Wesley Swingley

Recent high-throughput sequencing has provided DNA sequences at an unprecedented rate, posing considerable analytical challenges, but also offering insight into the genetic mechanisms of adaptation. Here we present a comparative genomics-based approach towards understanding the evolution of these mechanisms in cyanobacteria. Historically, systematic methods of defining morphological traits in cyanobacteria have posed a major barrier in reconstructing their true evolutionary

The purple bacteria occupy a unique position among photosynthetic bacteria. Nested within the various proteobacterial lineages, the origin and evolution of purple bacterial photosynthesis has been the topic of innumerable debates. Attempts to reconstruct the evolutionary history of individual photosynthetic protein families have further fueled debate over lateral vs. vertical transfer of genetic elements. In this era of high-throughput sequencing we can begin to distance ourselves from this dependency on single-gene and single-protein phylogenies. Here we present automated comparative genomics-based methods useful for reconstructing the genomic history of not only the purple bacterial lineage, but the proteobacterial lineage as a whole. These reconstructions integrate phylogenetic data inferred from 200 to more than 1000 protein families common to all or part of the proteobacterial lineage. This framework allows us to reconstruct the evolutionary history of each proteobacterial class and parse out the finer relationships among photosynthetic species. By telescoping inward on protein families of interest, we can delve deeper than ever before into the convoluted evolutionary origin of the primary photosynthetic traits, phototrophy and autotrophy. While these full-genome comparisons clarify the nature of many poorly understood phylogenetic relationships, they do not yet serve to resolve the entire mystery surrounding the history of proteobacterial phototrophy.

Purple aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs (AAPs) are the only organisms known to capture light energy to enhance growth only in the presence of oxygen but do not produce oxygen. The highly adaptive AAPs compose more than 10% of the microbial community in some euphotic upper ocean waters and are potentially major contributors to the fixation of the greenhouse gas CO2. We present the complete genomic sequence and feature analysis of the AAP Roseobacter denitrificans, which reveal clues to its physiology. The genome lacks genes that code for known photosynthetic carbon fixation pathways, and most notably missing are genes for the Calvin cycle enzymes ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO) and phosphoribulokinase. Phylogenetic evidence implies that this absence could be due to a gene loss from a RuBisCO-containing alpha-proteobacterial ancestor. We describe the potential importance of mixotrophic rather than autotrophic CO2 fixation pathways in these organisms and suggest that these pa...

The onset of the genome era means different things to different people, but it is clear that this new age brings with it paradigm shifts that will forever affect biological research. Less clear is just how these shifts are changing the scope and scale of research. Are gigabases of raw data more useful than a single well-understood gene? Do we really need a full genome to understand the physiology of a single organism? The photosynthetic field is poised at the periphery of the bulk of genome sequencing work--understandably skewed toward health-related disciplines--and, as such, is subject to different motivations, limitations, and primary focus for each new genome. To understand some of these differences, we focus here on various indicators of the impact that genomics has had on the photosynthetic community, now a full decade since the publication of the first photosynthetic genome. Many useful indicators are indexed in public databases, providing pre- and post-genome sequence snapshots of changes in factors such as publication rate, number of proteins characterized, and sequenced genome coverage versus known diversity. As more genomes are sequenced and metagenomic projects begin to pour out billions of bases, it becomes crucial to understand how to harness this data in order to accumulate possible benefits and avoid possible pitfalls, especially as resources become increasingly directed toward natural environments governed by photosynthetic activity, ranging from hot springs to tropical forest ecosystems to the open ocean.

In Yellowstone National Park, a small percentage of thermal features support streamer biofilm communities (SBCs), but their growth criteria are poorly understood. This study investigates biofilms in two SBC hosting, and two non-SBC springs. Sequencing of 16S rRNA clones indicates changing community structure as a function of downstream geochemistry, with many novel representatives particularly among the Crenarchaeota. While some taxonomic groups show little genetic variation, others show specialization by sample location. The transition fringe environment between the hotter chemosynthetic and cooler photosynthetic zones hosts a larger diversity of organisms in SBC bearing springs. This transition is proposed to represent an ecotone; this is the first description of an ecotone in a hydrothermal environment. The Aquificales are ubiquitous and dominate among the Bacteria in the hottest environments. However, there is no difference in species of Aquificales from SBC and non-SBC locations, suggesting they are not responsible for the formation of SBCs, or that their role in SBC formation is competitively suppressed in non-SBC sites. In addition, only SBC locations support Thermotogales-like organisms, highlighting the potential importance these organisms may have in SBC formation. Here, we present a novel view of SBC formation and variability in hydrothermal ecosystems.

2 Insights into Cyanobacterial Evolution from Comparative Genomics Wesley D. Swingley, Robert E. Blankenship, and Jason Raymond Abstract Recent high-throughput sequencing has provided DNA sequences at an unprecedented rate, posing considerable analytical ...