Wilmes Paul, Remis Jonathan P, Hwang Mona, Auer Manfred, Thelen Michael P, Banfield Jillian F
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
ISME J. 2009 Feb;3(2):266-70. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2008.90. Epub 2008 Oct 9.
Pellicle biofilms colonize the air-solution interface of underground acid mine drainage (AMD) streams and pools within the Richmond Mine (Iron Mountain, Redding, CA, USA). They exhibit relatively low species richness and, consequently, represent good model systems to study natural microbial community structure. Fluorescence in situ hybridization combined with epifluorescent microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed spatially and temporally defined microbial assemblages. Leptospirillum group II dominates the earliest developmental stages of stream pellicles. With increasing biofilm maturity, the proportion of archaea increases in conjunction with the appearance of eukaryotes. In contrast, mature pool pellicles are stratified with a densely packed bottom layer of Leptospirillum group II, a less dense top layer composed mainly of archaea and no eukarya. Immunohistochemical detection of Leptospirillum group II cytochrome 579 indicates a high abundance of this protein at the interface of the biofilm with the AMD solution. Consequently, community architecture, which most likely develops in response to chemical gradients across the biofilm, is reflected at the functional gene expression level.
菌膜生物膜定殖于美国加利福尼亚州雷丁市铁山里士满矿地下酸性矿山排水（AMD）溪流和水池的气-液界面。它们的物种丰富度相对较低，因此是研究自然微生物群落结构的良好模型系统。荧光原位杂交结合落射荧光显微镜和透射电子显微镜揭示了在空间和时间上有明确界定的微生物群落。钩端螺旋菌属II型在溪流菌膜的最早发育阶段占主导地位。随着生物膜成熟度的增加，古菌的比例随着真核生物的出现而增加。相比之下，成熟水池菌膜分层，底部密集堆积着钩端螺旋菌属II型，顶部较稀疏，主要由古菌组成，没有真核生物。对钩端螺旋菌属II型细胞色素579的免疫组织化学检测表明，该蛋白在生物膜与AMD溶液的界面处含量很高。因此，很可能是响应生物膜上化学梯度而形成的群落结构，在功能基因表达水平上得到了体现。
