吲哚——种间及跨界信号分子新成员

吲哚作为一种典型的氮杂环芳烃化合物,在自然界中广泛存在。近年来,越来越多的研究表明吲哚具有一定的生物活性,是一种新型种间及跨界的信号分子。研究发现,吲哚不仅可以调节微生物的毒性、耐药性、生物膜形成以及群感效应等生理生化行为,调控植物生长发育和防御系统的形成过程,还能够影响动物的肠道炎症、细胞氧化压力及荷尔蒙分泌等生理健康。因此吲哚在微生物代谢、动物健康和植物生长等多个方面扮演了重要角色,具有重要的生物学及生态学双重意义。文中综述了吲哚从生物代谢到信号传递的研究历史,及其在微生物种内或种间以及微生物-动植物之间跨界的信号传导与调控作用的研究进展,旨在为揭示复杂环境中吲哚生物代谢及信号调控的生物学意义与生态学机制提供重要的理论指导。

Seasonal variations of soil bacterial communities in Suaeda wetland of Shuangtaizi River estuary, Northeast China

Estuarine wetland is the transitional interface linking terrestrial with marine ecosystems,and wetland microbes are crucial to the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients.The soil samples were collected in four seasons(spring,S1;summer,S2;autumn,S3;and winter,S4)from Suaeda wetland of Shuangtaizi River estuary,Northeast China,and the variations of bacterial community were evaluated by high-throughput sequencing.Soil properties presented a significant seasonal change,including p H,carbon(C)and total nitrogen(TN),and the microbial diversity,richness and structure also differed with seasons.Canonical correspondence analysis(CCA)and Mantel tests implied that soil p H,C and TN were the key factors structuring the microbial community.Gillisia(belonging to Bacteroidetes)and Woeseia(affiliating with Gammaproteobacteria)were the two primary components in the rhizosphere soils,displaying opposite variations with seasons.Based on PICRUSt(Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States)prediction,the xenobiotics biodegradation related genes exhibited a seasonal decline,while the majority of biomarker genes involved in nitrogen cycle showed an ascending trend.These findings could advance the understanding of rhizosphere microbiota of Suaeda in estuarine wetland.

Performance and microbial community analysis of bioaugmented activated sludge for nitrogen-containing organic pollutants removal

Nitrogen-containing organic pollutants(quinoline,pyridine and indole)are widely distributed in coking wastewater,and bioaugmentation with specific microorganisms may enhance the removal of these recalcitrant pollutants.The bioaugmented system(group B)was constructed through inoculation of two aromatics-degrading bacteria,Comamonas sp.Z1(quinoline degrader)and Acinetobacter sp.JW(indole degrader),into the activated sludge for treatment of quinoline,indole and pyridine,and the non-bioaugmented activated sludge was used as the control(group C).Both groups maintained high efficiencies(>94%)for removal of nitrogen-containing organic pollutants and chemical oxygen demand(COD)during the long-term operation,and group B was highly effective at the starting period and the operation stage fed with raw wastewater.High-throughput sequencing analysis indicated that nitrogen-containing organic pollutants could shape the microbial community structure,and communities of bioaugmented group B were clearly separated from those of non-bioaugmented group C as observed in non-metric multidimensional scaling(NMDS)plot.Although the inoculants did not remain their dominance in group B,bioaugmentation could induce the formation of effective microbial community,and the indigenous microbes might play the key role in removal of nitrogen-containing organic pollutants,including Dokdonella,Comamonas and Pseudoxanthomonas.Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States(PICRUSt)analysis suggested that bioaugmentation could facilitate the enrichment of functional genes related to xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism,probably leading to the improved performance in group B.This study indicated that bioaugmentation could promote the removal of nitrogen-containing organic pollutants,which should be an effective strategy for wastewater treatment.