Evidence for a core set of microbial lichen symbionts from a global survey of metagenomes

Tagirdzhanova, Gulnara; Saary, Paul; Cameron, Ellen S.; Garber, Arkadiy I.; Escandón, David Díaz; Goyette, Spencer; Tuovinen, Veera; Passo, Alfredo; Mayrhofer, Helmut; Holien, Håkon; Tønsberg, Tor; Stein, Lisa Y.; Finn, Robert D.; Spribille, Toby

doi:10.1101/2023.02.02.524463

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 87 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted April 6, 2023. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.05.535799 doi: bioRxiv preprint level bacterial lineages is reported to be 8.3 % in a recent study that examined 437 lichen metagenomes (47). According to the investigation in Noboribetsu, LFB_Cvu01 was not detected in the nearby soils and likely to reside exclusively within C.vulcani thalli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The third symbiotic partner of the volcano lichenCladonia vulcaniSavicz drove adaptation to an extreme environment

Kono

Terai

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chemosynthetic symbioses between sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and aquatic eukaryotes have been discovered globally in sulfide-rich environments, notably deep-sea hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and sulfidic cave systems. However, to the best of our knowledge, such chemosymbiotic lifestyles have not been reported from terrestrial eukaryotes. Here we report that the volcano lichen Cladonia vulcani Savicz ubiquitously associates with a single bacterial species that could potentially use hydrogen sulfide as a source of energy. We identified sequences of the bacterium in all 27 samples collected from five geothermal areas across Japan with cellular abundance comparable to the fungal partner. The assembled bacterial genome contained genes involved in sulfur oxidation. The stable association with a potential sulfur-oxidizer is likely to represent an obligate tripartite symbiotic system consisting of fungal, algal, and bacterial partners that has enabled adaptation to the extreme environment.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The third symbiotic partner of the volcano lichenCladonia vulcaniSavicz drove adaptation to an extreme environment

Kono

Terai

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, several strains from novel bacterial genus Lichenihabitans (Lichenibacterium) were detected in the phyllosphere samples of birch, pine and northern clubmoss ( Huperzia selago ). Intriguingly, this bacterial genus was recently describe as a core member of large set of lichen microbiomes globally 29 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria are ubiquitous in phyllo- and endosphere microbiomes of boreal and subarctic plants

Nissinen

Franz

Kovanen

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In addition to oxygenic photosynthetic systems, solar radiation is utilized for energy by diverse anoxygenic photosynthetic systems. Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (AAPB) perform photosynthesis without producing oxygen but still live in aerobic conditions. Typically they have been reported from aquatic ecosystems, but they can also be found from polar and desert soil ecosys- tems and primary succession communities like soil crusts. Recently, AAPB have been discovered in the metagenomic data of several plant phyllospheres. By utilizing citizen science, we screened plant foliar samples from eleven different locations in Finland for AAPB by near infrared fluorescence imaging of culturable phyllosphere and endosphere bacteria. Near infrared fluorescence reports the presence of AAPB which contain Bacteriochlorophyll a molecules, embedded in Light Harvesting 1-Reaction Center complex. We found that AAPB were ubiquotous in phyllosphere communities of diverse plant species in all sampling locations. They were also consistently present in the endosphere of plant species with perennial leaves. Most of the AAPB isolated represent alphaproteobacterial genera Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium, but several isolates from genus Lichenihabitans as well as putative novel alphaproteobacterial taxa were also identified. Methylobacterial isolates were mostly detected in the phyllosphere with weak host specificity, while Sphingomonas AAPB were detected also in the endosphere of several plant species, with clear host specific taxa. We studied also the fluorescence spectral properties of several AAPBs. All the observed spectra resemble typical fluorescence spectral properties of Light Harvesting complex 1. Still, slight variation among each spectra could be obtained, revealing some physical difference among the complexes. Our results demonstrate for the first time, that AAPB are common in cold climate plant endophytic as well as epiphytic microbiomes and they build up substantial amounts of Bacteriochlorophyll a containing Light Harvesting complexes. Their putative role in plant adaptation to strong seasonality in light and temperature or tolerance of abiotic stressors remains to be investigated in future studies.

show abstract

“…Assembled genome sequence data for 1078 species belonging to the phylum Cyanobacteria were downloaded from NCBI RefSeq in January 2023 (Table S1). An additional 27 metagenomic assembled genomes (MAGs) taxonomically classified as cyanobacteria from lichen sources 34 were included to provide additional examples of host-associated symbionts for a total of 1105 cyanobacterial genomes.…”

Section: Cyanobacterial Genomes Habitat Annotation and Quality Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specialization in Molecular Functions and Secondary Metabolite Production Potential in Cyanobacterial Symbionts

Cameron,

Sanchez,

Goldman

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cyanobacteria are globally occurring photosynthetic bacteria notable for their contribution to primary production and their production of toxins which have detrimental impacts on ecosystems. Beyond this, cyanobacteria can form mutualistic symbiotic relationships with a diverse set of eukaryotes, ranging from land plants to fungi. Nevertheless, not all cyanobacteria are found in symbiotic associations suggesting symbiotic cyanobacteria have evolved specializations that facilitate host-interactions. Photosynthetic capabilities, nitrogen fixation, and the production of complex biochemicals are key functions provided by host-associated cyanobacterial symbionts. To explore if additional specializations are associated with such lifestyles in cyanobacteria, we have conducted comparative phylogenomics of molecular functions and of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in 977 cyanobacterial genomes. Cyanobacteria with host-associated and symbiotic lifestyles were concentrated in the family Nostocaceae, where eight monophyletic clades correspond to specific host taxa. In agreement with previous studies, symbionts are likely to provide fixed nitrogen to their eukaryotic partners. Additionally, our analyses identified chitin metabolising pathways in cyanobacteria associated with specific host groups, while obligate symbionts had fewer BGCs. The conservation of molecular functions and BGCs between closely related symbiotic and free-living cyanobacteria suggests that there is the potential for additional cyanobacteria to form symbiotic relationships than is currently known.

show abstract

Evidence for a core set of microbial lichen symbionts from a global survey of metagenomes

Cited by 17 publications

References 87 publications

The third symbiotic partner of the volcano lichenCladonia vulcaniSavicz drove adaptation to an extreme environment

The third symbiotic partner of the volcano lichenCladonia vulcaniSavicz drove adaptation to an extreme environment

Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria are ubiquitous in phyllo- and endosphere microbiomes of boreal and subarctic plants

Specialization in Molecular Functions and Secondary Metabolite Production Potential in Cyanobacterial Symbionts

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About