Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation
In their natural habitats, microorganisms are often exposed to periods of starvation if their substrates for energy generation or other nutrients are limiting. Many microorganisms have developed strategies to adapt to fluctuating nutrients and long-term starvation. In the environment, ammonia oxidiz...
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doaj-56f046f28e0c42b38ec403560c92c5622020-11-25T00:12:09ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292015-05-01521396140410.3390/life5021396life5021396Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia StarvationElizabeth French0Annette Bollmann1Department of Microbiology, Miami University, 32 Pearson Hall, 700 East High Street, Oxford, OH 45056, USADepartment of Microbiology, Miami University, 32 Pearson Hall, 700 East High Street, Oxford, OH 45056, USAIn their natural habitats, microorganisms are often exposed to periods of starvation if their substrates for energy generation or other nutrients are limiting. Many microorganisms have developed strategies to adapt to fluctuating nutrients and long-term starvation. In the environment, ammonia oxidizers have to compete with many different organisms for ammonium and are often exposed to long periods of ammonium starvation. We investigated the effect of ammonium starvation on ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) enriched from freshwater lake sediments. Both AOA and AOB were able to recover even after almost two months of starvation; however, the recovery time differed. AOA and AOB retained their 16S rRNA (ribosomes) throughout the complete starvation period. The AOA retained also a small portion of the mRNA of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) for the complete starvation period. However, after 10 days, no amoA mRNA was detected anymore in the AOB. These results indicate that AOA and AOB are able to survive longer periods of starvation, but might utilize different strategies.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/5/2/1396nitrificationammonia oxidationammonia-oxidizing archaeaammonia-oxidizing bacteriastarvationammonia monooxygenase |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Elizabeth French Annette Bollmann |
spellingShingle |
Elizabeth French Annette Bollmann Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation Life nitrification ammonia oxidation ammonia-oxidizing archaea ammonia-oxidizing bacteria starvation ammonia monooxygenase |
author_facet |
Elizabeth French Annette Bollmann |
author_sort |
Elizabeth French |
title |
Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation |
title_short |
Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation |
title_full |
Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation |
title_fullStr |
Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Freshwater Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Retain amoA mRNA and 16S rRNA during Ammonia Starvation |
title_sort |
freshwater ammonia-oxidizing archaea retain amoa mrna and 16s rrna during ammonia starvation |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Life |
issn |
2075-1729 |
publishDate |
2015-05-01 |
description |
In their natural habitats, microorganisms are often exposed to periods of starvation if their substrates for energy generation or other nutrients are limiting. Many microorganisms have developed strategies to adapt to fluctuating nutrients and long-term starvation. In the environment, ammonia oxidizers have to compete with many different organisms for ammonium and are often exposed to long periods of ammonium starvation. We investigated the effect of ammonium starvation on ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) enriched from freshwater lake sediments. Both AOA and AOB were able to recover even after almost two months of starvation; however, the recovery time differed. AOA and AOB retained their 16S rRNA (ribosomes) throughout the complete starvation period. The AOA retained also a small portion of the mRNA of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) for the complete starvation period. However, after 10 days, no amoA mRNA was detected anymore in the AOB. These results indicate that AOA and AOB are able to survive longer periods of starvation, but might utilize different strategies. |
topic |
nitrification ammonia oxidation ammonia-oxidizing archaea ammonia-oxidizing bacteria starvation ammonia monooxygenase |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/5/2/1396 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT elizabethfrench freshwaterammoniaoxidizingarchaearetainamoamrnaand16srrnaduringammoniastarvation AT annettebollmann freshwaterammoniaoxidizingarchaearetainamoamrnaand16srrnaduringammoniastarvation |
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1725400893304602624 |