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Published on: April 19, 2018
Functional analysis of pristine estuarine marine sediments
Rohan M Shah1, Katie E Hillyer2, Sarah Stephenson3
1Land and Water, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia; Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia.
This study establishes microbial blueprints for pristine estuarine sediments using omics technologies. These blueprints reveal essential carbon metabolism and metal homeostasis functions, crucial for ecosystem health and future environmental monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Environmental microbiology
- Metagenomics
- Metabolomics
Background:
- Traditional monitoring lacks resolution for chronic exposure effects on ecosystems.
- Omics technologies offer potential for sensitive environmental surveillance.
- Most omics studies focus on degraded environments, not establishing baseline health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish microbial functionality blueprints in pristine estuarine sediments.
- To identify key metabolic pathways and gene-metabolite relationships in healthy ecosystems.
- To create a baseline for future environmental monitoring and ecosurveillance.
Main Methods:
- Collected surface sediments from four pristine estuaries in Far North Queensland, Australia.
- Analyzed microbiomes using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and untargeted/targeted metabolic profiling.
- Applied multivariate statistical analyses to identify taxa-function relationships and gene-metabolite correlations.
Main Results:
- Established heterogeneity among estuaries but identified predictive taxa-function relationships.
- Identified 24 gene-metabolite pathways for carbon metabolism and amino acid biosynthesis.
- Observed increased metal homeostasis/resistance genes, with correlations to Fe and Zn metabolism.
Conclusions:
- Developed a baseline microbial blueprint for pristine estuarine sediment ecosystems.
- Demonstrated the utility of omics for understanding microbial functions in healthy environments.
- Provided a reference for future ecosurveillance and assessing environmental changes.
