Below you will find scientific publications authored by our members or those enabled by our platform services.
2020
Brereton, N J B; Gonzalez, E; Desjardins, D; Labrecque, M; Pitre, F E
Co-cropping with three phytoremediation crops influences rhizosphere microbiome community in contaminated soil Journal Article
In: Science of The Total Environment, vol. 711, pp. 135067, 2020, ISSN: 0048-9697.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: 16S rRNA, Co-cropping, Metagenomics, Microbiome, Phytoremediation, Rhizosphere
@article{brereton_co-cropping_2020,
title = {Co-cropping with three phytoremediation crops influences rhizosphere microbiome community in contaminated soil},
author = {N J B Brereton and E Gonzalez and D Desjardins and M Labrecque and F E Pitre},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719350594},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135067},
issn = {0048-9697},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2021-05-26},
journal = {Science of The Total Environment},
volume = {711},
pages = {135067},
abstract = {Human industrial activities have left millions of hectares of land polluted with trace element metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) around the world. Although contaminated sites are environmentally damaging, high economic costs often discourage soil remediation efforts. Phytoremediation is a potential green technology solution but can be challenging due to the diversity of anthropogenic contaminants. Co-cropping could provide improved tolerance to diverse soil challenges by taking advantage of distinct crop capabilities. Co-cropping of three species with potentially complementary functions, Festuca arundinacea, Salix miyabeana and Medicago sativa, perform well on diversely contaminated soils. Here, rhizosphere microbiomes of each crop in monoculture and in all co-cropping combinations were compared using 16S rRNA gene amplification, sequencing and differential abundance analysis. The hyperaccumulating F. arundinacea rhizosphere microbiome included putative plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) and metal tolerance species, such as Rhizorhapis suberifaciens, Cellvibrio fibrivorans and Pseudomonas lini. The rhizosphere microbiome of the fast-growing tree S. miyabeana included diverse taxa involved in POP degradation, including the species Phenylobacterium panacis. The well-characterised nitrogen-fixing M. sativa microbiome species, Sinorhizobium meliloti, was identified alongside others involved in nutrient acquisition and putative yet-to-be-cultured Candidatus saccharibacteria (TM7-1 group). The majority of differentially abundant rhizosphere-associated bacterial species were maintained in co-cropping pairs, with pairs having higher numbers of differentially abundant taxa than monocultures in all cases. This was not the case when all three crops were co-cropped, where most host-specific bacterial species were not detected as differentially abundant, indicating the potential for reduced rhizosphere functionality. The crops cultivated in pairs here retained rhizosphere microbiome bacteria involved in these monoculture ecosystem services of plant growth promotion, POP tolerance and degradation, and improved nutrient acquisition. These findings provide a promising outlook of the potential for complementary co-cropping strategies for phytoremediation of the multifaceted anthropogenic pollution which can disastrously affect soils around the world.},
keywords = {16S rRNA, Co-cropping, Metagenomics, Microbiome, Phytoremediation, Rhizosphere},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Human industrial activities have left millions of hectares of land polluted with trace element metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) around the world. Although contaminated sites are environmentally damaging, high economic costs often discourage soil remediation efforts. Phytoremediation is a potential green technology solution but can be challenging due to the diversity of anthropogenic contaminants. Co-cropping could provide improved tolerance to diverse soil challenges by taking advantage of distinct crop capabilities. Co-cropping of three species with potentially complementary functions, Festuca arundinacea, Salix miyabeana and Medicago sativa, perform well on diversely contaminated soils. Here, rhizosphere microbiomes of each crop in monoculture and in all co-cropping combinations were compared using 16S rRNA gene amplification, sequencing and differential abundance analysis. The hyperaccumulating F. arundinacea rhizosphere microbiome included putative plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) and metal tolerance species, such as Rhizorhapis suberifaciens, Cellvibrio fibrivorans and Pseudomonas lini. The rhizosphere microbiome of the fast-growing tree S. miyabeana included diverse taxa involved in POP degradation, including the species Phenylobacterium panacis. The well-characterised nitrogen-fixing M. sativa microbiome species, Sinorhizobium meliloti, was identified alongside others involved in nutrient acquisition and putative yet-to-be-cultured Candidatus saccharibacteria (TM7-1 group). The majority of differentially abundant rhizosphere-associated bacterial species were maintained in co-cropping pairs, with pairs having higher numbers of differentially abundant taxa than monocultures in all cases. This was not the case when all three crops were co-cropped, where most host-specific bacterial species were not detected as differentially abundant, indicating the potential for reduced rhizosphere functionality. The crops cultivated in pairs here retained rhizosphere microbiome bacteria involved in these monoculture ecosystem services of plant growth promotion, POP tolerance and degradation, and improved nutrient acquisition. These findings provide a promising outlook of the potential for complementary co-cropping strategies for phytoremediation of the multifaceted anthropogenic pollution which can disastrously affect soils around the world.
2018
Gonzalez, E; Pitre, F E; Pagé, A P; Marleau, J; Nissim, W Guidi; St-Arnaud, M; Labrecque, M; Joly, S; Yergeau, E; Brereton, N J B
Trees, fungi and bacteria: tripartite metatranscriptomics of a root microbiome responding to soil contamination Journal Article
In: Microbiome, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 53, 2018, ISSN: 2049-2618.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Metatranscriptomics, Microbiome, Phytoremediation, Rhizosphere, Salix
@article{gonzalez_trees_2018,
title = {Trees, fungi and bacteria: tripartite metatranscriptomics of a root microbiome responding to soil contamination},
author = {E Gonzalez and F E Pitre and A P Pagé and J Marleau and W Guidi Nissim and M St-Arnaud and M Labrecque and S Joly and E Yergeau and N J B Brereton},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-018-0432-5},
doi = {10.1186/s40168-018-0432-5},
issn = {2049-2618},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2021-05-19},
journal = {Microbiome},
volume = {6},
number = {1},
pages = {53},
abstract = {One method for rejuvenating land polluted with anthropogenic contaminants is through phytoremediation, the reclamation of land through the cultivation of specific crops. The capacity for phytoremediation crops, such as Salix spp., to tolerate and even flourish in contaminated soils relies on a highly complex and predominantly cryptic interacting community of microbial life.},
keywords = {Metatranscriptomics, Microbiome, Phytoremediation, Rhizosphere, Salix},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
One method for rejuvenating land polluted with anthropogenic contaminants is through phytoremediation, the reclamation of land through the cultivation of specific crops. The capacity for phytoremediation crops, such as Salix spp., to tolerate and even flourish in contaminated soils relies on a highly complex and predominantly cryptic interacting community of microbial life.
2017
Yanitch, Aymeric; Brereton, Nicholas J B; Gonzalez, Emmanuel; Labrecque, Michel; Joly, Simon; Pitre, Frederic E
Transcriptomic Response of Purple Willow (Salix purpurea) to Arsenic Stress Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 8, 2017, ISSN: 1664-462X, (Publisher: Frontiers).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Abiotic stress tolerance, Arsenic, Phytoremediation, RNA-seq, Salix, Trace Elements, Transcriptomics
@article{yanitch_transcriptomic_2017,
title = {Transcriptomic Response of Purple Willow (Salix purpurea) to Arsenic Stress},
author = {Aymeric Yanitch and Nicholas J B Brereton and Emmanuel Gonzalez and Michel Labrecque and Simon Joly and Frederic E Pitre},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.01115/full},
doi = {10.3389/fpls.2017.01115},
issn = {1664-462X},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
urldate = {2021-05-18},
journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
volume = {8},
abstract = {Arsenic (As) is a toxic element for plants and one of the most common anthropogenic pollutants found at contaminated sites. Despite its severe effects on plant metabolism, several species can accumulate substantial amounts of arsenic and endure the associated stress. However, the genetic mechanisms involved in arsenic tolerance remains obscure in many model plant species used for land decontamination (phytoremediation), including willows. The present study assesses the potential of Salix purpurea cv. ‘Fish Creek’ for arsenic phytoextraction and reveals the genetic responses behind arsenic tolerance, phytoextraction and metabolism. Four weeks of hydroponic exposure to 0, 5, 30 and 100 mg/L revealed that plants were able to tolerate up to 5 mg/L arsenic. Concentrations of 0 and 5 mg/L of arsenic treatment were then used to compare alterations in gene expression of roots, stems and leaves using RNA sequencing. Differential gene expression revealed transcripts encoding proteins putatively involved in entry of arsenic into the roots, storage in vacuoles and potential transport through the plant as well as primary and secondary (indirect) toxicity tolerance mechanisms. A major role for tannin as a compound used to relieve cellular toxicity is implicated as well as unexpected expression of the cadmium transporter CAX2, providing a potential means for internal arsenic mobility. These insights into the underpinning genetics of a successful phytoremediating species present novel opportunities for selection of dedicated arsenic tolerant crops as well as the potential to integrate such tolerances into a wider Salix ideotype alongside traits including biomass yield, biomass quality, low agricultural inputs and phytochemical production.},
note = {Publisher: Frontiers},
keywords = {Abiotic stress tolerance, Arsenic, Phytoremediation, RNA-seq, Salix, Trace Elements, Transcriptomics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Arsenic (As) is a toxic element for plants and one of the most common anthropogenic pollutants found at contaminated sites. Despite its severe effects on plant metabolism, several species can accumulate substantial amounts of arsenic and endure the associated stress. However, the genetic mechanisms involved in arsenic tolerance remains obscure in many model plant species used for land decontamination (phytoremediation), including willows. The present study assesses the potential of Salix purpurea cv. ‘Fish Creek’ for arsenic phytoextraction and reveals the genetic responses behind arsenic tolerance, phytoextraction and metabolism. Four weeks of hydroponic exposure to 0, 5, 30 and 100 mg/L revealed that plants were able to tolerate up to 5 mg/L arsenic. Concentrations of 0 and 5 mg/L of arsenic treatment were then used to compare alterations in gene expression of roots, stems and leaves using RNA sequencing. Differential gene expression revealed transcripts encoding proteins putatively involved in entry of arsenic into the roots, storage in vacuoles and potential transport through the plant as well as primary and secondary (indirect) toxicity tolerance mechanisms. A major role for tannin as a compound used to relieve cellular toxicity is implicated as well as unexpected expression of the cadmium transporter CAX2, providing a potential means for internal arsenic mobility. These insights into the underpinning genetics of a successful phytoremediating species present novel opportunities for selection of dedicated arsenic tolerant crops as well as the potential to integrate such tolerances into a wider Salix ideotype alongside traits including biomass yield, biomass quality, low agricultural inputs and phytochemical production.