Meta-analysis of ecological and phylogenetic biomass maturity metrics.

Although a wide variety of biomass sources have been subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing, ecological and phylogenetic signatures of maturity have not been identified quantitatively. In this meta-analysis we reanalyzed data from the only published study with publicly available 16S and temperature data (Zhou et al., 2018), and then applied the Zhou results to 705 samples from 13 additional studies.

Metagenome-assembled genomes from sugarcane mill mud.

The genomes of 11 bacteria and 3 archaea were assembled from metagenomic DNA extracted from sugarcane mill mud. These metagenome-assembled genomes ranged from 1.79 to 6.

A scuticociliate causes mass mortality of in the Caribbean Sea.

Echinoderm mass mortality events shape marine ecosystems by altering the dynamics among major benthic groups. The sea urchin , virtually extirpated in the Caribbean in the early 1980s by an unknown cause, recently experienced another mass mortality beginning in January 2022. We investigated the cause of this mass mortality event through combined molecular biological and veterinary pathologic approaches comparing grossly normal and abnormal animals collected from 23 sites, representing locations that were either affected or unaffected at the time of sampling.

Sea star wasting disease pathology in Pisaster ochraceus shows a basal-to-surface process affecting color phenotypes differently.

Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) refers to a suite of poorly described non-specific clinical signs including abnormal posture, epidermal ulceration, and limb autotomy (sloughing) causing mortalities of over 20 species of sea stars and subsequent ecological shifts throughout the northeastern Pacific. While SSWD is widely assumed to be infectious, with environmental conditions facilitating disease progression, few data exist on cellular changes associated with the disease. This is unfortunate, because such observations could inform mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and host susceptibility.

Evidence That Microorganisms at the Animal-Water Interface Drive Sea Star Wasting Disease.

Sea star wasting (SSW) disease describes a condition affecting asteroids that resulted in significant Northeastern Pacific population decline following a mass mortality event in 2013. The etiology of SSW is unresolved. We hypothesized that SSW is a sequela of microbial organic matter remineralization near respiratory surfaces, one consequence of which may be limited O availability at the animal-water interface.

Virome Variation during Sea Star Wasting Disease Progression in (Asteroidea, Echinodermata).

Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) is a condition that has affected asteroids for over 120 years, yet mechanistic understanding of this wasting etiology remains elusive. We investigated temporal virome variation in two specimens that wasted in the absence of external stimuli and two specimens that did not experience SSWD for the duration of our study, and compared viromes of wasting lesion margin tissues to both artificial scar margins and grossly normal tissues over time. Global assembly of all SSWD-affected tissue libraries resulted in 24 viral genome fragments represented in >1 library.

sp. nov., a phenolic acid-degrading bacterium isolated from acidic forest soil.

RP11 was isolated from forest soil following enrichment with 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Cells of RP11 are aerobic, non-sporulating, exhibit swimming motility, and are rods (0.8 µm by 1.

Benzene Degradation by a Variovorax Species within a Coal Tar-Contaminated Groundwater Microbial Community.

Unlabelled: Investigations of environmental microbial communities are crucial for the discovery of populations capable of degrading hazardous compounds and may lead to improved bioremediation strategies. The goal of this study was to identify microorganisms responsible for aerobic benzene degradation in coal tar-contaminated groundwater. Benzene degradation was monitored in laboratory incubations of well waters using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Microbial community dynamics and stability during an ammonia-induced shift to syntrophic acetate oxidation.

Anaerobic digesters rely on the diversity and distribution of parallel metabolic pathways mediated by complex syntrophic microbial communities to maintain robust and optimal performance. Using mesophilic swine waste digesters, we experimented with increased ammonia loading to induce a shift from aceticlastic methanogenesis to an alternative acetate-consuming pathway of syntrophic acetate oxidation. In comparison with control digesters, we observed shifts in bacterial 16S rRNA gene content and in functional gene repertoires over the course of the digesters' 3-year operating period.

Development and application of pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the analysis of bound trinitrotoluene residues in soil.

TNT (trinitrotoluene) is a contaminant of global environmental significance, yet determining its environmental fate has posed longstanding challenges. To date, only differential extraction-based approaches have been able to determine the presence of covalently bound, reduced forms of TNT in field soils. Here, we employed thermal elution, pyrolysis, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to distinguish between covalently bound and noncovalently bound reduced forms of TNT in soil.