Marine biofilms constitute a bank of hidden microbial diversity and functional potential
Zhang, W.; Ding, W.; Li, Y-X.; Tam, C.; Bougouffa, S.; Wang, R.; Pei, B.; Chiang, H.; Leung, P.; Lu, Y.; Sun, J.; Fu, H.; Bajic, V.B.; Liu, H.; Webster, N.S.; Qian, P.-Y. (2019). Marine biofilms constitute a bank of hidden microbial diversity and functional potential. Nature Comm. 10(1): 10 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08463-z
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Zhang, W.
- Ding, W.
- Li, Y-X.
- Tam, C.
- Bougouffa, S.
- Wang, R.
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- Pei, B.
- Chiang, H.
- Leung, P.
- Lu, Y.
- Sun, J.
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- Fu, H.
- Bajic, V.B.
- Liu, H.
- Webster, N.S.
- Qian, P.-Y.
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| Abstract |
Recent big data analyses have illuminated marine microbial diversity from a global perspective, focusing on planktonic microorganisms. Here, we analyze 2.5 terabases of newly sequenced datasets and the Tara Oceans metagenomes to study the diversity of biofilm-forming marine microorganisms. We identify more than 7,300 biofilm-forming ‘species’ that are undetected in seawater analyses, increasing the known microbial diversity in the oceans by more than 20%, and provide evidence for differentiation across oceanic niches. Generation of a gene distribution profile reveals a functional core across the biofilms, comprised of genes from a variety of microbial phyla that may play roles in stress responses and microbe-microbe interactions. Analysis of 479 genomes reconstructed from the biofilm metagenomes reveals novel biosynthetic gene clusters and CRISPR-Cas systems. Our data highlight the previously underestimated ocean microbial diversity, and allow mining novel microbial lineages and gene resources. |
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