The repeated failures reported in cultivating some microbial lineages are a major challenge in microbial ecology and probably linked, in the case of Frankia microsymbionts to atypical patterns of auxotrophy. Comparative genomics of the so far uncultured cluster-2 Candidatus Frankia datiscae Dg1, with cultivated Frankiae has revealed genome reduction, but no obvious physiological impairments. A direct physiological assay on nodule tissues from Coriaria myrtifolia infected with a closely-related strain permitted the identification of a requirement for alkaline conditions. A high pH growth medium permitted the recovery of a slow-growing actinobacterium. The strain obtained, called BMG5.1, has short hyphae, produced diazovesicles in nitrogen-free media, and fulfilled Koch’s postulates by inducing effective nodules on axenically grown Coriaria spp. and Datisca glomerata. Analysis of the draft genome confirmed its close proximity to the Candidatus Frankia datiscae Dg1 genome with the absence of 38 genes (trehalose synthase, fumarylacetoacetase, etc) in BMG5.1 and the presence of 77 other genes (CRISPR, lanthionine synthase, glutathione synthetase, catalase, Na+/H+ antiporter, etc) not found in Dg1. A multi-gene phylogeny placed the two cluster-2 strains together at the root of the Frankia radiation.

Stones in arid environments are inhabited by actinobacteria of the family Geodermatophilaceae like the genera Blastococcus and Modestobacter frequently isolated from altered calcarenites. Their habitat requires adaptation to light-induced and other stresses that generate reactive oxygen species. Here, we show that representative members of the species Blastococcus saxobsidens, Geodermatophilus obscurus, and Modestobacter multiseptatus are differentially adapted to stresses associated with arid environments. Whereas B. saxobsidens was found to be sensitive to gamma radiation (D(10)  = 900 Gy; 10% survival at 900 Gy), M. multiseptatus was moderately (D(10)  = 6000 Gy) and G. obscurus was highly tolerant (D(10)  = 9000 Gy). A difference in resistance to high-frequency (λ value = 254 nm) UV was shown by B. saxobsidens, M. multiseptatus, and G. obscurus, being sensitive, tolerant, and highly tolerant (D(10) of 6, 900, and > 3500 kJ m(-2) , respectively). Tolerance to desiccation, mitomycin C and hydrogen peroxide correlated with the ionizing radiation and UV resistance profiles of the three species and were correlated with the pigments synthesized. Resistance to heavy metals/metalloids did not follow the same pattern, with resistance to Ag(2+) and Pb(2+) being similar for B. saxobsidens, M. multiseptatus, and G. obscurus, whereas resistance to AsO4 3-, Cr(2+) , or Cu(2+) was greater for B. saxobsidens than for the other two species. The stress resistance profiles of M. multiseptatus and B. saxobsidens were reflected in different calcarenite colonization patterns. While M. multiseptatus was predominantly isolated from the first two millimeters of stone surface, B. saxobsidens was predominantly isolated from the deeper part of the stone where it is better protected from sun irradiation, suggesting that the response to light- and desiccation-induced oxidative stress is an important driver for niche colonization in the stone biotope.

BackgroundThe Leishmania developmental life cycle within its sand fly vector occurs exclusively in the lumen of the insect’s digestive tract in the presence of symbiotic bacteria. The composition of the gut microbiota and the factors that influence its composition are currently poorly understood. A set of factors, including the host and its environment, may influence this composition. It has been demonstrated that the insect gut microbiota influences the development of several human pathogens, such as Plasmodium falciparum. For sand flies and Leishmania, understanding the interactions between the parasite and the microbial environment of the vector midgut can provide new tools to control Leishmania transmission.Methodology/Principal findingsThe midguts of female Phlebotomus perniciosus from laboratory colonies or from the field were collected during the months of July, September and October 2011 and dissected. The midguts were analyzed by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. A total of 441 and 115 cultivable isolates were assigned to 30 and 11 phylotypes from field-collected and colonized P. perniciosus, respectively. Analysis of monthly variations in microbiota composition shows a species diversity decline in October, which is to the end of the Leishmania infantum transmission period. In parallel, a compilation and a meta-analysis of all available data concerning the microbiota of two Psychodidae genera, namely Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia, was performed and compared to P. perniciosus, data obtained herein. This integrated analysis did not reveal any substantial divergences between Old and New world sand flies with regards to the midgut bacterial phyla and genera diversity. But clearly, most bacterial species (>76%) are sparsely distributed between Phlebotominae species.Conclusion/SignificanceOur results pinpoint the need for a more exhaustive understanding of the bacterial richness and abundance at the species level in Phlebotominae sand flies in order to capture the role of midgut bacteria during Leishmania development and transmission. The occurrence of Bacillus subtilis in P. perniciosus and at least two other sand fly species studied so far suggests that this bacterial species is a potential candidate for paratransgenic or biolological approaches for the control of sand fly populations in order to prevent Leishmania transmission.

It was assumed for a long time that the ability to catalyze atmospheric nitrogen (diazotrophy) has a narrow distribution among actinobacteria being limited to the genus Frankia. Recently, the number of nitrogen fixation (nifH) genes identified in other non-Frankia actinobacteria has dramatically increased and has opened investigation on the origin and emergence of diazotrophy among actinobacteria. During the last decade, Mycobacterium flavum, Corynebacterium autotrophicum and a fluorescent Arthrobacter sp. have been reported to have nitrogenase activity, but these studies have not been further verified. Additional reports of nitrogen fixation by Agromyces, Microbacterium, Corynebacterium and Micromonospora isolated from root nodules of leguminous and actinorhizal plants have increased. For several actinobacteria, nitrogen fixation was demonstrated by the ability to grow on nitrogen-free medium, acetylene reduction activity, 15N isotope dilution analysis and identification of a nifH gene via PCR amplification. Moreover, the analyses of draft genome sequences of actinobacteria including Slackia exigua, Rothia mucilaginosa and Gordonibacter pamelaeae have also revealed the presence of nifH-like sequences. Whether these nifH sequences are associated with effective nitrogen fixation in these actinobacteria taxa has not yet been demonstrated. These genes may be vertically or horizontally transferred and be silent sequences. These ideas merit further investigation. This minireview presents a phylogenetic comparison of nitrogen fixation gene (nifH) with the aim of elucidating the processes underlying the evolutionary history of this catalytic ability among actinobacteria.

Before the establishment of pure cultures, the species Frankia alni, 'Frankia casuarinae' and 'Frankia elaeagni' were proposed to encompass all causal agents of the nitrogen-fixing root nodules of dicotyledonous plants from the genera Alnus, Casuarina or Elaeagnus. The sole Frankia species with a validly published name, the type species F. alni, was described by Woronin (1866) as present in the root of alder. Until now no type strain has been designated for F. alni, even though the absence of a type strain has seriously inhibited the application of modern taxonomic methods to the genus Frankia. Thus, we propose that strain ACN14aT, isolated in pure culture from Alnus viridis ssp. crispa with morphological properties matching the original description of F. alni, be recognized as the type strain of this species according to Rule 18f of the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria. We compared ACN14aT to two strains, CcI3T and BMG5.12T, isolated from Casuarina cunninghamiana and Elaeagnus angustifolia, respectively, based on chemotaxonomy, phenotype microarray data and molecular data retrieved from genome sequences. All three tested strains grew as branched hyphae, produced vesicles and multilocular sporangia containing non-motile spores and metabolized short fatty acids, TCA-cycle intermediates and carbohydrates. Chemotaxonomically, the three strains were indistinguishable with respect to phospholipids (phosphatidylinositol, diphosphatidylglycerol, glycophospholipids and phosphatidylglycerol) and cell-sugar composition (glucose, mannose, ribose, rhamnose, galactose and xylose, with the latter two being diagnostic for the genus). The major fatty acids identified in all three strains were iso-C16 : 0, C17 : 1ω8c, C15 : 0, C17 : 0 and C16 : 0. ACN14aT and BMG5.12T also shared C15 : 1ω6c, while C18 : 1ω9c was found to be unique to BMG5.12T. The major menaquinones identified in all three novel type strains were MK-9(H8), MK-9(H6) and MK-9(H4). MK-9(H2) was shared by ACN14aT and BMG5.12T, while MK-10(H4) and MK-8(H4) were only found in BMG5.12T. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed 98.1-98.9 % identity between strains ACN14aT, CcI3T and BMG5.12T. Digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between the three type strains were well below 70 %. These results confirm the separation of the strains into three distinct species, Frankia alni, Frankia casuarinae sp. nov. and Frankia elaeagni sp. nov. Thus, we propose ACN14aT (=DSM 45986T=CECT 9034T), CcI3T (=DSM 45818T=CECT 9043T) and BMG5.12T (=DSM 46783T=CECT 9031T) as the respective type strains.

16S-23S rRNA internally transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences from 53 Frankia strains were sequenced and sized from polymerase chain reaction amplification products and compiled with 14 selected 16S-23S ITS sequences from public database. Frankia genomes included two to three ITS copies lacking length polymorphism except for nine strains. No tRNA gene was encountered in this region. Frankia strains exhibited various lengths (369 to 452 nt) and a wide range of sequence similarity (35-100%) in the ITS region. The average pairwise distance varied from 0.368 (clusters 1 and 2) to 0.964 (clusters 3 and 4) and was 0.397, 0.138, 0.129, and 0.016, respectively, for cluster 4 (saprophytic non-infective/non-effective), clusters 1 and 3 (facultative symbiotic), and cluster 2 (obligate symbiotic). This suggests a gradual erosion of Frankia diversity concomitantly with a shift from saprophytic non-infective/non-effective to facultative and symbiotic lifestyle. Comparative sequence analyses of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region of Frankia strains are not useful to assign them to their respective cluster or host infection group. Accurate assignment required the inclusion of the adjacent 16S and 23S rRNA gene fragments.

The Geodermatophilaceae are unique model systems to study the ability to thrive on or within stones and their proteogenomes (referring to the whole protein arsenal encoded by the genome) could provide important insight into their adaptation mechanisms. Here we report the detailed comparative genome analysis of Blastococcus saxobsidens (Bs), Modestobacter marinus (Mm) and Geodermatophilus obscurus (Go) isolated respectively from the interior and the surface of calcarenite stones and from desert sandy soils. The genome-scale analysis of Bs, Mm and Go illustrates how adaptation to these niches can be achieved through various strategies including 'molecular tinkering/ opportunism' as shown by the high proportion of lost, duplicated or horizontally transferred genes and ORFans. Using high-throughput discovery proteomics, the three proteomes under unstressed conditions were analyzed, highlighting the most abundant biomarkers and the main protein factors. Proteomic data corroborated previously demonstrated stone-related ecological distribution. For instance, these data showed starvation-inducible, biofilm-related and DNA-protection proteins as signatures of the microbes associated with the interior, surface and outside of stones, respectively.

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