title: In situ proteo-metabolomics reveals metabolite secretion by the acid mine drainage bio-indicator, Euglena mutabilis.
abstract: Euglena mutabilis is a photosynthetic protist found in acidic aquatic environments such as peat bogs, volcanic lakes and acid mine drainages (AMDs). Through its photosynthetic metabolism, this protist is supposed to have an important role in primary production in such oligotrophic ecosystems. Nevertheless, the exact contribution of E. mutabilis in organic matter synthesis remains unclear and no evidence of metabolite secretion by this protist has been established so far. Here we combined in situ proteo-metabolomic approaches to determine the nature of the metabolites accumulated by this protist or potentially secreted into an AMD. Our results revealed that the secreted metabolites are represented by a large number of amino acids, polyamine compounds, urea and some sugars but no fatty acids, suggesting a selective organic matter contribution in this ecosystem. Such a production may have a crucial impact on the bacterial community present on the study site, as it has been suggested previously that prokaryotes transport and recycle in situ most of the metabolites secreted by E. mutabilis. Consequently, this protist may have an indirect but important role in AMD ecosystems but also in other ecological niches often described as nitrogen-limited.
authors.affiliation: UMR7156 Université de Strasbourg/CNRS, Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique et Microbiologie, Département Micro-organismes, Génomes, Environnement, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Halter
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goulhen-Chollet
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallien
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Casiot
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hamelin
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gilard
authors.forename: Dimitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heintz
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schaeffer
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carapito
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Dorsselaer
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tcherkez
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arsène-Ploetze
authors.forename: Philippe N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Bertin
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D017753:Ecosystem; D005055:Euglena / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005602:France; D055432:Metabolomics; D008906:Mining; D010788:Photosynthesis
chemical_list: D000143:Acids