Exploring prevalence of potential pathogens and fecal indicators in geographically distinct river systems through comparative metagenomics.

Microbial communities are considered as vital members to reflect the health of a riverine system. Among them, pathogenic and fecal indicators imply health risks involved with potability of river water. The present study explores the diverse microbial communities, distribution pattern of potential pathogens, and fecal indicators between the geographically distinct Himalayan and Peninsular river systems of India. It also inquires into the environmental factors associated with community variance and distribution pattern of microbial indicators. The application of high-throughput amplicon sequencing approach unveiled significant demarcation (p < 0.004, Anosim R = 0.62) of samples suggesting unique microbial diversities in these two river sediments. Random forest analysis revealed Desulfobulbulus, PSB_M_3, and Opitutus in Himalayan, while DA101, Bacillus, and Streptomyces in the Peninsular as significant contributors to develop overall dissimilarity between the river systems. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance and co-occurrence network analysis were used to study the relationships between microbial taxa and environmental factors. Amongst the various studied environmental parameters, pH, K, Ca, Mg, Ba, and Al in the Himalayan and salinity, Na, temperature, and Th in the Peninsular significantly influenced shaping of distinct microbial communities. Furthermore, the potential pathogenic genera, including Flavobacterium, Clostridium, Arcobacter, Pseudomonas, and Bacillus were highly prevalent in both the river systems. Arcobacter, Clostridium, Acinetobacter, Bacteroides, and Caloramator were the prominent fecal indicators in these river systems. Our findings provide salient information about the crucial role and interplay between various environmental factors and anthropogenic influences in framing the microbiome of the distinct river systems in India. Moreover, assessing potential pathogenic and fecal indicators suggest the public health risk associated with untreated sewage discharge into these water sources. The detection of various F/S indicators and potentially pathogenic bacteria in Himalayan and Peninsular river systems emphasize the urgent need for future monitoring and management of major riverine systems in India.

Functionally conserved RNA-binding and protein-protein interaction properties of LINE-ORF1p in an ancient clade of non-LTR retrotransposons of Entamoeba histolytica.

Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements found in most organisms. Their origin and evolution is not very well understood. Retrotransposons that lack long terminal repeats (non-LTR) have been classified based on their reverse transcriptase (RT) and endonuclease sequences into groups, of which R2 is the most ancient. Its members contain a single open reading frame (ORF) while there are two ORFs in the other groups, of which ORF2 contains the RT and endonuclease sequences. It is thought that ORF1 was added later to the single-ORF-containing elements, and codes for a protein with nucleic acid binding activity. We have examined the non-LTR retrotransposons in Entamoeba histolytica, an early-branching parasitic protist, which belongs to the R2 group. However, unlike other members of R2, E. histolytica contains two ORFs. Here we show that EhLINE1-ORF1p is functionally related to the ORF1p found in the non-R2 groups. Its N-terminal region has RNA-binding activity and its C-terminal has a coiled coil domain which participates in protein-protein interaction. It lacks sequence-specificity of RNA-binding and binds to EhLINE1-RNA fragment and ribosomal RNA with comparable affinities. Our study suggests that ORF1p could have evolved independently to maintain functional conservation.

Recombinant SINEs are formed at high frequency during induced retrotransposition in vivo.

Non-long terminal repeat Retrotransposons are referred to as long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) and their non-autonomous partners are short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs). It is believed that an active SINE copy, upon retrotransposition, generates near identical copies of itself, which subsequently accumulate mutations resulting in sequence polymorphism. Here we show that when a retrotransposition-competent cell line of the parasitic protist Entamoeba histolytica, transfected with a marked SINE copy, is induced to retrotranspose, >20% of the newly retrotransposed copies are neither identical to the marked SINE nor to the mobilized resident SINEs. Rather they are recombinants of resident SINEs and the marked SINE. They are a consequence of retrotransposition and not DNA recombination, as they are absent in cells not expressing the retrotransposition functions. This high-frequency recombination provides a new explanation for the existence of mosaic SINEs, which may impact on genetic analysis of SINE lineages, and measurement of phylogenetic distances.

Characterization of the restriction enzyme-like endonuclease encoded by the Entamoeba histolytica non-long terminal repeat retrotransposon EhLINE1.

The genome of the human pathogen Entamoeba histolytica, a primitive protist, contains non-long terminal repeat retrotransposable elements called EhLINEs. These encode reverse transcriptase and endonuclease required for retrotransposition. The endonuclease shows sequence similarity with bacterial restriction endonucleases. Here we report the salient enzymatic features of one such endonuclease. The kinetics of an EhLINE1-encoded endonuclease catalyzed reaction, determined under steady-state and single-turnover conditions, revealed a significant burst phase followed by a slower steady-state phase, indicating that release of product could be the slower step in this reaction. For circular supercoiled DNA the K(m) was 2.6 x 10(-8) M and the k(cat) was 1.6 x 10(-2) sec(-1). For linear E. histolytica DNA substrate the K(m) and k(cat) values were 1.3 x 10(-8) M and 2.2 x 10(-4) sec(-1) respectively. Single-turnover reaction kinetics suggested a noncooperative mode of hydrolysis. The enzyme behaved as a monomer. While Mg(2+) was required for activity, 60% activity was seen with Mn(2+) and none with other divalent metal ions. Substitution of PDX(12-14)D (a metal-binding motif) with PAX(12-14)D caused local conformational change in the protein tertiary structure, which could contribute to reduced enzyme activity in the mutated protein. The protein underwent conformational change upon the addition of DNA, which is consistent with the known behavior of restriction endonucleases. The similarities with bacterial restriction endonucleases suggest that the EhLINE1-encoded endonuclease was possibly acquired from bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. The loss of strict sequence specificity for nicking may have been subsequently selected to facilitate spread of the retrotransposon to intergenic regions of the E. histolytica genome.