Diverse uncultivated ultra-small bacterial cells in groundwater

Birgit Luef, Kyle R. Frischkorn, Kelly C. Wrighton, Hoi-Ying N. Holman, Giovanni Birarda, Brian C. Thomas, Andrea Singh, Kenneth H. Williams, Cristina E. Siegerist, Susannah G. Tringe, Kenneth H. Downing, Luis R. Comolli () and Jillian F. Banfield ()
Additional contact information
Birgit Luef: University of California
Kyle R. Frischkorn: University of California
Kelly C. Wrighton: University of California
Hoi-Ying N. Holman: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Giovanni Birarda: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Brian C. Thomas: University of California
Andrea Singh: University of California
Kenneth H. Williams: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Cristina E. Siegerist: University of California
Susannah G. Tringe: Joint Genome Institute
Kenneth H. Downing: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Luis R. Comolli: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Jillian F. Banfield: University of California

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Bacteria from phyla lacking cultivated representatives are widespread in natural systems and some have very small genomes. Here we test the hypothesis that these cells are small and thus might be enriched by filtration for coupled genomic and ultrastructural characterization. Metagenomic analysis of groundwater that passed through a ~0.2-μm filter reveals a wide diversity of bacteria from the WWE3, OP11 and OD1 candidate phyla. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy demonstrates that, despite morphological variation, cells consistently have small cell size (0.009±0.002 μm3). Ultrastructural features potentially related to cell and genome size minimization include tightly packed spirals inferred to be DNA, few densely packed ribosomes and a variety of pili-like structures that might enable inter-organism interactions that compensate for biosynthetic capacities inferred to be missing from genomic data. The results suggest that extremely small cell size is associated with these relatively common, yet little known organisms.

Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7372

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7372

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