Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analysis reveals enrichment for <scp>xenobiotic‐degrading</scp> bacterial specialists and <scp>xenobiotic‐degrading</scp> genes in a Canadian Prairie <scp>two‐cell</scp> biobed system
Jennifer N. Russell, Benjamin J. Perry, Jordyn Bergsveinson, Claire N. Freeman, Claudia Sheedy, Denise Nilsson, Larry Braul, Christopher K. Yost
Abstract
Biobeds are agriculture-based bioremediation tools used to safely contain and microbially degrade on-farm pesticide waste and rinsate, thereby reducing the negative environmental impacts associated with pesticide use. While these engineered ecosystems demonstrate efficient pesticide removal, the microbiomes in these environments remain largely understudied both taxonomically and functionally. This study used metagenomic and metatranscriptomic techniques to characterize the microbial community in a two-cell Canadian biobed system before and after a field season of pesticide application. These culture-independent approaches identified an enrichment of xenobiotic-degrading bacteria, such as Afipia, Sphingopyxis and Pseudomonas, and enrichment and transcription of xenobiotic-degrading genes, such as peroxidases, oxygenases, and hydroxylases, among others; we were able to directly link the transcription of these genes to Pseudomonas, Oligotropha, Mesorhizobium, Rhodopseudomonas, and Stenotrophomonas taxa.