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    Links between viral and prokaryotic communities throughout the water column in the (sub)tropical Atlantic Ocean
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    When the oligotrophic microbial community was amended with Synechococcus-derived dissolved organic matter (SDOM) and incubated under the dark condition, archaea relative abundance was initially very low but made up more than 60% of the prokaryotic community on day 60, and remained dominant for at least 9 months. The archaeal sequences were dominated by Candidatus Nitrosopumilus, the Group I.1a Thaumarchaeota. The increase of Thaumarchaeota in the dark incubation corresponded to the period of delayed ammonium oxidation upon an initially steady increase in ammonia, supporting the remarkable competency of Thaumarchaeota in energy utilization and fixation of inorganic carbon in the ocean. IMPORTANCE Thaumarchaeota, which are ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), are mainly chemolithoautotrophs that can fix inorganic carbon to produce organic matter in the dark. Their distinctive physiological traits and high abundance in the water column indicate the significant ecological roles they play in the open ocean. In our study, we found predominant Thaumarchaeota in the microbial community amended with cyanobacteria-derived lysate under the dark condition. Furthermore, Thaumarchaeota remained dominant in the microbial community even after 1 year of incubation. Through the ammonification process, dissolved organic matter (DOM) from cyanobacterial lysate was converted to ammonium which was used as an energy source for Thaumarchaeota to fix inorganic carbon into biomass. Our study further advocates the important roles of Thaumarchaeota in the ocean's biogeochemical cycle.
    Thaumarchaeota
    Oxidizing agent
    Citations (1)
    The Archaea are a widely distributed group of prokaryotes that inhabit and thrive in many different environments. In the sea, they play key roles in various global biogeochemical processes. Here, in order to investigate the vertical profiles of archaeal community across a large geographic distance, the compositions of archaeal communities in seven seawater columns in the Pacific Ocean were investigated using high throughput 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The surface archaeal communities showed lower diversity and greater variability than those in the deeper layers. Two of the major archaeal phyla that displayed different depth preferences were Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. The majority of Thaumarchaeota belonged to Marine Group I (MGI), which had high relative abundance in deep water. In contrast, Euryarchaeota, which mainly consisted of Marine Group II (MGII) and III (MGIII), were dominant in the surface layer. Compared with MGI and MGII, MGIII were less abundant in seawater and generally absent from the surface water of the subarctic Pacific. In addition, niche separation in the MGI, MGII and MGIII subgroups was also observed. For example, MGI.C and MGII.A (the major subgroups of MGI and MGII, respectively) displayed a strong negative correlation with each other. The highest level of archaeal diversity was found in the core of an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) located off Costa Rica, which resulted from the co-occurrence of both anaerobic and aerobic archaea. For example, methanotrophic archaea ANME-2, methanogenic archaea and several sediment origin archaea, such as Marine Benthic Group A (MBGA) and Bathyarchaeota, were all detected at relatively high abundance in the OMZ. Together, our findings indicate that vertical heterogeneities along water columns and latitudinal differentiation in the surface waters are ubiquitous features of archaeal communities in the Pacific Ocean, and the OMZ off Costa Rica is an archaeal biodiversity hot-spot.
    Thaumarchaeota
    Euryarchaeota
    Oxygen minimum zone
    Biogeochemical Cycle
    Crenarchaeota
    Citations (28)
    The main physicochemical parameters of the soil sample which was collected near an acid mine drainage reservoir in Anhui province was analyzed. The microbial diversity and community structure was studied through the construction of bacteria and archaea 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and ammonia monooxygenase gene clone library of archaea. The functional groups which were responsible for the process of ammonia oxidation were also discussed. The results indicated that the soil sample had extreme low pH value (pH < 3) and high ions concentration, which was influenced by the acid mine drainage (AMD). All the 16S rRNA gene sequences of bacteria clone library fell into 11 phyla, and Acidobacteria played the most significant role in the ecosystem followed by Verrucomicrobia. A great number of acidophilic bacteria existed in the soil sample, such as Candidatus Koribacter versatilis and Holophaga sp.. The archaea clone library consisted of 2 phyla (Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota). The abundance of Thaumarchaeota was remarkably higher than Euryarchaeota. The ammonia oxidation in the soil environment was probably driven by ammonia-oxidizing archaea, and new species of ammonia-oxidizing archaea existed in the soil sample.
    Thaumarchaeota
    Euryarchaeota
    Acidobacteria
    Ammonia monooxygenase
    Library
    Verrucomicrobia
    Crenarchaeota
    Candidatus
    Soil microbiology
    Acid Mine Drainage
    Citations (2)
    Significance CO 2 fixation is the most important biosynthesis process on Earth, enabling autotrophic organisms to synthesize their entire biomass from inorganic carbon at the expense of energy generated by photo- or chemotrophic processes. In the present study we demonstrate an autotrophy pathway that represents the most energy-efficient mechanism for fixing inorganic carbon in the presence of oxygen. This novel variant of the hydroxypropionate/hydroxybutyrate cycle appears to be common in a ubiquitous and abundant group of microorganisms that can thrive in nutrient-limited environments. This discovery offers a biochemical explanation for the remarkable ecological success of the ammonia-oxidizing archaea in extremely nutrient-limited environments typical of most of the open ocean.
    Thaumarchaeota
    Crenarchaeota
    Autotroph
    Euryarchaeota
    Carbon fixation
    Nitrogen Cycle
    Citations (426)
    Abstract. Archaea are widespread and abundant in many terrestrial and aquatic environments, accounting for up to ∼10% of the prokaryotes. Compared to Bacteria and other microorganisms, however, very little is known about the abundance, diversity, and dispersal of Archaea in the atmosphere. By DNA analysis targeting the 16S rRNA and amoA genes in samples of air particulate matter collected over one year at a continental sampling site in Germany, we obtained first insights into the seasonal dynamics of airborne Archaea. The detected Archaea were identified as Thaumarchaeota or Euryarchaeota, with soil Thaumarchaeota (group I.1b) being present in all samples. The normalized species richness of Thaumarchaeota correlated positively with relative humidity and negatively with temperature. This together with an increase of bare agricultural soil surfaces may explain the diversity peaks observed in fall and winter. The detected Euryarchaeota were mainly methanogens with a low relative frequency of occurrence. A slight increase in their frequency during spring may be linked to fertilization processes in the surrounding agricultural fields. Comparison with samples from the Cape Verde islands and from other coastal and continental sites indicates that the proportions of Euryarchaeota are enhanced in coastal air, which is consistent with their suggested abundance in marine surface waters. We conclude that air transport may play an important role for the dispersal of Archaea, including ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota and methanogens. Also, anthropogenic activities might influence the atmospheric abundance and diversity of Archaea.
    Thaumarchaeota
    Crenarchaeota
    Euryarchaeota
    Citations (0)