title: Surveys, simulation and single-cell assays relate function and phylogeny in a lake ecosystem.
abstract: Much remains unknown about what drives microbial community structure and diversity. Highly structured environments might offer clues. For example, it may be possible to identify metabolically similar species as groups of organisms that correlate spatially with the geochemical processes they carry out. Here, we use a 16S ribosomal RNA gene survey in a lake that has chemical gradients across its depth to identify groups of spatially correlated but phylogenetically diverse organisms. Some groups had distributions across depth that aligned with the distributions of metabolic processes predicted by a biogeochemical model, suggesting that these groups performed biogeochemical functions. A single-cell genetic assay showed, however, that the groups associated with one biogeochemical process, sulfate reduction, contained only a few organisms that have the genes required to reduce sulfate. These results raise the possibility that some of these spatially correlated groups are consortia of phylogenetically diverse and metabolically different microbes that cooperate to carry out geochemical functions.
authors: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
authors: Sarah P
authors: SP
authors: Preheim
authors: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Scott W
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5400-4945
authors: SW
authors: Olesen
authors: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Sarah J
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2744-8994
authors: SJ
authors: Spencer
authors: Qiagen Corp., 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
authors: Arne
authors: A
authors: Materna
authors: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors: Charuleka
authors: C
authors: Varadharajan
authors: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Blackburn
authors: Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Friedman
authors: Institute Centre for Water and Environment (iWater), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, PO Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Rodríguez
authors: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Harold
authors: H
authors: Hemond
authors: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: Eric J
authors: EJ
authors: Alm
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013559:Symbiosis; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D013431:Sulfates