TY - JOUR

T1 - Clostridiaceae and Enterobacteriaceae as active fermenters in earthworm gut content

AU - Wüst, Pia K.

AU - Horn, Marcus A.

AU - Drake, Harold L.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Peter Depkat-Jakob for assistance with dissecting worms. Support for this study from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DR310/4-1) and the University of Bayreuth is gratefully acknowledged. Copyright: Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2011/1

Y1 - 2011/1

N2 - The earthworm gut provides ideal in situ conditions for ingested heterotrophic soil bacteria capable of anaerobiosis. High amounts of mucus- and plant-derived saccharides such as glucose are abundant in the earthworm alimentary canal, and high concentrations of molecular hydrogen (H 2) and organic acids in the alimentary canal are indicative of ongoing fermentations. Thus, the central objective of this study was to resolve potential links between fermentations and active fermenters in gut content of the anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)-based stable isotope probing, with 13 Cglucose as a model substrate. Glucose consumption in anoxic gut content microcosms was rapid and yielded soluble organic compounds (acetate, butyrate, formate, lactate, propionate, succinate and ethanol) and gases (carbon dioxide and H 2), products indicative of diverse fermentations in the alimentary canal. Clostridiaceae and Enterobacteriaceae were users of glucose-derived carbon. On the basis of the detection of 16S rRNA, active phyla in gut contents included Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, Tenericutes and Verrucomicrobia, taxa common to soils. On the basis of a 16S rRNA gene similarity cutoff of 87.5%, 82 families were detected, 17 of which were novel family-level groups. These findings (a) show the large diversity of soil taxa that might be active during gut passage, (b) show that Clostridiaceae and Enterobacteriaceae (fermentative subsets of these taxa) are selectively stimulated by glucose and might therefore be capable of consuming mucus- and plant-derived saccharides during gut passage and (c) indicate that ingested obligate anaerobes and facultative aerobes from soil can concomitantly metabolize the same source of carbon.

AB - The earthworm gut provides ideal in situ conditions for ingested heterotrophic soil bacteria capable of anaerobiosis. High amounts of mucus- and plant-derived saccharides such as glucose are abundant in the earthworm alimentary canal, and high concentrations of molecular hydrogen (H 2) and organic acids in the alimentary canal are indicative of ongoing fermentations. Thus, the central objective of this study was to resolve potential links between fermentations and active fermenters in gut content of the anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)-based stable isotope probing, with 13 Cglucose as a model substrate. Glucose consumption in anoxic gut content microcosms was rapid and yielded soluble organic compounds (acetate, butyrate, formate, lactate, propionate, succinate and ethanol) and gases (carbon dioxide and H 2), products indicative of diverse fermentations in the alimentary canal. Clostridiaceae and Enterobacteriaceae were users of glucose-derived carbon. On the basis of the detection of 16S rRNA, active phyla in gut contents included Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, Tenericutes and Verrucomicrobia, taxa common to soils. On the basis of a 16S rRNA gene similarity cutoff of 87.5%, 82 families were detected, 17 of which were novel family-level groups. These findings (a) show the large diversity of soil taxa that might be active during gut passage, (b) show that Clostridiaceae and Enterobacteriaceae (fermentative subsets of these taxa) are selectively stimulated by glucose and might therefore be capable of consuming mucus- and plant-derived saccharides during gut passage and (c) indicate that ingested obligate anaerobes and facultative aerobes from soil can concomitantly metabolize the same source of carbon.

KW - 16S rRNA SIP

KW - anaerobic metabolism

KW - gut bacteria

KW - invertebrate microbiology

KW - Lumbricus terrestris

KW - soil microbiology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78650605074&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/ismej.2010.99

DO - 10.1038/ismej.2010.99

M3 - Article

C2 - 20613788

AN - SCOPUS:78650605074

VL - 5

SP - 92

EP - 106

JO - ISME Journal

JF - ISME Journal

SN - 1751-7362

IS - 1

ER -