Phylum Gemmatimonadota and Its Role in the Environment

0553485 - MBÚ 2023 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Mujakić, Izabela - Piwosz, Kasia - Koblížek, Michal
Phylum Gemmatimonadota and Its Role in the Environment.
Microorganisms. Roč. 10, č. 1 (2022), č. článku 151. E-ISSN 2076-2607
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GX19-28778X
Institutional support: RVO:61388971
Keywords : deep-sea sediments * sponge-associated bacteria * microbial diversity * community structure * sp-nov. * prokaryotic community * spatial-distribution * waste-water * gen. nov. * iq-tree * Gemmatimonadota * Gemmatimonadetes * anoxygenic photosynthesis * photosynthetic gene cluster * MAGs
OECD category: Microbiology
Impact factor: 4.5, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/1/151

Bacteria are an important part of every ecosystem that they inhabit on Earth. Environmental microbiologists usually focus on a few dominant bacterial groups, neglecting less abundant ones, which collectively make up most of the microbial diversity. One of such less-studied phyla is Gemmatimonadota. Currently, the phylum contains only six cultured species. However, data from culture-independent studies indicate that members of Gemmatimonadota are common in diverse habitats. They are abundant in soils, where they seem to be frequently associated with plants and the rhizosphere. Moreover, Gemmatimonadota were found in aquatic environments, such as freshwaters, wastewater treatment plants, biofilms, and sediments. An important discovery was the identification of purple bacterial reaction centers and anoxygenic photosynthesis in this phylum, genes for which were likely acquired via horizontal gene transfer. So far, the capacity for anoxygenic photosynthesis has been described for two cultured species: Gemmatimonas phototrophica and Gemmatimonas groenlandica. Moreover, analyses of metagenome-assembled genomes indicate that it is also common in uncultured lineages of Gemmatimonadota. This review summarizes the current knowledge about this understudied bacterial phylum with an emphasis on its environmental distribution.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0330395