Here a cycle of endophytic‐enteric‐soil‐endophytic microbes is proposed which has relevance for health and comprises the fate of animal faeces as natural microbial inoculants for plants that constitute bacterial sources for animal guts.
The genus Weissella is composed of a group of Gram-positive facultative anaerobe bacteria with fermentative metabolism. Strains of this genus have been isolated from various ecological niches, including a wide variety of fermented cereal foods. The present study aimed to determine the relative abundance and fermentation capabilities of Weissella species isolated from pozol, a traditional maya product made of lime-cooked (nixtamalized) fermented maize. We sequenced the V3-V4 regions of 16S rDNA; Weissella was detected early in the fermentation process and reached its highest relative abundance (3.89%) after 3 h of culture. In addition, we evaluated five Weissella strains previously isolated from pozol but reported as non-amylolytic, to define alternative carbon sources such as xylan, xylooligosaccharides, and sucrose. While no growth was observed on birch xylan, growth did occur on xylooligosaccharides and sucrose. Strains WcL17 and WCP-3A were selected for genomic sequencing, as the former shows efficient growth on xylooligosaccharides and the latter displays high glycosyltransferase (GTF) activity. Genomes of both strains were assembled and recorded, with a total of 2.3 Mb in 30 contigs for WcL17 and 2.2 Mb in 45 contigs for WCP-3a. Both strains were taxonomically assigned to Weissella confusa and genomic analyses were performed to evaluate the gene products encoding active carbohydrate enzymes (CAZy). Both strains have the gene content needed to metabolize sucrose, hemicellulose, cellulose, and starch residues, all available in pozol. Our results suggest that the range of secondary enzymatic activity in Weissella confusa strains confer them with wide capabilities to participate in fermentative processes of natural products with heterogeneous carbon sources.
We identified diverse bradyrhizobia having distinct ERIC-PCR genomic fingerprints from native American trees Inga vera and Lysiloma spp. In addition, two nodule isolates recovered from Lysiloma divaricatum seedlings inoculated with soil from the tropical house of a UK botanical garden were also identified as Bradyrhizobium. Genomes were obtained (with sizes around 9 Mb each) from nine Inga and Lysiloma bradyrhizobial isolates; plasmids were detected in two of the Inga strains analyzed. Average Nucleotide Identity of whole genomes revealed five novel Bradyrhizobium genomospecies from Mexican trees, while the UK isolates were identified as Bradyrhizobium cajani and Bradyrhizobium brasilense. Inga vera and Lysiloma isolates, despite their genetic distances and different hosts, shared a common set of nod genes that suggested that I. vera and Lysiloma bradyrhizobia produce fucosylated, methylated and carbamylated lipochitooligosaccharides. Uptake hydrogenase hup, hyp and secretion system genes were found in some of the isolates. Lysiloma strains were found to be ineffective on I. vera. Some of the isolates may be used as plant inoculants.
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