Evolution in action: habitat transition from sediment to the pelagial leads to genome streamlining in Methylophilaceae.

Salcher, Michaela M; Schaefle, Daniel; Kaspar, Melissa; Neuenschwander, Stefan M.; Ghai, Rohit (2019). Evolution in action: habitat transition from sediment to the pelagial leads to genome streamlining in Methylophilaceae. The ISME journal, 13(11), pp. 2764-2777. Springer Nature 10.1038/s41396-019-0471-3

[img]
Preview
Text
41396_2019_Article_471.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY).

Download (2MB) | Preview

The most abundant aquatic microbes are small in cell and genome size. Genome-streamlining theory predicts gene loss caused by evolutionary selection driven by environmental factors, favouring superior competitors for limiting resources. However, evolutionary histories of such abundant, genome-streamlined microbes remain largely unknown. Here we reconstruct the series of steps in the evolution of some of the most abundant genome-streamlined microbes in freshwaters ("Ca. Methylopumilus") and oceans (marine lineage OM43). A broad genomic spectrum is visible in the family Methylophilaceae (Betaproteobacteria), from sediment microbes with medium-sized genomes (2-3 Mbp genome size), an occasionally blooming pelagic intermediate (1.7 Mbp), and the most reduced pelagic forms (1.3 Mbp). We show that a habitat transition from freshwater sediment to the relatively oligotrophic pelagial was accompanied by progressive gene loss and adaptive gains. Gene loss has mainly affected functions not necessarily required or advantageous in the pelagial or is encoded by redundant pathways. Likewise, we identified genes providing adaptations to oligotrophic conditions that have been transmitted horizontally from pelagic freshwater microbes. Remarkably, the secondary transition from the pelagial of lakes to the oceans required only slight modifications, i.e., adaptations to higher salinity, gained via horizontal gene transfer from indigenous microbes. Our study provides first genomic evidence of genome reduction taking place during habitat transitions. In this regard, the family Methylophilaceae is an exceptional model for tracing the evolutionary history of genome streamlining as such a collection of evolutionarily related microbes from different habitats is rare in the microbial world.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute for Infectious Diseases > Research

UniBE Contributor:

Neuenschwander, Stefan

ISSN:

1751-7362

Publisher:

Springer Nature

Language:

English

Submitter:

Siegfried Hektor Hapfelmeier-Balmer

Date Deposited:

31 Jan 2020 09:38

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:35

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/s41396-019-0471-3

PubMed ID:

31292537

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.138188

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/138188

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback