Draft genome sequence of sp. SA01 isolated from seedlings collected in Cape Cod (USA).

A draft genome was generated for a strain of closely related to sp. ENV421 isolated from plants of smooth cordgrass germinated from seeds collected in a salt marsh in Cape Cod (USA). Genomic DNA was sequenced using paired-end Illumina technologies.

Diversity at single nucleotide to pangenome scales among sulfur cycling bacteria in salt marshes.

Salt marshes are known for their significant carbon storage capacity, and sulfur cycling is closely linked with the ecosystem-scale carbon cycling in these ecosystems. Sulfate reducers are key for the decomposition of organic matter, and sulfur oxidizers remove toxic sulfide, supporting the productivity of marsh plants. To date, the complexity of coastal environments, heterogeneity of the rhizosphere, high microbial diversity, and uncultured majority hindered our understanding of the genomic diversity of sulfur-cycling microbes in salt marshes.

Slip slidin' away: Bristle-driven gliding by Tetradesmus deserticola (Chlorophyta) in microfluidic chambers.

Microalgae within the Scenedesmaceae are often distinguished by spines, bristles, and other wall characteristics. We examined the dynamic production and chemical nature of bristles extruded from the poles of Tetradesmus deserticola previously isolated from microbiotic crust. Rapidly growing cells in a liquid growth medium were established in polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic chambers specially designed to maintain aerobic conditions over time within a chamber 6-12 μm deep.

Leaf-FISH: In Situ Hybridization Method for Visualizing Bacterial Taxa on Plant Surfaces.

High-resolution, spatial characterization of microbial communities is critical for the accurate understanding of microbe-microbe and microbe-plant interactions in leaf surfaces (phyllosphere). However, leaves are specially challenging surfaces for imaging methods due to their high autofluorescence. In this chapter we describe the Leaf-FISH method.

Shared up-regulation and contrasting down-regulation of gene expression distinguish desiccation-tolerant from intolerant green algae.

Among green plants, desiccation tolerance is common in seeds and spores but rare in leaves and other vegetative green tissues. Over the last two decades, genes have been identified whose expression is induced by desiccation in diverse, desiccation-tolerant (DT) taxa, including, e.g.

Extraction of high-quality, high-molecular-weight DNA depends heavily on cell homogenization methods in green microalgae.

Premise: New sequencing technologies have facilitated genomic studies in green microalgae; however, extracting high-quality DNA is often a bottleneck for long-read sequencing.

Methods And Results: Here, we present a low-cost, highly transferrable method for the extraction of high-molecular-weight (HMW), high-purity DNA from microalgae. We first determined the effect of sample preparation on DNA quality using three homogenization methods: manual grinding using a mini-pestle, automatic grinding using a vortex adapter, and grinding in liquid nitrogen.

A model suite of green algae within the Scenedesmaceae for investigating contrasting desiccation tolerance and morphology.

Microscopic green algae inhabiting desert microbiotic crusts are remarkably diverse phylogenetically, and many desert lineages have independently evolved from aquatic ancestors. Here we worked with five desert and aquatic species within the family Scenedesmaceae to examine mechanisms that underlie desiccation tolerance and release of unicellular versus multicellular progeny. Live cell staining and time-lapse confocal imaging coupled with transmission electron microscopy established that the desert and aquatic species all divide by multiple (rather than binary) fission, although progeny were unicellular in three species and multicellular (joined in a sheet-like coenobium) in two.

Leaf-FISH: Microscale Imaging of Bacterial Taxa on Phyllosphere.

Molecular methods for microbial community characterization have uncovered environmental and plant-associated factors shaping phyllosphere communities. Variables undetectable using bulk methods can play an important role in shaping plant-microbe interactions. Microscale analysis of bacterial dynamics in the phyllosphere requires imaging techniques specially adapted to the high autoflouresence and 3-D structure of the leaf surface.

Through thick and thin: cryptic sympatric speciation in the submersed genus Najas (Hydrocharitaceae).

Cryptic sympatric species arise when reproductive isolation is established in sympatry, leading to genetically divergent lineages that are highly similar morphologically or virtually indistinguishable. Although cryptic sympatric species have been reported in various animals, fungi, and protists, there are few compelling examples for plants. This investigation presents a case for cryptic sympatric speciation in Najas flexilis, a widespread aquatic plant, which extends throughout northern North America and Eurasia.

Phytogeography of Najas gracillima (Hydrocharitaceae) in North America and its cryptic introduction to California.

Premise Of The Study: The discontinuous North American distribution of Najas gracillima has not been explained satisfactorily. Influences of extirpation, nonindigenous introduction, and postglacial migration on its distribution were evaluated using field, fossil, morphological, and molecular data. Najas is a major waterfowl food, and appropriate conservation measures rely on accurate characterization of populations as indigenous or imperiled.

The plastid genome of Najas flexilis: adaptation to submersed environments is accompanied by the complete loss of the NDH complex in an aquatic angiosperm.

The re-colonization of aquatic habitats by angiosperms has presented a difficult challenge to plants whose long evolutionary history primarily reflects adaptations to terrestrial conditions. Many aquatics must complete vital stages of their life cycle on the water surface by means of floating or emergent leaves and flowers. Only a few species, mainly within the order Alismatales, are able to complete all aspects of their life cycle including pollination, entirely underwater.

Extreme conservation of the psaA/psaB intercistronic spacer reveals a translational motif coincident with the evolution of land plants.

Although chloroplast transcriptional and translational mechanisms were derived originally from prokaryote endosymbionts, chloroplasts retain comparatively few genes as a consequence of the overall transfer to the nucleus of functions associated formerly with prokaryotic genomes. Various modifications reflect other evolutionary shifts toward eukaryotic regulation such as posttranscriptional transcript cleavage with individually processed cistrons in operons and gene expression regulated by nuclear-encoded sigma factors. We report a notable exception for the psaA-psaB-rps14 operon of land plant (embryophyte) chloroplasts, where the first two cistrons are separated by a spacer region to which no significant role had been attributed.

Epigenetic changes detected in micropropagated hop plants.

Micropropagation is a widely used technique in hops (Humulus lupulus L.). However, to the best of our knowledge, the genetic and epigenetic stability of the microplants has never been tested before.

Genetic and epigenetic stability of cryopreserved and cold-stored hops (Humulus lupulus L.).

Conventional cold storage and cryopreservation methods for hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are available but, to our knowledge, the genetic and epigenetic stability of the recovered plants have not been tested. This study analyzed 51 accessions of hop using the molecular techniques, Random Amplified DNA Polymorphism (RAPD) and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), revealing no genetic variation among greenhouse-grown controls and cold stored or cryopreserved plants.

Assessment of genetic and epigenetic variation in hop plants regenerated from sequential subcultures of organogenic calli.

Organogenic calli induced from internodal segments were subcultured three times. Regenerated plants obtained from each subculture were analysed by molecular methods. No major genetic rearrangements were detected in the callus-derived plants since none of the amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) loci were found to be polymorphic.