title: Mycelium-Like Networks Increase Bacterial Dispersal, Growth, and Biodegradation in a Model Ecosystem at Various Water Potentials.
abstract: Fungal mycelia serve as effective dispersal networks for bacteria in water-unsaturated environments, thereby allowing bacteria to maintain important functions, such as biodegradation. However, poor knowledge exists on the effects of dispersal networks at various osmotic (Ψo) and matric (Ψm) potentials, which contribute to the water potential mainly in terrestrial soil environments. Here we studied the effects of artificial mycelium-like dispersal networks on bacterial dispersal dynamics and subsequent effects on growth and benzoate biodegradation at ΔΨo and ΔΨm values between 0 and -1.5 MPa. In a multiple-microcosm approach, we used a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged derivative of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida KT2440 as a model organism and sodium benzoate as a representative of polar aromatic contaminants. We found that decreasing ΔΨo and ΔΨm values slowed bacterial dispersal in the system, leading to decelerated growth and benzoate degradation. In contrast, dispersal networks facilitated bacterial movement at ΔΨo and ΔΨm values between 0 and -0.5 MPa and thus improved the absolute biodegradation performance by up to 52 and 119% for ΔΨo and ΔΨm, respectively. This strong functional interrelationship was further emphasized by a high positive correlation between population dispersal, population growth, and degradation. We propose that dispersal networks may sustain the functionality of microbial ecosystems at low osmotic and matric potentials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.|Department of Environmental Biotechnology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Worrich
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.|Department of Ecological Modelling, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: König
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miltner
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Modelling, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Centler
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Modelling, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.|German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.|University of Osnabrück, Institute for Environmental Systems Research, Osnabrück, Germany.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thullner
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.|German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Hauke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harms
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany matthias.kaestner@ufz.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kästner
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Wick
mesh_terms: D001565:Benzoates / Q000378:metabolism*; D001711:Biotransformation; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D025282:Mycelium / Q000254:growth & development*; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001565:Benzoates; D014867:Water; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins