Applied and Environmental Science
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceMicrobial Metabolic Redundancy Is a Key Mechanism in a Sulfur-Rich Glacial EcosystemA unique environment at Borup Fiord Pass is characterized by a sulfur-enriched glacial ecosystem in the low-temperature Canadian High Arctic. BFP represents one of the best terrestrial analog sites for studying icy, sulfur-rich worlds outside our own, such as Europa and Mars. The site also allows investigation of sulfur-based microbial metabolisms in cold environments here on Earth. Here, we report whole-genome sequencing data that...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceImpact of Glyphosate on the Honey Bee Gut Microbiota: Effects of Intensity, Duration, and Timing of ExposureAs is true of many animal species, honey bees depend on their gut microbiota for health. The bee gut microbiota has been shown to regulate the host immune system and to protect against pathogenic diseases, and disruption of the normal microbiota leads to increased mortality. Understanding these effects can give broad insights into vulnerabilities of gut communities, and, in the case of honey bees, could provide information useful for...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental SciencePlant and Soil Development Cooperatively Shaped the Composition of the phoD-Harboring Bacterial Community along the Primary Succession in the Hailuogou Glacier ChronosequencePhosphorus was the key limiting nutrient for soil development during primary succession that occurred in alpine and high-latitude ecosystems with cold and humid climates. The interactions of functional microbiota involved in phosphorus cycling in the rhizosphere under different soil developmental stages along primary succession are still rarely examined. We selected the pioneer species Populus purdomii as a model plant to study...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceMicrobiome and Metagenome Analyses of a Closed Habitat during Human OccupationThis study provides the first assessment of monitoring cultivable and viable microorganisms on surfaces within a submerged, closed, analog habitat. The results of the analyses presented herein suggest that the surface material plays a role in microbial community structure, as the microbial populations differed between LDP and metal/glass surfaces. The metal/glass surfaces had less-complex community, lower bioburden, and more closely...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSARS-CoV-2 Titers in Wastewater Are Higher than Expected from Clinically Confirmed CasesWastewater-based surveillance is a promising approach for proactive outbreak monitoring. SARS-CoV-2 is shed in stool early in the clinical course and infects a large asymptomatic population, making it an ideal target for wastewater-based monitoring. In this study, we develop a laboratory protocol to quantify viral titers in raw sewage via qPCR analysis and validate results with sequencing analysis. Our results suggest that the number of...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceMeasurement Error and Resolution in Quantitative Stable Isotope Probing: Implications for Experimental DesignOne of the biggest challenges in microbial ecology is correlating the identity of microorganisms with the roles they fulfill in natural environmental systems. Studies of microbes in pure culture reveal much about their genomic content and potential functions but may not reflect an organism’s activity within its natural community. Culture-independent studies supply a community-wide view of composition and function in the context of...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSystem Performance Corresponding to Bacterial Community Succession after a Disturbance in an Autotrophic Nitrogen Removal BioreactorDynamics of microbial communities are believed to be associated with system functional processes in bioreactors. However, few studies have provided quantitative evidence. The difficulty of evaluating direct microbe-system relationships arises from the fact that system performance is affected by convolved effects of microbiota and bioreactor operational parameters (i.e., deterministic external physicochemical forcing). Here, using fine-...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceTemperature-Induced Annual Variation in Microbial Community Changes and Resulting Metabolome Shifts in a Controlled Fermentation SystemWe used Chinese liquor fermentation as a model system to show that microbiome composition changes more dramatically across seasons than throughout the fermentation process within seasons. These changes translate to differences in the metabolome as the ultimate functional outcome of microbial activity, suggesting that temporal changes in microbiome composition are translating into functional changes. This result is striking as it...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceLong-Term Chemical-Only Fertilization Induces a Diversity Decline and Deep Selection on the Soil BacteriaChemical-only fertilization is ubiquitous in contemporary conventional agriculture despite the fact that sustainability of this agricultural practice is increasingly being questioned because of the current observed soil degradation. We explored how long-term chemical-only versus organic-only fertilizations impacted the soil microbiota reservoir in terms of both diversity and induced assembly processes. The results showed that long-term...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSoil Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Cycling Microbial Populations and Their Resistance to Global Change Depend on Soil C:N:P StoichiometryTo be effective in predicting future stability of soil functions in the context of various external disturbances, it is necessary to follow the effects of global change on functionally specialized microbes related to C and nutrient cycling. Our study represents an exploratory effort to couple the stoichiometric drivers to microbial populations related with main C, N, and P cycling and their resistances to global change. The abundance of...