Ibrahim Farag

Abstract

The Red Sea brine pools are unique environments to assess the biochemical adaptation of marine bacteria. The role of nitrogen in marine biogeochemistry is central and greatly influences the diverse elements including carbon and phosphorus. Anammox communities play a significant role in the total nitrogen loss especially in deep sea and deep ocean ecosystems. Despite this, the biodiversity of Anammox bacteria have not been previously investigated in any brine pool ecosystems. With the advances of the metagenomics based approaches, the exploration of the yet uncultured microbial communities including the Anammox bacteria has taken different perspectives. Anammox communities are currently analyzed using 16srRNA with some unique functional genes e.g. hydrazine oxidase, hydrazine synthase and Cytochrome cd1-containing nitrite reductase encoding gene nirS. In this study, we examined the biodiversity of Anammox microbial communities inhabiting two Red sea brine pools' Atlantis II and Kebrit deep interface layers. Comparative and comprehensive analysis of the unique and specific functional gene, hydrazine oxidase was performed. Anammox hydrazine oxidase gene was amplified from DNA isolated from the 0.1 μm serial fractionation of the water samples of Atlantis II interface layer and Kebrit upper interface layer. hzoA/hzoB libraries were constructed and a total of 81 and 44 specific clones were identified in the interface layers of Atlantis II deep and Kebrit deep, respectively. The identified sequences matched hydrazine oxidases from uncultured Planctomycetes. Alpha and beta diversity analyses were performed using statistical analysis tests and multiple regression analysis was done to assess the level of uniqueness of the Anammox bacteria inhabiting the examined samples using Unifrac. Eight and nine different Anammox related phylotypes were identified in Atlantis II and Kebrit upper interface layers, respectively. Scalindua species predominated the sampled interface brine layers. Moreover, the principle component analysis depicted a unique presence of Anammox communities. This study addresses and identifies the unique microbial community in the interface of the Red Sea Brine Pools.

Department

Biotechnology Program

Degree Name

MS in Biotechnology

Graduation Date

6-1-2012

First Advisor

Siam, Rania

Extent

NA

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Library of Congress Subject Heading 1

Biodiversity -- Red Sea -- Egypt.

Library of Congress Subject Heading 2

Biotechnology -- Red Sea -- Egypt.

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

Comments

It is an honor to acknowledge all the people who contributed to this work and made it possible. First of all, I would like to thank and express my deepest gratitude to the main supervisor of this dissertation, Associate Prof. Dr. Rania Siam. Dr. Siam was always helpful, supportive and a source of inspiration. I would like also to thank Assistant Prof. Dr. Ahmed Moustafa and Mr. Hazem Sharaf for their help in the computatiol alyses part. Dr. Ahmed A. Sayed, Research Associate Professor, for helping me in the sequencing part. Dr. Mohamed Ghazy and Mr. Amged Ouf for their efforts in D extraction and their continuous guidance in the laboratory. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the Biotechnology master program especially M. Abouelsoud, Rehab, Yasmine and Ghada. I would like to acknowledge both Yousef Jamel Science and Technology Research Center (STRC) and King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) for funding my master study and research.

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