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Haroon, Mohamed

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Haroon

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Mohamed

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Haroon, Mohamed

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2016 - 20183

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Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.387add69-d295-4dc7-b447-e0c26e05ff00

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Excess labile carbon promotes the expression of virulence factors in coral reef bacterioplankton
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2018) Cárdenas, Anny; Neave, Matthew J; Haroon, Mohamed; Pogoreutz, Claudia; Rädecker, Nils; Wild, Christian; Gärdes, Astrid; Voolstra, Christian R
    Coastal pollution and algal cover are increasing on many coral reefs, resulting in higher dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations. High DOC concentrations strongly affect microbial activity in reef waters and select for copiotrophic, often potentially virulent microbial populations. High DOC concentrations on coral reefs are also hypothesized to be a determinant for switching microbial lifestyles from commensal to pathogenic, thereby contributing to coral reef degradation, but evidence is missing. In this study, we conducted ex situ incubations to assess gene expression of planktonic microbial populations under elevated concentrations of naturally abundant monosaccharides (glucose, galactose, mannose, and xylose) in algal exudates and sewage inflows. We assembled 27 near-complete (>70%) microbial genomes through metagenomic sequencing and determined associated expression patterns through metatranscriptomic sequencing. Differential gene expression analysis revealed a shift in the central carbohydrate metabolism and the induction of metalloproteases, siderophores, and toxins in Alteromonas, Erythrobacter, Oceanicola, and Alcanivorax populations. Sugar-specific induction of virulence factors suggests a mechanistic link for the switch from a commensal to a pathogenic lifestyle, particularly relevant during increased algal cover and human-derived pollution on coral reefs. Although an explicit test remains to be performed, our data support the hypothesis that increased availability of specific sugars changes net microbial community activity in ways that increase the emergence and abundance of opportunistic pathogens, potentially contributing to coral reef degradation.
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    Co-registered Geochemistry and Metatranscriptomics Reveal Unexpected Distributions of Microbial Activity within a Hydrothermal Vent Field
    (Frontiers Media SA, 2017) Olins, Heather; Rogers, Daniel R.; Preston, Christina; Ussler, William; Pargett, Douglas; Jensen, Scott; Roman, Brent; Birch, James M.; Scholin, Christopher A.; Haroon, Mohamed; Girguis, Peter
    Despite years of research into microbial activity at diffuse flow hydrothermal vents, the extent of microbial niche diversity in these settings is not known. To better understand the relationship between microbial activity and the associated physical and geochemical conditions, we obtained co-registered metatranscriptomic and geochemical data from a variety of different fluid regimes within the ASHES vent field on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Microbial activity in the majority of the cool and warm fluids sampled was dominated by a population of Gammaproteobacteria (likely sulfur oxidizers) that appear to thrive in a variety of chemically distinct fluids. Only the warmest, most hydrothermally-influenced flows were dominated by active populations of canonically vent-endemic Epsilonproteobacteria. These data suggest that the Gammaproteobacteria collected during this study may be generalists, capable of thriving over a broader range of geochemical conditions than the Epsilonproteobacteria. Notably, the apparent metabolic activity of the Gammaproteobacteria—particularly carbon fixation—in the seawater found between discrete fluid flows (the intra-field water) suggests that this area within the Axial caldera is a highly productive, and previously overlooked, habitat. By extension, our findings suggest that analogous, diffuse flow fields may be similarly productive and thus constitute a very important and underappreciated aspect of deep-sea biogeochemical cycling that is occurring at the global scale.
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    Draft Genome Sequence of the Anaerobic Ammonium-Oxidizing Bacterium “Candidatus Brocadia sp. 40”
    (American Society for Microbiology, 2016) Ali, Muhammad; Haroon, Mohamed; Narita, Yuko; Zhang, Lei; Rangel Shaw, Dario; Okabe, Satoshi; Saikaly, Pascal E.
    The anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacterium “Candidatus Brocadia sp. 40” demonstrated the fastest growth rate compared to others in this taxon. Here, we report the 2.93-Mb draft genome sequence of this bacterium, which has 2,565 gene-coding regions, 41 tRNAs, and a single rrn operon.