelle A. Williams, Timothy J. Haque, Sabrina Brazendale, Sarah Hancock, Alyce M. Paez-Espino, David Cavicchioli, Ricardo 2021 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5724971 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Remarkably_coherent_population_structure_for_a_dominant_Antarctic_Chlorobium_species/5724971 unknown figshare https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01173-z Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 CC-BY Microbiology FOS Biological sciences Ecology Collection article 2021 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5724971 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01173-z 2022-02-08T15:39:54Z Abstract Background In Antarctica, summer sunlight enables phototrophic microorganisms to drive primary production, thereby “feeding” ecosystems to enable their persistence through the long, dark winter months. In Ace Lake, a stratified marine-derived system in the Vestfold Hills of East Antarctica, a Chlorobium species of green sulphur bacteria (GSB) is the dominant phototroph, although its seasonal abundance changes more than 100-fold. Here, we analysed 413 Gb of Antarctic metagenome data including 59 Chlorobium metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from Ace Lake and nearby stratified marine basins to determine how genome variation and population structure across a 7-year period impacted ecosystem function. Results A single species, Candidatus Chlorobium antarcticum (most similar to Chlorobium phaeovibrioides DSM265) prevails in all three aquatic systems and harbours very little genomic variation (≥ 99% average nucleotide identity). A notable feature of variation that did exist related to the genomic capacity to biosynthesize cobalamin. The abundance of phylotypes with this capacity changed seasonally ~ 2-fold, consistent with the population balancing the value of a bolstered photosynthetic capacity in summer against an energetic cost in winter. The very high GSB concentration (> 108 cells ml−1 in Ace Lake) and seasonal cycle of cell lysis likely make Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum a major provider of cobalamin to the food web. Analysis of Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum viruses revealed the species to be infected by generalist (rather than specialist) viruses with a broad host range (e.g., infecting Gammaproteobacteria) that were present in diverse Antarctic lakes. The marked seasonal decrease in Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum abundance may restrict specialist viruses from establishing effective lifecycles, whereas generalist viruses may augment their proliferation using other hosts. Conclusion The factors shaping Antarctic microbial communities are gradually being defined. In addition to the cold, the annual variation in sunlight hours dictates which phototrophic species can grow and the extent to which they contribute to ecosystem processes. The Chlorobium population studied was inferred to provide cobalamin, in addition to carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulphur cycling, as critical ecosystem services. The specific Antarctic environmental factors and major ecosystem benefits afforded by this GSB likely explain why such a coherent population structure has developed in this Chlorobium species. Video abstract Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Antarctic East Antarctica Vestfold Hills Vestfold Ace Lake ENVELOPE(78.188,78.188,-68.472,-68.472) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftdatacite |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Microbiology FOS Biological sciences Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Microbiology FOS Biological sciences Ecology Panwar, Pratibha Allen, Michelle A. Williams, Timothy J. Haque, Sabrina Brazendale, Sarah Hancock, Alyce M. Paez-Espino, David Cavicchioli, Ricardo Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species |
topic_facet |
Microbiology FOS Biological sciences Ecology |
description |
Abstract Background In Antarctica, summer sunlight enables phototrophic microorganisms to drive primary production, thereby “feeding” ecosystems to enable their persistence through the long, dark winter months. In Ace Lake, a stratified marine-derived system in the Vestfold Hills of East Antarctica, a Chlorobium species of green sulphur bacteria (GSB) is the dominant phototroph, although its seasonal abundance changes more than 100-fold. Here, we analysed 413 Gb of Antarctic metagenome data including 59 Chlorobium metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from Ace Lake and nearby stratified marine basins to determine how genome variation and population structure across a 7-year period impacted ecosystem function. Results A single species, Candidatus Chlorobium antarcticum (most similar to Chlorobium phaeovibrioides DSM265) prevails in all three aquatic systems and harbours very little genomic variation (≥ 99% average nucleotide identity). A notable feature of variation that did exist related to the genomic capacity to biosynthesize cobalamin. The abundance of phylotypes with this capacity changed seasonally ~ 2-fold, consistent with the population balancing the value of a bolstered photosynthetic capacity in summer against an energetic cost in winter. The very high GSB concentration (> 108 cells ml−1 in Ace Lake) and seasonal cycle of cell lysis likely make Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum a major provider of cobalamin to the food web. Analysis of Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum viruses revealed the species to be infected by generalist (rather than specialist) viruses with a broad host range (e.g., infecting Gammaproteobacteria) that were present in diverse Antarctic lakes. The marked seasonal decrease in Ca. Chlorobium antarcticum abundance may restrict specialist viruses from establishing effective lifecycles, whereas generalist viruses may augment their proliferation using other hosts. Conclusion The factors shaping Antarctic microbial communities are gradually being defined. In addition to the cold, the annual variation in sunlight hours dictates which phototrophic species can grow and the extent to which they contribute to ecosystem processes. The Chlorobium population studied was inferred to provide cobalamin, in addition to carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulphur cycling, as critical ecosystem services. The specific Antarctic environmental factors and major ecosystem benefits afforded by this GSB likely explain why such a coherent population structure has developed in this Chlorobium species. Video abstract |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Panwar, Pratibha Allen, Michelle A. Williams, Timothy J. Haque, Sabrina Brazendale, Sarah Hancock, Alyce M. Paez-Espino, David Cavicchioli, Ricardo |
author_facet |
Panwar, Pratibha Allen, Michelle A. Williams, Timothy J. Haque, Sabrina Brazendale, Sarah Hancock, Alyce M. Paez-Espino, David Cavicchioli, Ricardo |
author_sort |
Panwar, Pratibha |
title |
Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species |
title_short |
Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species |
title_full |
Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species |
title_fullStr |
Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species |
title_full_unstemmed |
Remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant Antarctic Chlorobium species |
title_sort |
remarkably coherent population structure for a dominant antarctic chlorobium species |
publisher |
figshare |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5724971 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Remarkably_coherent_population_structure_for_a_dominant_Antarctic_Chlorobium_species/5724971 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(78.188,78.188,-68.472,-68.472) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Vestfold Hills Vestfold Ace Lake |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Vestfold Hills Vestfold Ace Lake |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01173-z |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5724971 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01173-z |
_version_ |
1766273772738838528 |