2021, Scales, Brittan S., Cable, Rachel N., Duhaime, Melissa B., Gerdts, Gunnar, Fischer, Franziska, Fischer, Dieter, Mothes, Stephanie, Hintzki, Lisa, Moldaenke, Lynn, Ruwe, Matthias, Kalinowski, Jörn, Kreikemeyer, Bernd, Pedrotti, Maria-Luiza, Gorsky, Gaby, Elineau, Amanda, Labrenz, Matthias, Oberbeckmann, Sonja, Campbell, Barbara J.

While it is now appreciated that the millions of tons of plastic pollution travelling through marine systems carry complex communities of microorganisms, it is still unknown to what extent these biofilm communities are specific to the plastic or selected by the surrounding ecosystem. To address this, we characterized and compared the microbial communities of microplastic particles, nonplastic (natural and wax) particles, and the surrounding waters from three marine ecosystems (the Baltic, Sargasso and Mediterranean seas) using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that biofilm communities on microplastic and nonplastic particles were highly similar to one another across this broad geographical range. The similar temperature and salinity profiles of the Sargasso and Mediterranean seas, compared to the Baltic Sea, were reflected in the biofilm communities. We identified plastic-specific operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that were not detected on nonplastic particles or in the surrounding waters. Twenty-six of the plastic-specific OTUs were geographically ubiquitous across all sampled locations. These geographically ubiquitous plastic-specific OTUs were mostly low-abundance members of their biofilm communities and often represented uncultured members of marine ecosystems. These results demonstrate the potential for plastics to be a reservoir of rare and understudied microbes, thus warranting further investigations into the dynamics and role of these microbes in marine ecosystems.

2020, Hahnke, Sarah, Abendroth, Christian, Pascual, Javier, Langer, Thomas, Codoñer, Francisco M., Ramm, Patrice, Klocke, Michael, Luschnig, Olaf, Porcare, Manuel

Here, we present the genome sequence and annotation of HV4-6-C5C, a bacterial strain isolated from a mesophilic two-stage laboratory-scale leach bed biogas reactor system. Strain HV4-6-C5C may represent a new genus of the family Bacteroidaceae and may have a key role in acidogenesis and acetogenesis steps during anaerobic biomass digestion. © 2019 Hahnke et al.

2020, Pascual, Javier, Hahnke, Sarah, Abendroth, Christian, Langer, Thomas, Ramm, Patrice, Klocke, Michael, Luschnig, Olaf, Porcar, Manuel

Here, we present the genome sequence and annotation of the novel bacterial strain HV4-5-C5C, which may represent a new genus within the family Oscillospiraceae (order Eubacteriales). This strain is a potential keystone species in the hydrolysis of complex polymers during anaerobic digestion of biomass. © 2020 Pascual et al.

2020, Hahnke, Sarah, Abendroth, Christian, Pascual, Javier, Langer, Thomas, Ramm, Patrice, Klocke, Michael, Luschnig, Olaf, Porcar, Manuel

Here, we present the genome sequence and annotation of the bacterial strain HV4-5-A1G, a potentially new Clostridium species. Based on its genomic data, this strain may act as a keystone microorganism in the hydrolysis of complex polymers, as well as in the different acidogenesis and acetogenesis steps during anaerobic digestion. © 2020 Hahnke et al.