Consortium Of Cyanobacteria Research Articles

Cyanobacteria-green microalgae consortia enhance soil fertility and plant growth by shaping the native soil microbiome of Capsicum annuum

Alternative solutions to chemical fertilizers that can enhance soil fertility, increase crop yield, promote sustainable agriculture and reduce harmful environmental impacts are urgently required. Microalgal bio-inoculants can improve soil fertility, plant growth and crop yield, yet the response of native soil microbiome to microalgal application remains largely unexplored. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the effects of microalgae (a consortium of cyanobacteria and green microalgae) inoculation on the growth and yield of chili plants, soil fertility and soil microbiome. Our results showed that microalgal inoculation significantly enhanced plant morphometric parameters and increased dehydrogenase activity (p < 0.05). Similarly, soil organic carbon, soil chlorophyll, total polysaccharides and nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and manganese were also significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in microalgal treatment groups (50% and 100%) compared to the control. Results showed that microalgal inoculation increased the soil microbial diversity, with the richness being higher in treated soils than in control. Metagenomics analysis revealed a shift in bacterial and fungal community composition with firmicutes, chloroflexi, planctomycetes, proteobacteria, bacillariophyta, basidiomycota and glomeromycota dominating microalgal-treated soils, while actinobacteria, bacteroidetes, and streptomycota dominating control soils. The findings suggested that microalgal bio-inoculation can increase the diversity and composition of native soil microbiomes and enhance soil fertility, growth, and yield in chili plants.

A consortium of cyanobacteria and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria for wheat growth improvement in a hydroponic system

Biofertilizers containing living organisms are attractive because of their potential positive impact on plant growth and reduced environmental effect compared to mineral fertilizers. Many studies have reported the potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and cyanobacteria, applied singly or in combination. In the present study, the combined effect of PGPR and cyanobacteria on Triticum aestivum L. was examined in a hydroponic growth system. Calothrix sp. and Anabaena cylindrica were used as cyanobacterial strains, and Chryseobacterium balustinum, Pseudomonas simiae and Pseudomonas fluorescens were used as PGPR strains. In addition to growth parameters, total nutrients in each treatment and the ability to produce indole acetic acid (IAA) were measured after 17 days of treatments. The study results indicate that the consortium of the five isolates gave the best performance in terms of growth parameters. It increased by 36% for plant height in the combination of Calothrix sp. and P. simiae, and the dry shoot mass was increased by 80%, 77%, and 76% under the combinations of A. cylindrica with C. balustinum, P. simiae, and P. fluorescens, respectively. The ability to produce IAA was confirmed in the treatments with cyanobacteria, with PGPR strains, and in treatments combining the different microorganisms, using both colorimetric and chromatographic methods. Thus, biofertilizers containing the consortia cyanobacteria and PGPR used in this study are recommended for improved growth of wheat plants.

Ecological and molecular characterization of a coral black band disease outbreak in the Red Sea during a bleaching event.

Black Band Disease (BBD) is a widely distributed and destructive coral disease that has been studied on a global scale, but baseline data on coral diseases is missing from many areas of the Arabian Seas. Here we report on the broad distribution and prevalence of BBD in the Red Sea in addition to documenting a bleaching-associated outbreak of BBD with subsequent microbial community characterization of BBD microbial mats at this reef site in the southern central Red Sea. Coral colonies with BBD were found at roughly a third of our 22 survey sites with an overall prevalence of 0.04%. Nine coral genera were infected including Astreopora, Coelastrea, Dipsastraea, Gardineroseris, Goniopora, Montipora, Pavona, Platygyra, and Psammocora. For a southern central Red Sea outbreak site, overall prevalence was 40 times higher than baseline (1.7%). Differential susceptibility to BBD was apparent among coral genera with Dipsastraea (prevalence 6.1%), having more diseased colonies than was expected based on its abundance within transects. Analysis of the microbial community associated with the BBD mat showed that it is dominated by a consortium of cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria. We detected the three main indicators for BBD (filamentous cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB)), with high similarity to BBD-associated microbes found worldwide. More specifically, the microbial consortium of BBD-diseased coral colonies in the Red Sea consisted of Oscillatoria sp. (cyanobacteria), Desulfovibrio sp. (SRB), and Arcobacter sp. (SOB). Given the similarity of associated bacteria worldwide, our data suggest that BBD represents a global coral disease with predictable etiology. Furthermore, we provide a baseline assessment of BBD disease prevalence in the Red Sea, a still understudied region.

Consortia of cyanobacteria/microalgae and bacteria in desert soils: an underexplored microbiota.

Desert ecosystem is generally considered as a lifeless habitat with extreme environmental conditions although it is colonized by extremophilic microorganisms. Cyanobacteria, microalgae, and bacteria in these habitats could tolerate harsh and rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions, intense ultraviolet radiation, and lack of water, leading to cell desiccation. They possess valuable metabolites withstanding extreme environmental conditions and make them good candidates for industrial applications. Moreover, most natural microorganisms in these extreme habitats exist as consortia that provide robustness and extensive metabolic capabilities enabling them to establish important relationships in desert environments. Engineering of such consortia of cyanobacteria, microalgae, and bacteria would be functional in the sustainable development of deserts through improving soil fertility, water preservation, primary production, pollutant removal, and maintaining soil stability. Modern tools and techniques would help in constructing highly functional cyanobacterial/microalgal-bacterial consortia that are greatly useful in the establishment of vegetation in deserts as well as in biotechnological applications.

Time Dependent Influence of Aerobic Heterotrophic Bacteria Cyanobacteria Interaction during Biodegradation of Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Biodegradation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, cyanobacteria, consortium of cyanobacteria and aerobic heterotrophic bacteria and the control was monitored for a period of 49 days, using GC-MS. The chromatograms showed that after contamination of water with same volume of crude in same quantity of water for all the treatments, PAHs were; 3.68, 23.5, 13.7 and 5.49 mg/L for AHB, CB, AHB + CB and control. The PAHs components were naphthalene, acencephthylene, acenaphthene, fluorence, anthracence, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, beiz @ anthracene, chrysene, benzo (h) fluoranthene, benzo (k) fluoranthene, benzo (a) pyrene, dibenzo (a, h) anthracene, indeno (1, 2, 3-c, d) perylene, benzo (g, h, i) perylene. The result showed a decrease in the quantity of PAHs for all the treatment options on the last day of the experiment though some fluctuations in the quantity of PAHs’ were observed in all the treatment options throughout the period monitored. The growth of AHB and cyanobacteria however increased steadily with time throughout the sampling period of the experiment in all the treatment options. The degradation of PAH’s was statistically significant (p<0.05) with time.

Consortium of the 'bichlorophyllous' cyanobacterium Prochlorothrix hollandica and chemoheterotrophic partner bacteria: culture and metagenome-based description.

'Bacterial consortium' sensu lato applies to mutualism or syntrophy-based systems consisting of unrelated bacteria. Consortia of cyanobacteria have been preferentially studied on Anabaena epibioses; non-photosynthetic satellites of other filamentous or unicellular cyanobacteria were also considered although structure-functional data are few. At the same time, information about consortia of cyanobacteria which have light-harvesting antennae distinct from standard phycobilisome was missing. In this study, we characterized first, via a polyphasic approach, the cultivable consortium of Prochlorothrix hollandica CCAP 1490/1 (filamentous cyanobacterium which contains chlorophylls a, b/carotenoid/protein complex in the absence of phycobilisome) and non-photosynthetic heterotrophic bacteria. The strains of most abundant satellites were isolated and identified. Consortium metagenome reconstructed via 454-pyro and Illumina sequencing was shown to include, except for P. hollandica, several phylotypes of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. The ratio of consortium members was essentially stable irrespective of culture age, and restored after artificially imposed imbalance. The consortium had a complex spatial arrangement as demonstrated by FISH and SEM images of the association, epibiosis, and biofilm type. Preliminary data of metagenome annotation agreed with the hypothesis that satellite bacteria contribute to P. hollandica protection from reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Promising microbial consortia for producing biofertilizers for rice fields

Two cyanobacterial cultures from rice paddies of Kyzylorda region, Kazakhstan were isolated and characterized: Anabaena variabilis and Nostoc calsicola. Based on these cultures, new consortia ofcyanobacteria, microalgae and Azotobacter were developed: ZOB-1 (Anabaena variabilis, Chlorella vulgaris, and Azotobacter sp.) and ZBOB-2 (Nostoc calsicola, Chlorella vulgaris, and Azotobacter sp.). High growth rate and photosynthetic activity of microalgae were observed in these consortia. The active consotrium ZOB-1 was selected, which improvd germination and growth of rice plants. ZOB-1 was recommended as a biostimulator and biofertilizer for crops.

Global change and biological soil crusts: effects of ultraviolet augmentation under altered precipitation regimes and nitrogen additions

Biological soil crusts (BSCs), a consortium of cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses, are essential in most dryland ecosystems. As these organisms are relatively immobile and occur on the soil surface, they are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, rising temperatures, and alterations in precipitation patterns. In this study, we applied treatments to three types of BSCs (early, medium, and late successional) over three time periods (spring, summer, and spring–fall). In the first year, we augmented UV and altered precipitation patterns, and in the second year, we augmented UV and N. In the first year, with average air temperatures, we saw little response to our treatments except quantum yield, which was reduced in dark BSCs during one of three sample times and in Collema BSCs two of three sample times. There was more response to UV augmentation the second year when air temperatures were above average. Declines were seen in 21% of the measured variables, including quantum yield, chlorophyll a, UV-protective pigments, nitrogenase activity, and extracellular polysaccharides. N additions had some negative effects on light and dark BSCs, including the reduction of quantum yield, b-carotene, nitrogenase activity, scytonemin, and xanthophylls. N addition had no effects on the Collema BSCs. When N was added to samples that had received augmented UV, there were only limited effects relative to samples that received UV without N. These results indicate that the negative effect of UV and altered precipitation on BSCs will be heightened as global temperatures increase, and that as their ability to produce UV-protective pigments is compromised, physiological functioning will be impaired. N deposition will only ameliorate UV impacts in a limited number of cases. Overall, increases in UV will likely lead to lowered productivity and increased mortality in BSCs through time, which, in turn, will reduce their ability to contribute to the stability and fertility of soils in dryland regions.

Global change and biological soil crusts: effects of ultraviolet augmentation under altered precipitation regimes and nitrogen additions

AbstractBiological soil crusts (BSCs), a consortium of cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses, are essential in most dryland ecosystems. As these organisms are relatively immobile and occur on the soil surface, they are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, rising temperatures, and alterations in precipitation patterns. In this study, we applied treatments to three types of BSCs (early, medium, and late successional) over three time periods (spring, summer, and spring–fall). In the first year, we augmented UV and altered precipitation patterns, and in the second year, we augmented UV and N. In the first year, with average air temperatures, we saw little response to our treatments except quantum yield, which was reduced in dark BSCs during one of three sample times and in Collema BSCs two of three sample times. There was more response to UV augmentation the second year when air temperatures were above average. Declines were seen in 21% of the measured variables, including quantum yield, chlorophyll a, UV‐protective pigments, nitrogenase activity, and extracellular polysaccharides. N additions had some negative effects on light and dark BSCs, including the reduction of quantum yield, β‐carotene, nitrogenase activity, scytonemin, and xanthophylls. N addition had no effects on the Collema BSCs. When N was added to samples that had received augmented UV, there were only limited effects relative to samples that received UV without N. These results indicate that the negative effect of UV and altered precipitation on BSCs will be heightened as global temperatures increase, and that as their ability to produce UV‐protective pigments is compromised, physiological functioning will be impaired. N deposition will only ameliorate UV impacts in a limited number of cases. Overall, increases in UV will likely lead to lowered productivity and increased mortality in BSCs through time, which, in turn, will reduce their ability to contribute to the stability and fertility of soils in dryland regions.