Phototrophic Co-cultures From Extreme Environments: Community Structure and Potential Value for Fundamental and Applied Research.

Cyanobacteria are found in most illuminated environments and are key players in global carbon and nitrogen cycling. Although significant efforts have been made to advance our understanding of this important phylum, still little is known about how members of the cyanobacteria affect and respond to changes in complex biological systems. This lack of knowledge is in part due to our dependence on pure cultures when determining the metabolism and function of a microorganism.

Proteome specialization of anaerobic fungi during ruminal degradation of recalcitrant plant fiber.

The rumen harbors a complex microbial mixture of archaea, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi that efficiently breakdown plant biomass and its complex dietary carbohydrates into soluble sugars that can be fermented and subsequently converted into metabolites and nutrients utilized by the host animal. While rumen bacterial populations have been well documented, only a fraction of the rumen eukarya are taxonomically and functionally characterized, despite the recognition that they contribute to the cellulolytic phenotype of the rumen microbiota. To investigate how anaerobic fungi actively engage in digestion of recalcitrant fiber that is resistant to degradation, we resolved genome-centric metaproteome and metatranscriptome datasets generated from switchgrass samples incubated for 48 h in nylon bags within the rumen of cannulated dairy cows.

Prevotella copri, a potential indicator for high feed efficiency in western steers.

There has been a great interest to identify a microbial marker that can be used to predict feed efficiency of beef cattle. Such a marker, specifically one that would allow an early identification of animals with high feed efficiency for future breeding efforts, would facilitate increasing the profitability of cattle operations and simultaneously render them more sustainable by reducing their methane footprint. The work presented here suggests that Prevotella copri might be an ideal microbial marker for identifying beef cattle with high feed efficiency early in their life span and in the production cycle.

Effect of the macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis on methane production and rumen microbiome assemblage.

Background: Recent studies using batch-fermentation suggest that the red macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis has the potential to reduce methane (CH) production from beef cattle by up to ~ 99% when added to Rhodes grass hay; a common feed in the Australian beef industry. These experiments have shown significant reductions in CH without compromising other fermentation parameters (i.e.

A 2.08 Å resolution structure of HLB5, a novel cellulase from the anaerobic gut bacterium Parabacteroides johnsonii DSM 18315.

Cellulases play a significant role in the degradation of complex carbohydrates. In the human gut, anaerobic bacteria are essential to the well-being of the host by producing these essential enzymes that convert plant polymers into simple sugars that can then be further metabolized by the host. Here, we report the 2.