Datathons: fostering equitability in data reuse in ecology.

Approaches to rapidly collecting global biodiversity data are increasingly important, but biodiversity blind spots persist. We organized a three-day Datathon event to improve the openness of local biodiversity data and facilitate data reuse by local researchers. The first Datathon, organized among microbial ecologists in Uruguay and Argentina assembled the largest microbiome dataset in the region to date and formed collaborative consortia for microbiome data synthesis.

Tartrate fermentation with H2 production by a new member of Sporomusaceae enriched from rice paddy soil.

In rice paddies, soil and plant-derived organic matter are degraded anaerobically to methane (CH4), a powerful greenhouse gas. The highest rate of methane emission occurs during the reproductive stage of the plant when mostly dicarboxylic acids are exudated by the roots. The emission of methane at this stage depends largely on the cooperative interaction between dicarboxylic acid-fermenting bacteria and methanogenic archaea in the rhizosphere. The fermentation of tartrate, one of the major acids exudated, has been scarcely explored in rice paddy soils. In this work, we characterized an anaerobic consortium from rice paddy soil composed of four bacterial strains, whose principal member (LT8) can ferment tartrate, producing H2 and acetate. Tartrate fermentation was accelerated by co-inoculation with a hydrogenotrophic methanogen. The assembled genome of LT8 possesses a Na+-dependent oxaloacetate decarboxylase and shows that this bacterium likely invests part of the H2 produced to reduce NAD(P)+ to assimilate C from tartrate. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene, the genome-based classification as well as the average amino acid identity (AAI) indicated that LT8 belongs to a new genus within the Sporomusaceae family. LT8 shares a few common features with its closest relatives, for which tartrate degradation has not been described. LT8 is limited to a few environments but is more common in rice paddy soils, where it might contribute to methane emissions from root exudates.IMPORTANCEThis is the first report of the metabolic characterization of a new anaerobic bacterium able to degrade tartrate, a compound frequently associated with plants, but rare as a microbial metabolite. Tartrate fermentation by this bacterium can be coupled to methanogenesis in the rice rhizosphere where tartrate is mainly produced at the reproductive stage of the plant, when the maximum methane rate emission occurs. The interaction between secondary fermentative bacteria, such as LT8, and methanogens could represent a fundamental step in exploring mitigation strategies for methane emissions from rice fields. Possible strategies could include controlling the activity of these secondary fermentative bacteria or selecting plants whose exudates are more difficult to ferment.

Identification of active denitrifiers by DNA-stable isotope probing and amplicon sequencing reveals Betaproteobacteria as responsible for attenuation of nitrate contamination in a low impacted aquifer.

Groundwater reservoirs constitute important freshwater resources. However, these ecosystems are highly vulnerable to contamination and have to rely on the resident microbiota to attenuate the impact of this contamination. Nitrate is one of the main contaminants found in groundwater, and denitrification is the main process that removes the compound. In this study, the response to nutrient load on indigenous microbial communities in groundwater from a low impacted aquifer in Uruguay was evaluated. Denitrification rates were measured in groundwater samples from three different sites with nitrate, acetate and pyrite amendments. Results showed that denitrification is feasible under in situ nitrate and electron donor concentrations, although the lack of readily available organic energy source would limit the attenuation of higher nitrate concentrations. DNA-stable isotope probing, combined with amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA, nirS and nirK genes, was used to identify the active denitrifiers. Members of the phylum Betaproteobacteria were the dominant denitrifiers in two of three sites, with different families being observed; members of the genus Vogesella (Neisseriaceae) were key denitrifiers at one site, while the genera Dechloromonas (Rhodocyclaceae) and Comamonas (Comamonadaceae) were the main denitrifiers detected at the other sites.

Strong shift in the diazotrophic endophytic bacterial community inhabiting rice (Oryza sativa) plants after flooding.

Flooding impacts soil microbial communities, but its effect on endophytic communities has rarely been explored. This work addresses the effect of flooding on the abundance and diversity of endophytic diazotrophic communities on rice plants established in a greenhouse experiment. The nifH gene was significantly more abundant in roots after flooding, whereas the nifH gene copy numbers in leaves were unaffected and remained low. The PCA (principal component analysis) of T-RFLP (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism) profiles indicated that root communities of replicate plots were more similar and diverse after flooding than before flooding. The nifH libraries obtained by cloning and 454 pyrosequencing consistently showed a remarkable shift in the diazotrophic community composition after flooding. Gammaproteobacteria (66-98%), mainly of the genus Stenotrophomonas, prevailed in roots before flooding, whereas Betaproteobacteria was the dominant class (26-34%) after flooding. A wide variety of aerotolerant and anaerobic diazotrophic bacteria (e.g. Dechloromonas, Rhodopseudomonas, Desulfovibrio, Geobacter, Chlorobium, Spirochaeta, Selenomonas and Dehalobacter) with diverse metabolic traits were retrieved from flooded rice roots. These findings suggest that endophytic communities could be significantly impacted by changes in plant-soil conditions derived from flooding during rice cropping.

The ipdC, hisC1 and hisC2 genes involved in indole-3-acetic production used as alternative phylogenetic markers in Azospirillum brasilense.

Plant growth-promoting bacteria of the genus Azospirillum are present in the rhizosphere and as endophytes of many crops. In this research we studied 40 Azospirillum strains isolated from different plants and geographic regions. They were first characterized by 16S rDNA restriction analysis, and their phylogenetic position was established by sequencing the genes 16S rDNA, ipdC, hisC1, and hisC2. The latter three genes are involved in the indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPyA) biosynthesis pathway of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Furthermore, the suitability of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer sequence (IGS) for the differentiation of closely related Azospirillum taxa and development of PCR protocols allows for specific detection of strains. The IGS-RFLP analysis enabled intraspecies differentiation, particularly of Azospirillum brasilense and Azospirillum lipoferum strains. Results demonstrated that the ipdC, hisC1, and hisC2 genes are highly conserved in all the assessed A. brasilense isolates, suggesting that these genes can be used as an alternative phylogenetic marker. In addition, IAA production determined by HPLC ranged from 0.17 to 98.2 µg mg(-1) protein. Southern hybridization with the A. brasilense ipdC gene probe did not show, a hybridization signal with A. lipoferum, Azospirillum amazonense, Azospirillum halopreferans and Azospirillum irakense genomic DNA. This suggests that these species produce IAA by other pathways. Because IAA is mainly synthesized via the IPyA pathway in A. brasilense strains, a species that is used worldwide in agriculture, the identification of ipdC, hisC1, and hisC2 genes by PCR may be suitable for selecting exploitable strains.

Molecular and culture-dependent analyses revealed similarities in the endophytic bacterial community composition of leaves from three rice (Oryza sativa) varieties.

The endophytic bacterial communities of the three most important rice varieties cultivated in Uruguay were compared by a multiphasic approach. Leaves of mature plants grown in field experiments for two consecutive crop seasons were studied. No significant differences were found in the heterotrophic bacterial density for the three varieties. Pantoea ananatis and Pseudomonas syringae constituted 51% of the total of the isolates. These species were always present regardless of the variety or the season. Molecular analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene was performed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and cloning. T-RFLP analysis revealed that bacterial communities grouped according to the variety, although the three varieties presented communities that showed 74% or higher similarities. Brevundimonas, the dominant genus in the clone library (18% of the clones), which might be present in all varieties according to T-RFLP profiles, was not recovered by cultivation. Conversely, bacteria from the genus Pseudomonas were not detected in the clone library. These results indicate that communities established in leaves of physiologically different rice varieties were highly similar and composed by a reduced group of strongly associated and persistent bacteria that were partially recovered by cultivation.