Unraveling the Metabolic Potential of Asgardarchaeota in a Sediment from the Mediterranean Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Water Basin Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy)

Firrincieli, Andrea; Negroni, Andrea; Zanaroli, Giulio; Cappelletti, Martina

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9040859

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Unraveling the Metabolic Potential of Asgardarchaeota in a Sediment from the Mediterranean Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Water Basin Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy)

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Molecular and Applied Microbiology Lab, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy

Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, via Terracini 28, 40131 Bologna, Italy

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Erika Tóth

Microorganisms 2021, 9(4), 859; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040859

Received: 15 March 2021 / Revised: 10 April 2021 / Accepted: 14 April 2021 / Published: 16 April 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Microbiology of Natural and Artificial Aquatic Ecosystems)

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Abstract

Increasing number of metagenome sequencing studies have proposed a central metabolic role of still understudied Archaeal members in natural and artificial ecosystems. However, their role in hydrocarbon cycling, particularly in the anaerobic biodegradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, is still mostly unknown in both marine and terrestrial environments. In this work, we focused our study on the metagenomic characterization of the archaeal community inhabiting the Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy, central Mediterranean) sediments heavily contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). Among metagenomic bins reconstructed from Mar Piccolo microbial community, we have identified members of the Asgardarchaeota superphylum that has been recently proposed to play a central role in hydrocarbon cycling in natural ecosystems under anoxic conditions. In particular, we found members affiliated with Thorarchaeota, Heimdallarchaeota, and Lokiarchaeota phyla and analyzed their genomic potential involved in central metabolism and hydrocarbon biodegradation. Metabolic prediction based on metagenomic analysis identified the malonyl-CoA and benzoyl-CoA routes as the pathways involved in aliphatic and aromatic biodegradation in these Asgardarchaeota members. This is the first study to give insight into the archaeal community functionality and connection to hydrocarbon degradation in marine sediment historically contaminated by hydrocarbons. View Full-Text

Keywords: Asgardarchaeota; Mar Piccolo; aromatic hydrocarbons; aliphatic hydrocarbons; Thorarchaeota; Lokiarchaeota; Heimdallarchaeota; bioremediation; metagenome

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Firrincieli, A.; Negroni, A.; Zanaroli, G.; Cappelletti, M. Unraveling the Metabolic Potential of Asgardarchaeota in a Sediment from the Mediterranean Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Water Basin Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy). Microorganisms 2021, 9, 859. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040859

AMA Style

Firrincieli A, Negroni A, Zanaroli G, Cappelletti M. Unraveling the Metabolic Potential of Asgardarchaeota in a Sediment from the Mediterranean Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Water Basin Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy). Microorganisms. 2021; 9(4):859. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040859

Chicago/Turabian Style

Firrincieli, Andrea, Andrea Negroni, Giulio Zanaroli, and Martina Cappelletti. 2021. "Unraveling the Metabolic Potential of Asgardarchaeota in a Sediment from the Mediterranean Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Water Basin Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy)" Microorganisms 9, no. 4: 859. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040859

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Unraveling the Metabolic Potential of Asgardarchaeota in a Sediment from the Mediterranean Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Water Basin Mar Piccolo (Taranto, Italy)

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