Monday, August 12, 2013: 3:30 PM
Spinnaker (Sheraton San Diego)
El Yunque (EY) National Forest in Puerto Rico represents a vast resource for novel enzymes and microorganisms. This study describes the unique microbial and enzymatic composition of decaying hardwood obtained from EY and compares it to metagenomes and meta-metabolomes from soil, compost and animal guts. Genomic DNA was sequenced with the Roche 454 GS FLX Titanium technology and then quality filtered, and uploaded in the MG-RAST server resulting in a total of 553,447 sequences. Sequence data was analyzed with iPATH 2.0 and used in queries of the CAZy database. High throughput BLAST searches were conducted using grid computing in order to assign tentative functions to the sequences. ID mapping from NCBI GI numbers to KEGG identifiers was employed to infer which metabolic pathways. Meta-metabolomes from soils, decomposing wood and compost were compared. Taxonomic and functional data were analyzed statistically. There were striking similarities in central metabolism, despite differences in species composition and climate but differences in microbiomes as well as enzyme profiles. KEGG orthology and CAZy analyses confirmed the presence of significant quantities of glycoside hydrolases, in particular, cellulases, hemicellulases, debranching enzymes and oligo-degrading enzymes. Comparative microbiome studies revealed that the fungal, actinobacterial and acidobacterial microbiota was dominant in the EY log and were different from all other microbiomes analyzed. Lignin-degrading taxa were also more abundant and diverse in the EY log than all other metagenomes. The EY metagenome represents a unique source of microorganisms and their corresponding enzymes that could be exploited in biotechnological and environmental applications.