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Review
. 2022 Jun 15:13:900669.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.900669. eCollection 2022.

Characteristics, Biodiversity, and Cultivation Strategy of Low Nucleic Acid Content Bacteria

Wei Hu  1 , Hui Zhang  1 , Xiaowen Lin  1 , Ruidan Liu  1 , Mark Bartlam  2 , Yingying Wang  1
Affiliations
Review

Characteristics, Biodiversity, and Cultivation Strategy of Low Nucleic Acid Content Bacteria

Wei Hu et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

Low nucleic acid content (LNA) bacteria are ubiquitous and estimated to constitute 20%-90% of the total bacterial community in marine and freshwater environment. LNA bacteria with unique physiological characteristics, including small cell size and small genomes, can pass through 0.45-μm filtration. The researchers came up with different terminologies for low nucleic acid content bacteria based on different research backgrounds, such as: filterable bacteria, oligotrophic bacteria, and low-DNA bacteria. LNA bacteria have an extremely high level of genetic diversity and play an important role in material circulation in oligotrophic environment. However, the majority of LNA bacteria in the environment remain uncultivated. Thus, an important challenge now is to isolate more LNA bacteria from oligotrophic environments and gain insights into their unique metabolic mechanisms and ecological functions. Here, we reviewed LNA bacteria in aquatic environments, focusing on their characteristics, community structure and diversity, functions, and cultivation strategies. Exciting future prospects for LNA bacteria are also discussed.

Keywords: LNA bacteria; cultivation strategy; diversity; functions; physical characteristics; terminologies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow cytogram fingerprint of LNA and HNA bacteria in the Haihe River. This figure is cited from the authors (Liu et al., 2016). FL1, fluorescence intensity; SSC, sideward scatter.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Analysis of the potential metabolic functions of LNA bacteria and ultramicrobacteria. The protein sequences of bacteria were obtained from NCBI database and annotated in KEGG database. The value in the diagram represents the number of proteins involved in the pathways. HTCC1062: Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique HTCC1062; LSUCC0530: Candidatus Fonsibacter ubiquis LSUCC0530; RB2256: Sphingopyxis alaskensis RB2256; KNCT: Aurantimicrobium minutum KNCT; 15G-AUS-rotT: Aquiluna borgnonia 15G-AUS-rotT; IMCC25003: Candidatus Planktophila rubra IMCC25003; MWH-Mo1T: Aurantimicrobium photophilum MWH-Mo1T.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The potential metabolic functions of LNA bacteria and ultramicrobacteria in the aquatic environments. The enzymes in the figure means that can be annotated in pathways of the strains in KEGG and the number in the figure means the strains. All data used for the analysis were obtained from NCBI database; 1: Sphingopyxis alaskensis RB2256; 2: Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique HTCC1062; 3: Candidatus Fonsibacter ubiquis LSUCC0530; 4: Aurantimicrobium minutum KNCT; 5: Aquiluna borgnonia 15G-AUS-rotT; 6: Candidatus Planktophila rubra IMCC25003; 7: Aurantimicrobium photophilum MWH-Mo1T.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cultivation strategies for LNA bacteria. (A): conventional cultivation; (B): dilution cultures, filtration and FCM.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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