Metagenomic analysis of phosphorus removing sludgecommunities

Journal Article · Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2006 · Nature Biotechnology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1247· OSTI ID:929308

Garcia Martin, Hector; Ivanova, Natalia; Kunin, Victor; Warnecke, Falk; Barry, Kerrie; McHardy, Alice C; Yeates, Christine; He, Shaomei; Salamov, Asaf; Szeto, Ernest; Dalin, Eileen; Putnam, Nik; Shapiro, HarrisJ; Pangilinan, Jasmyn L; Rigoutsos, Isidore; Kyrpides, Nikos C; Blackall, Linda Louise; McMahon, Katherine D; Hugenholtz, Philip

Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) is not wellunderstood at the metabolic level despite being one of the best-studiedmicrobially-mediated industrial processes due to its ecological andeconomic relevance. Here we present a metagenomic analysis of twolab-scale EBPR sludges dominated by the uncultured bacterium, "CandidatusAccumulibacter phosphatis." This analysis resolves several controversiesin EBPR metabolic models and provides hypotheses explaining the dominanceof A. phosphatis in this habitat, its lifestyle outside EBPR and probablecultivation requirements. Comparison of the same species from differentEBPR sludges highlights recent evolutionary dynamics in the A. phosphatisgenome that could be linked to mechanisms for environmental adaptation.In spite of an apparent lack of phylogenetic overlap in the flankingcommunities of the two sludges studied, common functional themes werefound, at least one of them complementary to the inferred metabolism ofthe dominant organism. The present study provides a much-needed blueprintfor a systems-level understanding of EBPR and illustrates thatmetagenomics enables detailed, often novel, insights into evenwell-studied biological systems.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Director. Office of Science. Biological andEnvironmental Research
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 929308
• Report Number(s): LBNL-59661; NABIF9; R&D Project: 626859; BnR: KP1103010; TRN: US200813%%178
• Journal Information: Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 24, Issue 10; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: 10/2006; ISSN 1087-0156
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59
COMMUNITIES
CULTIVATION
ECONOMICS
FUNCTIONALS
HABITAT
METABOLISM
PHOSPHORUS
REMOVAL
SLUDGES
sludge excess biological phosphorus removal EBPR