Skip to main content
Article
Diverse secondary metabolites are expressed in particle-associated and free-living microorganisms of the permanently anoxic Cariaco Basin
Nature Communications
  • David Gellar-McGrath, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Paraskevi Mara, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Gordon T Taylor, SUNY Stony Brook
  • Elizabeth A Suter, Molloy University
  • Virginia Edgcomb, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Maria Pachiadaki, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2-1-2023
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
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 license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license 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 license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
DOI
10.1038/s41467-023-36026-w
Abstract

Secondary metabolites play essential roles in ecological interactions and nutrient acquisition, and are of interest for their potential uses in medicine and biotechnology. Genome mining for biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) can be used for the discovery of new compounds. Here, we use metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to analyze BGCs in free-living and particle-associated microbial communities through the stratified water column of the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela. We recovered 565 bacterial and archaeal metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) and identified 1154 diverse BGCs. We show that differences in water redox potential and microbial lifestyle (particle-associated vs. free-living) are associated with variations in the predicted composition and production of secondary metabolites. Our results indicate that microbes, including understudied clades such as Planctomycetota, potentially produce a wide range of secondary metabolites in these anoxic/euxinic waters.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Citation Information
David Gellar-McGrath, Paraskevi Mara, Gordon T Taylor, Elizabeth A Suter, et al.. "Diverse secondary metabolites are expressed in particle-associated and free-living microorganisms of the permanently anoxic Cariaco Basin" Nature Communications Vol. 14 Iss. 656 (2023)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/elizabeth-suter/18/