title: Longitudinal Analysis of Microbiota in Microalga Nannochloropsis salina Cultures.
abstract: Large-scale open microalgae cultivation has tremendous potential to make a significant contribution to replacing petroleum-based fuels with biofuels. Open algal cultures are unavoidably inhabited with a diversity of microbes that live on, influence, and shape the fate of these ecosystems. However, there is little understanding of the resilience and stability of the microbial communities in engineered semicontinuous algal systems. To evaluate the dynamics and resilience of the microbial communities in microalgae biofuel cultures, we conducted a longitudinal study on open systems to compare the temporal profiles of the microbiota from two multigenerational algal cohorts, which include one seeded with the microbiota from an in-house culture and the other exogenously seeded with a natural-occurring consortia of bacterial species harvested from the Pacific Ocean. From these month-long, semicontinuous open microalga Nannochloropsis salina cultures, we sequenced a time-series of 46 samples, yielding 8804 operational taxonomic units derived from 9,160,076 high-quality partial 16S rRNA sequences. We provide quantitative evidence that clearly illustrates the development of microbial community is associated with microbiota ancestry. In addition, N. salina growth phases were linked with distinct changes in microbial phylotypes. Alteromonadeles dominated the community in the N. salina exponential phase whereas Alphaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia were more prevalent in the stationary phase. We also demonstrate that the N. salina-associated microbial community in open cultures is diverse, resilient, and dynamic in response to environmental perturbations. This knowledge has general implications for developing and testing design principles of cultivated algal systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biology, Sandia National Laboratories, 7011 East Ave, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomass Science and Conversion Technology, Sandia National Laboratories, 7011 East Ave, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Sale
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomass Science and Conversion Technology, Sandia National Laboratories, 7011 East Ave, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Bao
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Tran-Gyamfi
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biology, Sandia National Laboratories, 7011 East Ave, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA. twlane@sandia.gov.
authors.forename: Todd W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Biology, Sandia National Laboratories, 7011 East Ave, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA.|Institute of Chemistry, National Science Complex, University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City, 1101, Philippines.
authors.forename: Eizadora T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D058086:Microalgae / Q000382:microbiology*; D064307:Microbiota; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D058009:Stramenopiles / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Algae; Biosystem; Microbiota; Stability