Metagenomic Sequencing of Marine Periphyton: Taxonomic and Functional Insights into Biofilm Communities
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2015

Periphyton communities are complex phototrophic, multispecies biofilms that develop on surfaces in aquatic environments. These communities harbor a large diversity of organisms comprising viruses, bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoans and metazoans. However, thus far the total biodiversity of periphyton has not been described. In this study, we use metagenomics to characterize periphyton communities from the marine environment of the Swedish west coast. Although we found approximately ten times more eukaryotic rRNA marker gene sequences compared to prokaryotic, the whole metagenome-based similarity searches showed that bacteria constitute the most abundant phyla in these biofilms. We show that marine periphyton encompass a range of heterotrophic and phototrophic organisms. Heterotrophic bacteria, including the majority of proteobacterial clades and Bacteroidetes, and eukaryotic macro-invertebrates were found to dominate periphyton. The phototrophic groups comprise Cyanobacteria and the alpha-proteobacterial genus Roseobacter, followed by different micro- and macro-algae. We also assess the metabolic pathways that predispose these communities to an attached lifestyle. Functional indicators of the biofilm form of life in periphyton involve genes coding for enzymes that catalyze the production and degradation of extracellular polymeric substances, mainly in the form of complex sugars such as starch and glycogen-like meshes together with chitin. Genes for 278 different transporter proteins were detected in the metagenome, constituting the most abundant protein complexes. Finally, genes encoding enzymes that participate in anaerobic pathways, such as denitrification and methanogenesis, were detected suggesting the presence of anaerobic or low-oxygen micro-zones within the biofilms.

Biodiversity

Shotgun metagenomics

Marine biofilms

Shotgun sequencing

next generation sequencing

pathway analysis

microbial ecology

Biofouling

Författare

Kemal Sanli

Göteborgs universitet

Johan Bengtsson-Palme

Göteborgs universitet

R. Henrik Nilsson

Göteborgs universitet

Erik Kristiansson

Göteborgs universitet

Chalmers, Matematiska vetenskaper, Matematisk statistik

Magnus Alm Rosenblad

Göteborgs universitet

Hans Blanck

Göteborgs universitet

Martin Eriksson

Chalmers, Sjöfart och marin teknik, Maritim miljövetenskap

Frontiers in Microbiology

1664302x (eISSN)

Vol. 6 1192 01192

Ämneskategorier

Botanik

Biologisk systematik

Cellbiologi

Biokemi och molekylärbiologi

Ekologi

Annan biologi

Mikrobiologi

Bioinformatik (beräkningsbiologi)

Farkostteknik

Fisk- och akvakulturforskning

Bioinformatik och systembiologi

Bioteknologi med applikationer på växter och djur

Oceanografi, hydrologi, vattenresurser

Zoologi

Miljövetenskap

Miljöbioteknik

Datavetenskap (datalogi)

Annan naturvetenskap

DOI

10.3389/fmicb.2015.01192

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2023-02-22