A genus in the bacterial phylum Aquificota appears to be endemic to Aotearoa-New Zealand

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
eng
Date
2024
Authors
Power JF
Carere, Carlo
Welford HE
Hudson DT
Lee KC
Moreau JW
Ettema TJG
Reysenbach AL
Lee CK
Colman DR
Abstract

Allopatric speciation has been difficult to examine among microorganisms, with prior reports of endemism restricted to sub-genus level taxa. Previous microbial community analysis via 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 925 geothermal springs from the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ), Aotearoa-New Zealand, revealed widespread distribution and abundance of a single bacterial genus across 686 of these ecosystems (pH 1.2-9.6 and 17.4-99.8 °C). Here, we present evidence to suggest that this genus, Venenivibrio (phylum Aquificota), is endemic to Aotearoa-New Zealand. A specific environmental niche that increases habitat isolation was identified, with maximal read abundance of Venenivibrio occurring at pH 4-6, 50-70 °C, and low oxidation-reduction potentials. This was further highlighted by genomic and culture-based analyses of the only characterised species for the genus, Venenivibrio stagnispumantis CP.B2T, which confirmed a chemolithoautotrophic metabolism dependent on hydrogen oxidation. While similarity between Venenivibrio populations illustrated that dispersal is not limited across the TVZ, extensive amplicon, metagenomic, and phylogenomic analyses of global microbial communities from DNA sequence databases indicates Venenivibrio is geographically restricted to the Aotearoa-New Zealand archipelago. We conclude that geographic isolation, complemented by physicochemical constraints, has resulted in the establishment of an endemic bacterial genus.

Description
Citation
Power JF, Carere CR, Welford HE, Hudson DT, Lee KC, Moreau JW, Ettema TJG, Reysenbach AL, Lee CK, Colman DR, Boyd ES, Morgan XC, McDonald IR, Craig Cary S, Stott MB (2024). A genus in the bacterial phylum Aquificota appears to be endemic to Aotearoa-New Zealand. Nature Communications. 15(1). 179-.
Keywords
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Phylogeny, New Zealand, Metagenome, Microbiota
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
31 - Biological sciences::3107 - Microbiology::310704 - Microbial genetics
31 - Biological sciences::3107 - Microbiology::310701 - Bacteriology
31 - Biological sciences::3104 - Evolutionary biology::310410 - Phylogeny and comparative analysis
Rights
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2024