Special seminar - Jeffrey Blanchard: Giant Viruses, Chlamydia, Vampire Bacteria and the Unexpected Diversity in Soil Microbial Life in the Harvard Forest Experimental Warming Plots
- Datum: 08.11.2019
- Uhrzeit: 10:00 - 11:00
- Vortragende(r): Jeffrey Blanchard von der University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
- Ort: MPI Plön
- Raum: Praktikumsraum
- Gastgeber: Paul Rainey
Abstract (auf Englisch):
The Harvard Forest
Long Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, MA is home to long-term
experimental soil warming sites heated continuously to 5° C above ambient since
1991 and 2001, ample time for natural selection of genotypes better adapted to
the altered environment. To better understand microbial biodiversity and
develop a reference database for read mapping, we used a variant of single cell
sequencing with small poosls of cell to improve cost efficiency. Phylogenomic
analysis revealed a surprising diversity of microbial life. Sixteen new
lineages of giant viruses were discovered for the first time in a forest soil
ecosystem. Intracellular and host-dependent bacteria were enriched in the data
set relative to abundances in our traditional metagenomics data set of DNA
extracted directly from the soil. This collection of mini-MAGs exposed a
reservoir of genetic diversity in difficult to cultivate organisms, some of
which are related to human pathogens.