Search for: All records

Fungi shape the diversity of life. Characterizing the evolution of fungi is critical to understanding symbiotic associations across kingdoms. In this study, we investigate the genomic and metabolomic diversity of the genus Escovopsis , a specialized parasite of fungus-growing ant gardens. Based on 25 high-quality draft genomes, we show that Escovopsis forms a monophyletic group arising from a mycoparasitic fungal ancestor 61.82 million years ago (Mya). Across the evolutionary history of fungus-growing ants, the dates of origin of most clades of Escovopsis correspond to the dates of origin of the fungus-growing ants whose gardens they parasitize. We reveal that genome reduction, determined by both genomic sequencing and flow cytometry, is a consistent feature across the genus Escovopsis, largely occurring in coding regions, specifically in the form of gene loss and reductions in copy numbers of genes. All functional gene categories have reduced copy numbers, but resistance and virulence genes maintain functional diversity. Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) contribute to phylogenetic differences among Escovopsis spp., and sister taxa in the Hypocreaceae. The phylogenetic patterns of co-diversification among BGCs are similarly exhibited across mass spectrometry analyses of the metabolomes of Escovopsis and their sister taxa. Taken together, our results indicate that Escovopsis spp. evolved unique genomic repertoires to specialize on the fungus-growing ant-microbe symbiosis. 

ABSTRACT The complexity of microbial communities hinders our understanding of how microbial diversity and microbe-microbe interactions impact community functions. Here, using six independent communities originating from the refuse dumps of leaf-cutter ants and enriched using the plant polymer cellulose as the sole source of carbon, we examine how changes in bacterial diversity and interactions impact plant biomass decomposition. Over up to 60 serial transfers (∼8 months) using Whatman cellulose filter paper, cellulolytic ability increased and then stabilized in four enrichment lines and was variable in two lines. Bacterial community characterization using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed community succession differed between the highly cellulolytic enrichment lines and those that had slower and more variable cellulose degradation rates. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses revealed that Cellvibrio and/or Cellulomonas dominated each enrichment line and produced the majority of cellulase enzymes, while diverse taxa were retained within these communities over the duration of transfers. Interestingly, the less cellulolytic communities had a higher diversity of organisms competing for the cellulose breakdown product cellobiose, suggesting that cheating slowed cellulose degradation. In addition, we found competitive exclusion as an important factor shaping all of the communities, with a negative correlation of Cellvibrio and Cellulomonas abundance within individual enrichment lines and the expression of genes associated with the production of secondary metabolites, toxins, and other antagonistic compounds. Our results provide insights into how microbial diversity and competition affect the stability and function of cellulose-degrading communities. IMPORTANCE Microbial communities are a key driver of the carbon cycle through the breakdown of complex polysaccharides in diverse environments including soil, marine systems, and the mammalian gut. However, due to the complexity of these communities, the species-species interactions that impact community structure and ultimately shape the rate of decomposition are difficult to define. Here, we performed serial enrichment on cellulose using communities inoculated from leaf-cutter ant refuse dumps, a cellulose-rich environment. By concurrently tracking cellulolytic ability and community composition and through metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing, we analyzed the ecological dynamics of the enrichment lines. Our data suggest that antagonism is prevalent in these communities and that competition for soluble sugars may slow degradation and lead to community instability. Together, these results help reveal the relationships between competition and polysaccharide decomposition, with implications in diverse areas ranging from microbial community ecology to cellulosic biofuels production. 

Abstract With an ever-increasing amount of (meta)genomic data being deposited in sequence databases, (meta)genome mining for natural product biosynthetic pathways occupies a critical role in the discovery of novel pharmaceutical drugs, crop protection agents and biomaterials. The genes that encode these pathways are often organised into biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In 2015, we defined the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG): a standardised data format that describes the minimally required information to uniquely characterise a BGC. We simultaneously constructed an accompanying online database of BGCs, which has since been widely used by the community as a reference dataset for BGCs and was expanded to 2021 entries in 2019 (MIBiG 2.0). Here, we describe MIBiG 3.0, a database update comprising large-scale validation and re-annotation of existing entries and 661 new entries. Particular attention was paid to the annotation of compound structures and biological activities, as well as protein domain selectivities. Together, these new features keep the database up-to-date, and will provide new opportunities for the scientific community to use its freely available data, e.g. for the training of new machine learning models to predict sequence-structure-function relationships for diverse natural products. MIBiG 3.0 is accessible online at https://mibig.secondarymetabolites.org/.