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Study Finds Natural Organic Carbon Source Fuels Growth of Diverse, Distinct Bacteria from Groundwater1 min read

by Christina Procopiou on March 25, 2021

Ecology Department

 

Xiaoqin Wu, Sara Gushgari-Doyle, and Mon Oo Yee from Romy Chakraborty’s group in EESA’s Ecology Department and the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT have published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology describing a study they hope will advance cultivation and isolation strategies for recovering diverse, uncultivable, and novel microorganisms from Earth’s subsurface. This project falls under the DOE-BER ENIGMA SFA, and builds on this previous work by EESA researchers.

Despite advances in modern molecular technology, it remains difficult to recover and cultivate these diverse microorganisms within the laboratory. To be successful in doing so, microbiologists need to develop strategies to closely mimic the bacteria’s ecological habitat.

The research team applied naturally occurring complex carbon (C) sources, including sediment dissolved organic matter (DOM) and bacterial cell lysate, that microbes encounter in their natural habitats to enrich groundwater microbial communities for 30 days. For comparison, the scientists included enrichments amended with simple C sources including glucose, acetate, benzoate, oleic acid, cellulose, and mixed vitamins, other popular C choices generally used for this purpose. Their results show that complex but native C is far more effective in enriching diverse and distinct microorganisms from groundwater than simple, often-used C, which yield significantly lower biodiversity, and are dominated by few phyla (e.g., Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes). Microcosms enriched with complex C demonstrate significantly higher biodiversity including phyla that are poorly represented in published culture collections (e.g., Verrucomicrobia, Planctomycetes, and Armatimonadetes).

“Obtaining axenic representatives of “once-unculturable” microorganisms will enhance our understanding of microbial physiology and function in different biogeochemical niches of terrestrial subsurface ecosystems,” Chakraborty said. “Our findings will benefit future development of effective cultivation/isolation strategies to obtain diverse and ecologically relevant microorganisms from the environment.”

News & Events

EESA Scientists Investigate How Tropical Soil Microbes Might Respond to Future Droughts2 min read

March 14, 2023

As the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystems on Earth, tropical rainforests are just as critical to sustaining environmental and human systems as they are beautiful. Their unique climate with high temperatures, humidity, and precipitation promotes high primary productivity, which offsets high respiration, resulting in these ecosystems being one of the largest carbon sinks on Earth,…

Doubling Protected Lands for Biodiversity Could Require Tradeoffs With Other Land Uses, Study Finds4 min read

March 3, 2023

This article first appeared on lbl.gov. Scientists show how 30% protected land targets may not safeguard biodiversity hotspots and may negatively affect other sectors – and how data and analysis can support effective conservation and land use planning Although more than half the world’s countries have committed to protecting at least 30% of land and oceans…

Six Berkeley Lab Scientists Named AAAS Fellows6 min read

This article first appeared at lbl.gov Six researchers have been elected into the 2022 class of the American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced their 2022 Fellows, including six scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This lifetime honor, which follows…

Kenichi Soga named to National Academy of Engineers1 min read

February 23, 2023

Faculty scientist Kenichi Soga was named to the National Academy of Engineering (NA), one of the highest honors that can be achieved as an American engineer. Soga is the Donald H. McLaughlin Chair in Mineral Engineering and a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and has conducted groundbreaking research from infrastructure sensing to…

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