University of Luxembourg

About: University of Luxembourg is a education organization based out in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & European union. The organization has 4744 authors who have published 22175 publications receiving 381824 citations.

Proteogenomic basis for ecological divergence of closely related bacteria in natural acidophilic microbial communities

Abstract: Bacterial species concepts are controversial. More widely accepted is the need to understand how differences in gene content and sequence lead to ecological divergence. To address this relationship in ecosystem context, we investigated links between genotype and ecology of two genotypic groups of Leptospirillum group II bacteria in comprehensively characterized, natural acidophilic biofilm communities. These groups share 99.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity and 95% average amino acid identity between their orthologs. One genotypic group predominates during early colonization, and the other group typically proliferates in later successional stages, forming distinct patches tens to hundreds of micrometers in diameter. Among early colonizing populations, we observed dominance of five genotypes that differed from each other by the extent of recombination with the late colonizing type. Our analyses suggest that the specific recombinant variant within the early colonizing group is selected for by environmental parameters such as temperature, consistent with recombination as a mechanism for ecological fine tuning. Evolutionary signatures, and strain-resolved expression patterns measured via mass spectrometry–based proteomics, indicate increased cobalamin biosynthesis, (de)methylation, and glycine cleavage in the late colonizer. This may suggest environmental changes within the biofilm during development, accompanied by redirection of compatible solutes from osmoprotectants toward metabolism. Across 27 communities, comparative proteogenomic analyses show that differential regulation of shared genes and expression of a small subset of the ∼15% of genes unique to each genotype are involved in niche partitioning. In summary, the results show how subtle genetic variations can lead to distinct ecological strategies.

A decade of metaproteomics: where we stand and what the future holds.

Abstract: We are living through exciting times during which we are able to unravel the “microbial dark matter” in and around us through the application of high-resolution “meta-omics”. Metaproteomics offers the ability to resolve the major catalytic units of microbial populations and thereby allows the establishment of genotype-phenotype linkages from in situ samples. A decade has passed since the term “metaproteomics” was first coined and corresponding analyses were carried out on mixed microbial communities. Since then metaproteomics has yielded many important insights into microbial ecosystem function in the various environmental settings where it has been applied. Although initial progress in analytical capacities and resulting numbers of proteins identified was extremely fast, this trend slowed rapidly. Here, we discuss several representative metaproteomic investigations of activated sludge, acid mine drainage biofilms, freshwater and seawater microbial communities, soil, and human gut microbiota. By using these case studies, we highlight current challenges and possible solutions for metaproteomics to realize its full potential, i.e. to enable conclusive links between microbial community composition, physiology, function, interactions, ecology, and evolution in situ.

Isogeometric analysis of functionally graded plates using a refined plate theory

Abstract: We present in this paper a simple and effective approach that incorporates isogeometric finite element analysis (IGA) with a refined plate theory (RPT) for static, free vibration and buckling analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) plates. A new inverse tangent distributed function through the plate thickness is proposed. The RPT enables us to describe the non-linear distribution of shear stresses through the plate thickness without any requirement of shear correction factors (SCF). IGA utilizes basis functions namely B-splines or non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) which reach easily the smoothness of any arbitrary order. It hence satisfies the C1 requirement of the RPT model. The present method approximates the displacement field with four degrees of freedom per each control point allowing an efficient solution process.