Cargando…

Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis

Ecological aspects, adaptation, and some functions of a special biofilm and its unique key anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis strain EH11 isolated from a pristine spring (Künzing, Bavaria, Germany) are described. The spring's pure nature is characterized by, for example, bubbling methane, marine‐s...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hoque, Enamul, Fritscher, Johannes
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5552911/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28544612
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.483
_version_ 1783256544952975360
author Hoque, Enamul
Fritscher, Johannes
author_facet Hoque, Enamul
Fritscher, Johannes
author_sort Hoque, Enamul
collection PubMed
description Ecological aspects, adaptation, and some functions of a special biofilm and its unique key anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis strain EH11 isolated from a pristine spring (Künzing, Bavaria, Germany) are described. The spring's pure nature is characterized by, for example, bubbling methane, marine‐salinity, mild hydrothermal (~19.1°C), sulfidic, and reductive‐anoxic (E(h): −241 to −253 mV, O(2): ≤ 0.1 mg/L) conditions. It is geoecologically located at the border zone between Bavarian Forest (crystalline rocky mountains) and the moor‐like Danube River valley, where geological displacements bring the spring's water from the deeper layers of former marine sources up to the surface. In the spring's outflow, a special biofilm with selective microorganisms consisting of archaea, bacteria, protozoa (ciliate), and fungus was found. Typical sulfidic‐spring bryophyta and macrozoobenthos were missing, but many halo‐ and anaerotolerant diatoms and ciliate Vorticella microstoma beside EH11 were identified. Phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy revealed the existence of a stabilizing matrix in the biofilm formed by the sessile fungal hyphae and the exopolysaccharide substance (EPS) structures, which harbors other microorganisms. In response to ecological adaptation pressure caused by methane bubbles, EH11 developed an atypical spring‐like hyphal morphology, similar to the spiral stalk of ciliate V. microstoma, to rise up with methane bubbles. For the first time, it was also demonstrated that under strict anaerobic conditions EH11 changes its asexual reproduction process by forming pseudosporangia via hyphal cell divisions as well as switching its metabolism to chemoautotrophic bacteria‐like anaerobic life using acetate as an e‐donor and ferrihydrite as an e‐acceptor, all without fermentation. EH11 can be suggested to be useful for the microbial community in the Künzing biofilm not only due to its physical stabilization of the biofilm's matrix but also due to its ecological functions in element recycling as well as a remover of toxic metals.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5552911
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-55529112017-08-15 Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis Hoque, Enamul Fritscher, Johannes Microbiologyopen Original Research Ecological aspects, adaptation, and some functions of a special biofilm and its unique key anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis strain EH11 isolated from a pristine spring (Künzing, Bavaria, Germany) are described. The spring's pure nature is characterized by, for example, bubbling methane, marine‐salinity, mild hydrothermal (~19.1°C), sulfidic, and reductive‐anoxic (E(h): −241 to −253 mV, O(2): ≤ 0.1 mg/L) conditions. It is geoecologically located at the border zone between Bavarian Forest (crystalline rocky mountains) and the moor‐like Danube River valley, where geological displacements bring the spring's water from the deeper layers of former marine sources up to the surface. In the spring's outflow, a special biofilm with selective microorganisms consisting of archaea, bacteria, protozoa (ciliate), and fungus was found. Typical sulfidic‐spring bryophyta and macrozoobenthos were missing, but many halo‐ and anaerotolerant diatoms and ciliate Vorticella microstoma beside EH11 were identified. Phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy revealed the existence of a stabilizing matrix in the biofilm formed by the sessile fungal hyphae and the exopolysaccharide substance (EPS) structures, which harbors other microorganisms. In response to ecological adaptation pressure caused by methane bubbles, EH11 developed an atypical spring‐like hyphal morphology, similar to the spiral stalk of ciliate V. microstoma, to rise up with methane bubbles. For the first time, it was also demonstrated that under strict anaerobic conditions EH11 changes its asexual reproduction process by forming pseudosporangia via hyphal cell divisions as well as switching its metabolism to chemoautotrophic bacteria‐like anaerobic life using acetate as an e‐donor and ferrihydrite as an e‐acceptor, all without fermentation. EH11 can be suggested to be useful for the microbial community in the Künzing biofilm not only due to its physical stabilization of the biofilm's matrix but also due to its ecological functions in element recycling as well as a remover of toxic metals. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017-05-24 /pmc/articles/PMC5552911/ /pubmed/28544612 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.483 Text en © 2017 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Hoque, Enamul
Fritscher, Johannes
Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis
title Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis
title_full Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis
title_fullStr Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis
title_full_unstemmed Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis
title_short Ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus Mucor hiemalis
title_sort ecology, adaptation, and function of methane‐sulfidic spring water biofilm microorganisms, including a strain of anaerobic fungus mucor hiemalis
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5552911/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28544612
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.483
work_keys_str_mv AT hoqueenamul ecologyadaptationandfunctionofmethanesulfidicspringwaterbiofilmmicroorganismsincludingastrainofanaerobicfungusmucorhiemalis
AT fritscherjohannes ecologyadaptationandfunctionofmethanesulfidicspringwaterbiofilmmicroorganismsincludingastrainofanaerobicfungusmucorhiemalis