Articles

A rather dry subject; investigating the study of arid-associated microbial communities

Almost one third of Earth’s land surface is arid, with deserts alone covering more than 46 million square kilometres. Nearly 2.1 billion people inhabit deserts or drylands and these regions are also home to a ...

Authors: Peter Osborne, Lindsay J. Hall, Noga Kronfeld-Schor, David Thybert and Wilfried Haerty

Correction to: Reducing the arbitrary: fuzzy detection of microbial ecotones and ecosystems – focus on the pelagic environment

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Antoine Bagnaro, Federico Baltar, Gretchen Brownstein, William G. Lee, Sergio E. Morales, Daniel W. Pritchard and Christopher D. Hepburn

Seasonal dynamics in taxonomy and function within bacterial and viral metagenomic assemblages recovered from a freshwater agricultural pond

Ponds are important freshwater habitats that support both human and environmental activities. However, relative to their larger counterparts (e.g. rivers, lakes), ponds are understudied, especially with regard...

Authors: Jessica Chopyk, Daniel J. Nasko, Sarah Allard, Anthony Bui, Mihai Pop, Emmanuel F. Mongodin and Amy R. Sapkota

Trichomes form genotype-specific microbial hotspots in the phyllosphere of tomato

The plant phyllosphere is a well-studied habitat characterized by low nutrient availability and high community dynamics. In contrast, plant trichomes, known for their production of a large number of metabolite...

Authors: Peter Kusstatscher, Wisnu Adi Wicaksono, Alessandro Bergna, Tomislav Cernava, Nick Bergau, Alain Tissier, Bettina Hause and Gabriele Berg

Reducing the arbitrary: fuzzy detection of microbial ecotones and ecosystems – focus on the pelagic environment

One of the central objectives of microbial ecology is to study the distribution of microbial communities and their association with their environments. Biogeographical studies have partitioned the oceans into ...

Authors: Antoine Bagnaro, Federico Baltar, Gretchen Brownstein, William G. Lee, Sergio E. Morales, Daniel W. Pritchard and Christopher D. Hepburn

BLAST-QC: automated analysis of BLAST results

The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) from NCBI is the preferred utility for sequence alignment and identification for bioinformatics and genomics research. Among researchers using NCBI’s BLAST softwar...

Authors: Behzad Torkian, Spencer Hann, Eva Preisner and R. Sean Norman

Performance evaluation of high-volume electret filter air samplers in aerosol microbiome research

Reliable identification and quantification of bioaerosols is fundamental in aerosol microbiome research, highlighting the importance of using sampling equipment with well-defined performance characteristics. F...

Authors: Kari Oline Bøifot, Jostein Gohli, Gunnar Skogan and Marius Dybwad

Correction to: Contrast diversity patterns and processes of microbial community assembly in a river-lake continuum across a catchment scale in northwestern China

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Xiangming Tang, Guijuan Xie, Keqiang Shao, Yang Hu, Jian Cai, Chengrong Bai, Yi Gong and Guang Gao

Meeting report of the third annual Tri-Service Microbiome Consortium symposium

The Tri-Service Microbiome Consortium (TSMC) was founded to enhance collaboration, coordination, and communication of microbiome research among U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) organizations and to facilitate ...

Authors: J. Philip Karl, Robyn A. Barbato, Laurel A. Doherty, Aarti Gautam, Sarah M. Glaven, Robert J. Kokoska, Dagmar Leary, Rebecca L. Mickol, Matthew A. Perisin, Andrew J. Hoisington, Edward J. Van Opstal, Vanessa Varaljay, Nancy Kelley-Loughnane, Camilla A. Mauzy, Michael S. Goodson and Jason W. Soares

Tax4Fun2: prediction of habitat-specific functional profiles and functional redundancy based on 16S rRNA gene sequences

Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes has become a powerful technique to study microbial communities and their responses towards changing environmental conditions in various ecosystems. Several tools have been develope...

Authors: Franziska Wemheuer, Jessica A. Taylor, Rolf Daniel, Emma Johnston, Peter Meinicke, Torsten Thomas and Bernd Wemheuer

Contrast diversity patterns and processes of microbial community assembly in a river-lake continuum across a catchment scale in northwestern China

Microorganisms in rivers and lakes are essential for nutrient recycling in aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the ecological processes shaping microbial communities is of crucial importance for aquatic microbia...

Authors: Xiangming Tang, Guijuan Xie, Keqiang Shao, Yang Hu, Jian Cai, Chengrong Bai, Yi Gong and Guang Gao

Microbial mats in the Turks and Caicos Islands reveal diversity and evolution of phototrophy in the Chloroflexota order Aggregatilineales

Genome-resolved metagenomic sequencing approaches have led to a substantial increase in the recognized diversity of microorganisms; this included the discovery of novel metabolic pathways in previously recogni...

Authors: Lewis M. Ward, Usha F. Lingappa, John P. Grotzinger and Woodward W. Fischer

Genome-centric resolution of novel microbial lineages in an excavated Centrosaurus dinosaur fossil bone from the Late Cretaceous of North America

Exceptional preservation of endogenous organics such as collagens and blood vessels has been frequently reported in Mesozoic dinosaur fossils. The persistence of these soft tissues in Mesozoic fossil bones has...

Authors: Renxing Liang, Maggie C. Y. Lau, Evan T. Saitta, Zachary K. Garvin and Tullis C. Onstott

Impact of process temperature and organic loading rate on cellulolytic / hydrolytic biofilm microbiomes during biomethanation of ryegrass silage revealed by genome-centered metagenomics and metatranscriptomics

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of protein-rich grass silage was performed in experimental two-stage two-phase biogas reactor systems at low vs. increased organic loading rates (OLRs) under mesophilic (37 °C) and thermo...

Authors: Irena Maus, Michael Klocke, Jaqueline Derenkó, Yvonne Stolze, Michael Beckstette, Carsten Jost, Daniel Wibberg, Jochen Blom, Christian Henke, Katharina Willenbücher, Madis Rumming, Antje Rademacher, Alfred Pühler, Alexander Sczyrba and Andreas Schlüter

Unravelling the effects of tropical land use conversion on the soil microbiome

The consequences of deforestation and agricultural treatments are complex and affect all trophic levels. Changes of microbial community structure and composition associated with rainforest conversion to manage...

Authors: Dirk Berkelmann, Dominik Schneider, Anja Meryandini and Rolf Daniel

Shotgun metagenomic analysis of microbial communities from the Loxahatchee nature preserve in the Florida Everglades

Currently, much is unknown about the taxonomic diversity and the mechanisms of methane metabolism in the Florida Everglades ecosystem. The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a section of the Florida Everg...

Authors: Briana S. Abraham, Deniz Caglayan, Natalie V. Carrillo, Matthew C. Chapman, Claire T. Hagan, Skye T. Hansen, Ralph O. Jeanty, Alexander A. Klimczak, Marcos J. Klingler, Thomas P. Kutcher, Sydney H. Levy, Angel A. Millard-Bruzos, Thomas B. Moore, David J. Prentice, Matthew E. Prescott, Richard Roehm…

Characterization of the microbiome associated with in situ earthen materials

The current increase in public awareness of environmental risks is giving rise to a growth of interest in the microbiological safety of buildings. In particular, microbial proliferation on construction materia...

Authors: Alexis Simons, Alexandra Bertron, Jean-Emmanuel Aubert, Christophe Roux and Christine Roques

Microbial community dynamics and coexistence in a sulfide-driven phototrophic bloom

Lagoons are common along coastlines worldwide and are important for biogeochemical element cycling, coastal biodiversity, coastal erosion protection and blue carbon sequestration. These ecosystems are frequent...

Authors: Srijak Bhatnagar, Elise S. Cowley, Sebastian H. Kopf, Sherlynette Pérez Castro, Sean Kearney, Scott C. Dawson, Kurt Hanselmann and S. Emil Ruff

Performance evaluation of a new custom, multi-component DNA isolation method optimized for use in shotgun metagenomic sequencing-based aerosol microbiome research

Aerosol microbiome research advances our understanding of bioaerosols, including how airborne microorganisms affect our health and surrounding environment. Traditional microbiological/molecular methods are com...

Authors: Kari Oline Bøifot, Jostein Gohli, Line Victoria Moen and Marius Dybwad

Correction to: Reduced microbial potential for the degradation of phenolic compounds in the rhizosphere of apple plantlets grown in soils affected by replant disease

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors advised that their article had published with an error in the title.

Authors: Viviane Radl, Jana Barbro Winkler, Susanne Kublik, Luhua Yang, Traud Winkelmann, Gisle Vestergaard, Peter Schröder and Michael Schloter

Reduced microbial potential for the degradation of phenolic compounds in the rhizosphere of apple plantlets grown in soils affected by replant disease

Apple replant disease (ARD) is a syndrome that occurs in areas where apple plants or closely related species have been previously cultivated. Even though ARD is a well-known phenomenon, which has been observed...

Authors: Viviane Radl, Jana Barbro Winkler, Susanne Kublik, Luhua Yang, Traud Winkelmann, Gisle Vestergaard, Peter Schröder and Michael Schloter

The impact of sequencing depth on the inferred taxonomic composition and AMR gene content of metagenomic samples

Shotgun metagenomics is increasingly used to characterise microbial communities, particularly for the investigation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in different animal and environmental contexts. There are m...

Authors: H. Soon Gweon, Liam P. Shaw, Jeremy Swann, Nicola De Maio, Manal AbuOun, Rene Niehus, Alasdair T. M. Hubbard, Mike J. Bowes, Mark J. Bailey, Tim E. A. Peto, Sarah J. Hoosdally, A. Sarah Walker, Robert P. Sebra, Derrick W. Crook, Muna F. Anjum, Daniel S. Read…

Fast response of fungal and prokaryotic communities to climate change manipulation in two contrasting tundra soils

Climate models predict substantial changes in temperature and precipitation patterns across Arctic regions, including increased winter precipitation as snow in the near future. Soil microorganisms are consider...

Authors: Jana Voříšková, Bo Elberling and Anders Priemé

Metagenome of a polluted river reveals a reservoir of metabolic and antibiotic resistance genes

Yamuna, a major tributary of Ganga, which flows through the national capital region of Delhi, is among the major polluted rivers in India. The accumulation of various effluents, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, ...

Authors: Parul Mittal, Vishnu Prasoodanan PK, Darshan B. Dhakan, Sanjiv Kumar and Vineet K. Sharma

Genome sequence of Epibacterium ulvae strain DSM 24752^T, an indigoidine-producing, macroalga-associated member of the marine Roseobacter group

Strain U95^T (= DSM 24752^T = LMG 26464^T) is the type strain of Epibacterium ulvae, which is the type species of the genus Epibacterium. This genus belongs to the marine Roseobacter group. E. ulvae Strain U95^T was ...

Authors: Sven Breider, Shama Sehar, Martine Berger, Torsten Thomas, Thorsten Brinkhoff and Suhelen Egan

The application of high-throughput sequencing technology to analysis of amoA phylogeny and environmental niche specialisation of terrestrial bacterial ammonia-oxidisers

Characterisation of microbial communities increasingly involves use of high throughput sequencing methods (e.g. MiSeq Illumina) that amplify relatively short sequences of 16S rRNA or functional genes, the latt...

Authors: Axel Aigle, James I. Prosser and Cécile Gubry-Rangin

Welcome to Environmental Microbiome

Authors: Joy E. M. Watts

A long-term field experiment demonstrates the influence of tillage on the bacterial potential to produce soil structure-stabilizing agents such as exopolysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides

Stable soil aggregates are essential for optimal crop growth and preventing soil erosion. However, tillage is often used in agriculture to loosen the soil, which disrupts the integrity of these aggregates. Soi...

Authors: Barbara Cania, Gisle Vestergaard, Maike Krauss, Andreas Fliessbach, Michael Schloter and Stefanie Schulz

Complete genome of Rhizobium leguminosarum Norway, an ineffective Lotus micro-symbiont

Rhizobia bacteria engage in nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis, a mutualistic interaction with legume plants in which a bidirectional nutrient exchange takes place. Occasionally, this interaction is subopti...

Authors: Juan Liang, Anne Hoffrichter, Andreas Brachmann and Macarena Marín

Draft genomes of Cronobacter sakazakii strains isolated from dried spices bring unique insights into the diversity of plant-associated strains

Cronobacter sakazakii is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that causes life- threatening infantile infections, such as meningitis, septicemia, and necrotizing enterocolitis, as well as pneumonia, septicemia,...

Authors: Hyein Jang, Jungha Woo, Youyoung Lee, Flavia Negrete, Samantha Finkelstein, Hannah R. Chase, Nicole Addy, Laura Ewing, Junia Jean Gilles Beaubrun, Isha Patel, Jayanthi Gangiredla, Athmanya Eshwar, Ziad W. Jaradat, Kunho Seo, Srikumar Shabarinath, Séamus Fanning…

High-quality-draft genome sequence of the heavy metal resistant and exopolysaccharides producing bacterium Mucilaginibacter pedocola TBZ30^T

Mucilaginibacter pedocola TBZ30^T (= CCTCC AB 2015301^T = KCTC 42833^T) is a Gram- negative, rod-shaped, non-motile and non-spore-forming bacterium isolated from a heavy metal contaminated paddy field. It shows resi...

Authors: Xia Fan, Jingwei Tang, Li Nie, Jing Huang and Gejiao Wang

Complete genome sequence of Arcticibacterium luteifluviistationis SM1504^T, a cytophagaceae bacterium isolated from Arctic surface seawater

Arcticibacterium luteifluviistationis SM1504^T was isolated from Arctic surface seawater and classified as a novel genus of the phylum Bacteroides. To date, no Arcticibacterium genomes have been reported, their ge...

Authors: Yi Li, Xiao-Han Guo, Yan-Ru Dang, Lin-Lin Sun, Xi-Ying Zhang, Xiu-Lan Chen, Qi-Long Qin and Peng Wang

The draft genome sequence of “Nitrospira lenta” strain BS10, a nitrite oxidizing bacterium isolated from activated sludge

The genus Nitrospira is considered to be the most widespread and abundant group of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in many natural and man-made ecosystems. However, the ecophysiological versatility within this phyloge...

Authors: Dimitra Sakoula, Boris Nowka, Eva Spieck, Holger Daims and Sebastian Lücker

Complete genome sequence of Planococcus sp. PAMC21323 isolated from Antarctica and its metabolic potential to detoxify pollutants

The Planococcus sp. PAMC21323 is a yellow pigment-producing bacterium isolated from King George Island in Antarctica; it has a broad growth temperature range of 5–40 °C. Herein, we describe the complete genome se...

Authors: Jong-Hyun Jung, Min-Ho Joe, Dong-Ho Kim, Hyun Park, Jong-il Choi and Sangyong Lim

Draft genome sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum strain Fito_F321, an endophyte microorganism from Vitis vinifera with biocontrol potential

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum strain Fito_F321 is a naturally occurring strain in vineyard, with the ability to colonise grapevine and which unveils a naturally antagonistic potential against phytop...

Authors: Cátia Pinto, Susana Sousa, Hugo Froufe, Conceição Egas, Christophe Clément, Florence Fontaine and Ana C Gomes

High-quality-draft genome sequence of the multiple heavy metal resistant bacterium Pseudaminobacter manganicus JH-7^T

Pseudaminobacter manganicus JH-7^T (= KCTC 52258^T = CCTCC AB 2016107^T) is a Gram-staining-negative, aerobic and non-motile strain that was isolated from a manganese mine. The strain JH-7^T shows multiple heavy meta...

Authors: Xian Xia, Jiahong Li, Zijie Zhou, Dan Wang, Jing Huang and Gejiao Wang

Complete genome sequence of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum humicireducens type strain SgZ-5^T

The Azospirillum humicireducens strain SgZ-5^T, belonging to the Order Rhodospirillales and the Family Rhodospirillaceae, was isolated from a microbial fuel cell inoculated with paddy soil. A previous work has sho...

Authors: Zhen Yu, Guiqin Yang, Xiaoming Liu, Yueqiang Wang, Li Zhuang and Shungui Zhou

Draft genomes of “Pectobacterium peruviense” strains isolated from fresh water in France

Bacteria belonging to the genus Pectobacterium are responsible for soft rot disease on a wide range of cultivated crops. The “Pectobacterium peruviense” specie, recently proposed inside the Pectobacterium genus, ...

Authors: Pierre Faye, Claire Bertrand, Jacques Pédron and Marie-Anne Barny

Draft genome sequences of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii strains CS-508 and MVCC14, isolated from freshwater bloom events in Australia and Uruguay

Members of the genus Cylindrospermopsis represent an important environmental and health concern. Strains CS-508 and MVCC14 of C. raciborskii were isolated from freshwater reservoirs located in Australia and Urugu...

Authors: Juan J Fuentes-Valdés, Katia Soto-Liebe, Danilo Pérez-Pantoja, Javier Tamames, Lucy Belmar, Carlos Pedrós-Alió, Daniel Garrido and Mónica Vásquez

Insights into the draft genome sequence of bioactives-producing Bacillus thuringiensis DNG9 isolated from Algerian soil-oil slough

Bacillus thuringiensis is widely used as a bioinsecticide due to its ability to form parasporal crystals containing proteinaceous toxins. It is a member of the Bacillus cereus sensu lato, a group with low genetic...

Authors: Mohamed Seghir Daas, Albert Remus R. Rosana, Jeella Z. Acedo, Malika Douzane, Farida Nateche, Salima Kebbouche-Gana and John C. Vederas

Draft genome sequences of ‘Candidatus Chloroploca asiatica’ and ‘Candidatus Viridilinea mediisalina’, candidate representatives of the Chloroflexales order: phylogenetic and taxonomic implications

‘Candidatus Chloroploca asiatica’ B7–9 and ‘Candidatus Viridilinea mediisalina’ Kir15-3F are mesophilic filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria from alkaline aquatic environments. Both bacteria became availa...

Authors: Denis S. Grouzdev, Maria S. Rysina, Irina A. Bryantseva, Vladimir M. Gorlenko and Vasil A. Gaisin

The complete genomic sequence of a novel cold-adapted bacterium, Planococcus maritimus Y42, isolated from crude oil-contaminated soil

Planococcus maritimus Y42, isolated from the petroleum-contaminated soil of the Qaidam Basin, can use crude oil as its sole source of carbon and energy at 20 °C. The genome of P. maritimus strain Y42 has been seq...

Authors: Ruiqi Yang, Guangxiu Liu, Tuo Chen, Wei Zhang, Gaosen Zhang and Sijing Chang

One complete and three draft genome sequences of four Brochothrix thermosphacta strains, CD 337, TAP 175, BSAS1 3 and EBP 3070

Brochothrix thermosphacta is one of the dominant bacterial species associated with spoilage of chilled meat and seafood products through the production of various metabolites responsible for off-odors. However, m...

Authors: Nassima Illikoud, Christophe Klopp, Alain Roulet, Olivier Bouchez, Nathalie Marsaud, Emmanuel Jaffrès and Monique Zagorec

First genome sequencing and comparative analyses of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strains from Mexico

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is a pathogenic bacterium which has been rapidly spreading all over the world, causing economic losses in the agricultural sector and sporadically infecting humans. Six C. pseud...

Authors: Doglas Parise, Mariana T D Parise, Marcus V C Viana, Adrian V Muñoz-Bucio, Yazmin A Cortés-Pérez, Beatriz Arellano-Reynoso, Efrén Díaz-Aparicio, Fernanda A Dorella, Felipe L Pereira, Alex F Carvalho, Henrique C P Figueiredo, Preetam Ghosh, Debmalya Barh, Anne C P Gomide and Vasco A C Azevedo

Functional and taxonomic classification of a greenhouse water drain metagenome

Microbiome sequencing has become the standard procedure in the study of new ecological and human-constructed niches. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a metagenome from the water of a greenhouse dr...

Authors: Gamaliel López-Leal, Fernanda Cornejo-Granados, Juan Manuel Hurtado-Ramírez, Alfredo Mendoza-Vargas and Adrian Ochoa-Leyva

Complete genome sequence of the halophile bacterium Kushneria konosiri X49^T, isolated from salt-fermented Konosirus punctatus

Kushneria konosiri X49^T is a member of the Halomonadaceae family within the order Oceanospirillales and can be isolated from salt-fermented larval gizzard shad. The genome of K. konosiri X49^T reported here provid...

Authors: Ji-Hyun Yun, Hojun Sung, Hyun Sik Kim, Euon Jung Tak, Woorim Kang, June-Young Lee, Dong-Wook Hyun, Pil Soo Kim and Jin-Woo Bae

Complete genome sequence of the Robinia pseudoacacia L. symbiont Mesorhizobium amorphae CCNWGS0123

Mesorhizobium amorphae CCNWGS0123 was isolated in 2006, from effective nodules of Robinia pseudoacacia L. grown in lead-zinc mine tailing site, in Gansu Province, China. M. amorphae CCNWGS0123 is an aerobic, Gram...

Authors: Xinye Wang, Yantao Luo, Dongying Liu, Jiamei Wang, Shi Wei and Liang Zhao

Correction to: Meeting report from the fourth meeting of the Computational Modeling in Biology Network (COMBINE)

Following publication of the original article [1], the author requested this addition to the ‘Acknowledgements’ section of the article: “DW is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (e...

Authors: Dagmar Waltemath, Frank T. Bergmann, Claudine Chaouiya, Tobias Czauderna, Padraig Gleeson, Carole Goble, Martin Golebiewski, Michael Hucka, Nick Juty, Olga Krebs, Nicolas Le Novère, Huaiyu Mi, Ion I. Moraru, Chris J. Myers, David Nickerson, Brett G. Olivier…

A standardized workflow for submitting data to the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) repository: prospects for research-based educational experiences

Microorganisms utilize complex enzymatic pathways to biosynthesize structurally complex and pharmacologically relevant molecules. These pathways are encoded by gene clusters and are found in a diverse set of o...

Authors: Samuel C. Epstein, Louise K. Charkoudian and Marnix H. Medema

Correction to: Complete genome of a novel virulent phage ST0 lysing Escherichia coli H8

Table 1 of this original publication contained an error. The updated Table 1 is published in this correction article [1].

Authors: Honghui Liu, Xinchun Liu and Jinqing Li