Biology subjects

Fansler, S. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Fansler, S. J..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

A broad-host-range event detector: expanding and quantifying performance across bacterial species

Modern microbial biodesign relies on the principle that well-characterized genetic parts can be reused and reconfigured for different functions. However, this paradigm has only been successful in a limited set of hosts, mostly comprised from common lab strains of Escherichia coli. It is clear that new applications - such as chemical sensing and event logging in complex environments - will benefit from new host chassis. This study quantitatively compared how a chemical event logger performed across multiple microbial species. An integrase-based sensor and memory device was operated by two representative soil Pseudomonads - Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 and Pseudomonas putida DSM 291. Quantitative comparisons were made between these two non-traditional hosts and two bench-mark Escherichia coli chassis including the probiotic Nissle 1917 and common cloning strain DH5. The performance of sensor and memory components changed according to each host, such that a clear chassis effect was observed and quantified. These results were obtained via fluorescence from reporter proteins that were transcriptionally fused to the integrase and down-stream recombinant region and via data-driven kinetic models. The Pseudomonads proved to be acceptable chassis for the operation of this event logger, which outperformed the common E. coli DH5 in many ways. This study advances an emerging frontier in synthetic biology that aims to build broad-host-range devices and understand the context by which different species can execute programmable genetic operations.

synthetic biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Forfeiting the founder effect: turnover defines biofilm community succession

Microbial community succession is a fundamental process that effects underlying functions of almost all ecosystems; yet the roles and fates of the most abundant colonizers are poorly understood. Does early abundance spur long term persistence? How do deterministic and stochastic processes influence the roles of founder species? We performed a succession experiment within a hypersaline microbial mat ecosystem to investigate how ecological processes contributed to the turnover of founder species. Bacterial and micro-eukaryotic founder species were identified from primary succession and tracked through a defined maturation period using 16S and 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing in combination with high resolution imaging that utilized stable isotope tracers to evaluate basic functional capabilities. The majority of the founder species did not maintain high relative abundances in later stages of succession. Turnover (versus nestedness) was the dominant process shaping the final community structure. We also asked if different ecological processes acted on bacteria versus eukaryotes during successional stages and found that deterministic and stochastic forces corresponded more with eukaryote and bacterial colonization, respectively. Our results show that taxa from different kingdoms, that share habitat in the tight spatial confines of a biofilm, were influenced by different ecological forces and time scales of succession.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Dispersal limitation and thermodynamic constraints govern spatial structure of permafrost microbial communities

Understanding drivers of permafrost microbial community composition is critical for understanding permafrost microbiology and predicting ecosystem responses to thaw, however studies describing ecological controls on these communities are lacking. We hypothesize that permafrost communities are uniquely shaped by constraints imposed by prolonged freezing, and decoupled from factors that influence non-permafrost soil communities. To test this hypothesis, we characterized patterns of environmental variation and microbial community composition in permafrost across an Alaskan boreal forest landscape. We used null modeling to estimate the relative importance of selective and neutral assembly processes on community composition, and identified environmental factors influencing ecological selection through regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). Proportionally, the strongest process influencing community composition was dispersal limitation (0.36), exceeding the influence of homogenous selection (0.21), variable selection (0.16), and homogenizing dispersal (0.05). Fe(II) content was the most important factor explaining variable selection, and was significantly associated with total selection by univariate regression (R2=0.14, p=0.003). SEM supported a model in which Fe(II) content mediated influences of the Gibbs free energy of the organic matter pool and organic acid concentration on total selection. These findings reveal that the processes shaping microbial communities in permafrost are distinct from those in non-permafrost soils, as the stability of the permafrost environment imposes dispersal and thermodynamic constraints on permafrost communities. Models of permafrost community composition will need to account for these unique drivers in order to predict community characteristics across permafrost landscapes, and in efforts to understand how pre-thaw conditions will influence post-thaw ecological and biogeochemical processes.

ecology↗