A novel Amazonian reef biome was discovered, encompassing large rhodolith and sponge beds under low light, low oxygen, and high POC.

BackgroundSalinivibrios are moderately halophilic bacteria found in salted meats, brines and hypersaline environments. We obtained three novel conspecific Salinivibrio strains closely related to S. costicola, from Socompa Lake, a high altitude hypersaline Andean lake (approx. 3,570 meters above the sea level).ResultsThe three novel Salinivibrio spp. were extremely resistant to arsenic (up to 200 mM HAsO42−), NaCl (up to 15%), and UV-B radiation (19 KJ/m2, corresponding to 240 minutes of exposure) by means of phenotypic tests. Our subsequent draft genome ionsequencing and RAST-based genome annotation revealed the presence of genes related to arsenic, NaCl, and UV radiation resistance. The three novel Salinivibrio genomes also had the xanthorhodopsin gene cluster phylogenetically related to Marinobacter and Spiribacter. The genomic taxonomy analysis, including multilocus sequence analysis, average amino acid identity, and genome-to-genome distance revealed that the three novel strains belong to a new Salinivibrio species.ConclusionsArsenic resistance genes, genes involved in DNA repair, resistance to extreme environmental conditions and the possible light-based energy production, may represent important attributes of the novel salinivibrios, allowing these microbes to thrive in the Socompa Lake.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-473) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Background: Thaumarchaeota are abundant in the Amazon River, where they are the only ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Despite the importance of Thaumarchaeota, little is known about their physiology, mainly because few isolates are available for study. Therefore, information about Thaumarchaeota was obtained primarily from genomic studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the ecological roles of Thaumarchaeota in the Amazon River and the Amazon River plume. Results: The archaeal community of the shallow in Amazon River and its plume is dominated by Thaumarchaeota lineages from group 1.1a, which are mainly affiliated to Candidatus Nitrosotenuis uzonensis, members of order Nitrosopumilales, Candidatus Nitrosoarchaeum, and Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus sp. While Thaumarchaeota sequences have decreased their relative abundance in the plume, Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus has increased. One genome was recovered from metagenomic data of the Amazon River (ThauR71 [1.05 Mpb]), and two from metagenomic data of the Amazon River plume (ThauP25 [0.94 Mpb] and ThauP41 [1.26 Mpb]). Phylogenetic analysis placed all three Amazon genome bins in Thaumarchaeota Group 1.1a. The annotation revealed that most genes are assigned to the COG subcategory coenzyme transport and metabolism. All three genomes contain genes involved in the hydroxypropionate/hydroxybutyrate cycle, glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation. However, ammonia-monooxygenase genes were detected only in ThauP41 and ThauR71. Glycoside hydrolases and auxiliary activities genes were detected only in ThauP25. Conclusions: Our data indicate that Amazon River is a source of Thaumarchaeota, where these organisms are important for primary production, vitamin production, and nitrification.

A Terapia Larval (TL) é um método alternativo para o tratamento deúlceras de difícil cicatrização. Ela utiliza formas imaturas de moscas para a limpeza dessas feridas, diminuindo a necessidade de amputações. Um uso mais eficiente da TL considera aárea da ferida. Para este cálculo geralmente são usadas técnicas invasivas como a planimetria manual com filme plástico. Investigamos uma técnica alternativa para orientar a TL com o uso da análise de imagens de feridas. Este trabalho investiga o uso do algoritmo Watershed para segmentação semi-automática deúlceras que serão submetidas a TL.

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Much research has been devoted to adaptable and adaptive systems over a decade, with the aim to improve user-system interaction. Despite these efforts, we still lack a systematic approach to deal with variations in users, user goals, and contexts of use. In this paper, we revise some previous work on a language-based variability analysis process, propose a structure for the solution space of adaptable and adaptive systems, and illustrate how design decisions on how to cope with variability can be made in this approach.