Approximately one\uffe2\uff80\uff90third of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted to the atmosphere consists of isoprene, originating from the terrestrial and marine biosphere, with a profound effect on atmospheric chemistry. However, isoprene provides an abundant and largely unexplored source of carbon and energy for microbes. The potential for isoprene degradation in marine and estuarine samples from the Colne Estuary, UK, was investigated using DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90Stable Isotope Probing (DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP). Analysis at two timepoints showed the development of communities dominated by Actinobacteria including members of the genera Mycobacterium, Rhodococcus, Microbacterium and Gordonia. Representative isolates, capable of growth on isoprene as sole carbon and energy source, were obtained from marine and estuarine locations, and isoprene\uffe2\uff80\uff90degrading strains of Gordonia and Mycobacterium were characterised physiologically and their genomes were sequenced. Genes predicted to be required for isoprene metabolism, including four\uffe2\uff80\uff90component isoprene monooxygenases (IsoMO), were identified and compared with previously characterised examples. Transcriptional and activity assays of strains growing on isoprene or alternative carbon sources showed that growth on isoprene is an inducible trait requiring a specific IsoMO. This study is the first to identify active isoprene degraders in estuarine and marine environments using DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP and to characterise marine isoprene\uffe2\uff80\uff90degrading bacteria at the physiological and molecular level.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "Volatile Organic Compounds", "0303 health sciences", "550", "Base Sequence", "610", "QR Microbiology", "Sequence Analysis", " DNA", "Environment", "6. Clean water", "Mixed Function Oxygenases", "Mycobacterium", "03 medical and health sciences", "Hemiterpenes", "13. Climate action", "Pentanes", "Butadienes", "Rhodococcus", "14. Life underwater", "Gordonia Bacterium", "Research Articles", "Genome", " Bacterial", "GE Environmental Sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/63998/4/Published_manuscript.pdf"}, {"href": "http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.13842/fullpdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13842"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1462-2920.13842", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1462-2920.13842", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1462-2920.13842"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-07-21T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1038/s41396-022-01211-0", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-03-22", "title": "Identification of active gaseous alkane degraders at natural gas seeps", "description": "AbstractNatural gas seeps release significant amounts of methane and other gases including ethane and propane contributing to global climate change. In this study, bacterial actively\uffc2\uffa0consuming short-chain alkanes were identified by cultivation, whole-genome sequencing, and stable-isotope probing (SIP)-metagenomics using 13C-propane and 13C-ethane from two different natural gas seeps, Pipe Creek and Andreiasu Everlasting Fire. Nearly 100 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) (completeness 70\uffe2\uff80\uff9399%) were recovered from both sites. Among these, 16 MAGs had genes encoding the soluble di-iron monooxygenase (SDIMO). The MAGs were affiliated to Actinobacteria (two MAGs), Alphaproteobacteria (ten MAGs), and Gammaproteobacteria (four MAGs). Additionally, three gaseous-alkane degraders were isolated in pure culture, all of which could grow on ethane, propane, and butane and possessed SDIMO-related genes. Two Rhodoblastus strains (PC2 and PC3) were from Pipe Creek and a Mycolicibacterium strain (ANDR5) from Andreiasu. Strains PC2 and PC3 encoded putative butane monooxygenases (MOs) and strain ANDR5 contained a propane MO. Mycolicibacterium strain ANDR5 and MAG19a, highly abundant in incubations with 13C-ethane, share an amino acid identity (AAI) of 99.3%. We show using a combination of enrichment and isolation, and cultivation-independent techniques, that these natural gas seeps contain a diverse community of active bacteria oxidising\uffc2\uffa0gaseous-alkanes, which play an important role in biogeochemical cycling of natural gas.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "Ethane", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Natural Gas", "Article", "Mixed Function Oxygenases", "Propane", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Alkanes", "Butanes", "Gases", "Phylogeny"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/84325/1/s41396_022_01211_0.pdf"}, {"href": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-022-01211-0.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-022-01211-0"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/The%20ISME%20Journal", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41396-022-01211-0", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41396-022-01211-0", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41396-022-01211-0"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-03-22T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1038/s41396-018-0072-6", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-02-14", "title": "Microbial cycling of isoprene, the most abundantly produced biological volatile organic compound on Earth", "description": "AbstractIsoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene), the most abundantly produced biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) on Earth, is highly reactive and can have diverse and often detrimental atmospheric effects, which impact on climate and health. Most isoprene is produced by terrestrial plants, but (micro)algal production is important in aquatic environments, and the relative bacterial contribution remains unknown. Soils are a sink for isoprene, and bacteria that can use isoprene as a carbon and energy source have been cultivated and also identified using cultivation-independent methods from soils, leaves and coastal/marine environments. Bacteria belonging to the Actinobacteria are most frequently isolated and identified, and Proteobacteria have also been shown to degrade isoprene. In the freshwater-sediment isolate, Rhodococcus strain AD45, initial oxidation of isoprene to 1,2-epoxy-isoprene is catalyzed by a multicomponent isoprene monooxygenase encoded by the genes isoABCDEF. The resultant epoxide is converted to a glutathione conjugate by a glutathione S-transferase encoded by isoI, and further degraded by enzymes encoded by isoGHJ. Genome sequence analysis of actinobacterial isolates belonging to the genera Rhodococcus, Mycobacterium and Gordonia has revealed that isoABCDEF and isoGHIJ are linked in an operon, either on a plasmid or the chromosome. In Rhodococcus strain AD45 both isoprene and epoxy-isoprene induce a high level of transcription of 22 contiguous genes, including isoABCDEF and isoGHIJ. Sequence analysis of the isoA gene, encoding the large subunit of the oxygenase component of isoprene monooxygenase, from isolates has facilitated the development of PCR primers that are proving valuable in investigating the ecology of uncultivated isoprene-degrading bacteria.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "0303 health sciences", "550", "QH301 Biology", "Review Article", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "Mixed Function Oxygenases", "Actinobacteria", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Hemiterpenes", "13. Climate action", "Pentanes", "11. Sustainability", "Butadienes", "Microalgae", "Rhodococcus"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66436/1/Published_manuscript.pdf"}, {"href": "http://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-018-0072-6.pdf"}, {"href": "https://repository.essex.ac.uk/21526/1/s41396-018-0072-6.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-018-0072-6"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/The%20ISME%20Journal", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41396-018-0072-6", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41396-018-0072-6", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41396-018-0072-6"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-02-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1186/s40168-018-0607-0", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-23T16:20:06Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-12-07", "title": "Gene probing reveals the widespread distribution, diversity and abundance of isoprene-degrading bacteria in the environment", "description": "Approximately 500\u00a0Tg of isoprene are emitted to the atmosphere annually, an amount similar to that of methane, and despite its significant effects on the climate, very little is known about the biological degradation of isoprene in the environment. Isolation and characterisation of isoprene degraders at the molecular level has allowed the development of probes targeting isoA encoding the \u03b1-subunit of the isoprene monooxygenase. This enzyme belongs to the soluble diiron centre monooxygenase family and catalyses the first step in the isoprene degradation pathway. The use of probes targeting key metabolic genes is a successful approach in molecular ecology to study specific groups of bacteria in complex environments. Here, we developed and tested a novel isoA PCR primer set to study the distribution, abundance, and diversity of isoprene degraders in a wide range of environments.The new isoA probes specifically amplified isoA genes from taxonomically diverse isoprene-degrading bacteria including members of the genera Rhodococcus, Variovorax, and Sphingopyxis. There was no cross-reactivity with genes encoding related oxygenases from non-isoprene degraders. Sequencing of isoA amplicons from DNA extracted from environmental samples enriched with isoprene revealed that most environments tested harboured a considerable variety of isoA sequences, with poplar leaf enrichments containing more phylogenetically diverse isoA genes. Quantification by qPCR using these isoA probes revealed that isoprene degraders are widespread in the phyllosphere, terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. Specifically, soils in the vicinity of high isoprene-emitting trees contained the highest number of isoprene-degrading bacteria.This study provides the molecular ecology tools to broaden our knowledge of the distribution, abundance and diversity of isoprene degraders in the environment, which is a fundamental step necessary to assess the impact that microbes have in mitigating the effects of this important climate-active gas.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "Isoprene", "Climate", "Mixed Function Oxygenases", "Microbial ecology", "Comamonadaceae", "03 medical and health sciences", "Hemiterpenes", "Bacterial Proteins", "Butadienes", "Isoprene monooxygenase", "Rhodococcus", "Gene probes", "14. Life underwater", "Phylogeny", "Soil Microbiology", "DNA Primers", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Research", "isoA", "QR100-130", "QR Microbiology", "Sequence Analysis", " DNA", "15. Life on land", "Sphingomonadaceae", "Biodegradation", " Environmental", "13. Climate action"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/69294/1/Published_manuscript.pdf"}, {"href": "http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s40168-018-0607-0.pdf"}, {"href": "https://repository.essex.ac.uk/23630/1/s40168-018-0607-0.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-018-0607-0"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Microbiome", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1186/s40168-018-0607-0", "name": "item", "description": "10.1186/s40168-018-0607-0", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1186/s40168-018-0607-0"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1073/pnas.1812668115", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:46Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-11-30", "title": "Poplar phyllosphere harbors disparate isoprene-degrading bacteria", "description": "The climate-active gas isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is released to the atmosphere in huge quantities, almost equaling that of methane, yet we know little about the biological cycling of isoprene in the environment. Although bacteria capable of growth on isoprene as the sole source of carbon and energy have previously been isolated from soils and sediments, no microbiological studies have targeted the major source of isoprene and examined the phyllosphere of isoprene-emitting trees for the presence of degraders of this abundant carbon source. Here, we identified isoprene-degrading bacteria in poplar tree-derived microcosms by DNA stable isotope probing. The genomes of isoprene-degrading taxa were reconstructed, putative isoprene metabolic genes were identified, and isoprene-related gene transcription was analyzed by shotgun metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. Gram-positive bacteria of the genus Rhodococcus proved to be the dominant isoprene degraders, as previously found in soil. However, a wider diversity of isoprene utilizers was also revealed, notably Variovorax , a genus not previously associated with this trait. This finding was confirmed by expression of the isoprene monooxygenase from Variovorax in a heterologous host. A Variovorax strain that could grow on isoprene as the sole carbon and energy source was isolated. Analysis of its genome confirmed that it contained isoprene metabolic genes with an identical layout and high similarity to those identified by DNA-stable isotope probing and metagenomics. This study provides evidence of a wide diversity of isoprene-degrading bacteria in the isoprene-emitting tree phyllosphere and greatly enhances our understanding of the biodegradation of this important metabolite and climate-active gas.
", "keywords": ["DNA", " Bacterial", "0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "570", "0303 health sciences", "QH301 Biology", "Biological Sciences", "15. Life on land", "Mixed Function Oxygenases", "Comamonadaceae", "03 medical and health sciences", "Biodegradation", " Environmental", "Hemiterpenes", "Populus", "13. Climate action", "Butadienes", "Rhodococcus", "Metagenomics", "Genome", " Bacterial", "Phylogeny", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/69197/1/Published_manuscript.pdf"}, {"href": "https://pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1812668115"}, {"href": "https://repository.essex.ac.uk/23631/1/1812668115.full.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812668115"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Proceedings%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1073/pnas.1812668115", "name": "item", "description": "10.1073/pnas.1812668115", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1073/pnas.1812668115"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-11-29T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1073/pnas.2201072119", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-23T16:18:46Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-07-18", "title": "Ethylene inhibits rice root elongation in compacted soil via ABA- and auxin-mediated mechanisms", "description": "Soil compaction represents a major agronomic challenge, inhibiting root elongation and impacting crop yields. Roots use ethylene to sense soil compaction as the restricted air space causes this gaseous signal to accumulate around root tips. Ethylene inhibits root elongation and promotes radial expansion in compacted soil, but its mechanistic basis remains unclear. Here, we report that ethylene promotes abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and cortical cell radial expansion. Rice mutants of ABA biosynthetic genes had attenuated cortical cell radial expansion in compacted soil, leading to better penetration. Soil compaction-induced ethylene also up-regulates the auxin biosynthesis gene OsYUC8 . Mutants lacking OsYUC8 are better able to penetrate compacted soil. The auxin influx transporter OsAUX1 is also required to mobilize auxin from the root tip to the elongation zone during a root compaction response. Moreover, osaux1 mutants penetrate compacted soil better than the wild-type roots and do not exhibit cortical cell radial expansion. We conclude that ethylene uses auxin and ABA as downstream signals to modify rice root cell elongation and radial expansion, causing root tips to swell and reducing their ability to penetrate compacted soil. Co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidation of a range of alkenes, dienes, and aromatic compounds by whole cells of the isoprene\uffe2\uff80\uff90degrading bacterium Rhodococcus sp. AD45 expressing isoprene monooxygenase was investigated, revealing a relatively broad substrate specificity for this soluble diiron centre monooxygenase. A range of 1\uffe2\uff80\uff90alkynes (C2\uffe2\uff80\uff93C8) were tested as potential inhibitors. Acetylene, a potent inhibitor of the related enzyme soluble methane monooxygenase, had little inhibitory effect, whereas 1\uffe2\uff80\uff90octyne was a potent inhibitor of isoprene monooxygenase, indicating that 1\uffe2\uff80\uff90octyne could potentially be used as a specific inhibitor to differentiate between isoprene consumption by bona fide isoprene degraders and co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidation of isoprene by other oxygenase\uffe2\uff80\uff90containing bacteria, such as methanotrophs, in environmental samples. The isoprene oxidation kinetics of a variety of monooxygenase\uffe2\uff80\uff90expressing bacteria were also investigated, revealing that alkene monooxygenase from Xanthobacter and soluble methane monooxygenases from Methylococcus and Methylocella, but not particulate methane monooxygenases from Methylococcus or Methylomicrobium, could co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidise isoprene at appreciable rates. Interestingly the ammonia monooxygenase from the nitrifier Nitrosomonas europaea could also co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidise isoprene at relatively high rates, suggesting that co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidation of isoprene by additional groups of bacteria, under the right conditions, might occur in the environment.Isoprene is a highly abundant climate-active gas and a carbon source for some bacteria. Analyses of the genes encoding isoprene monooxygenase (IsoMO) indicate this enzyme is a soluble diiron center monooxygenase in the same family of oxygenases as soluble methane monooxygenase, alkene monooxygenase, and toluene monooxygenase.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "Hemiterpenes", "Butadienes", "Oxygenases", "Rhodococcus", "Enzymology and Protein Engineering", "540", "Carbon", "Mixed Function Oxygenases", "3. Good health"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/84237/1/Published_Version.pdf"}, {"href": "https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.00029-22"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00029-22"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Applied%20and%20Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1128/aem.00029-22", "name": "item", "description": "10.1128/aem.00029-22", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1128/aem.00029-22"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-04-12T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "11104/0341036", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-23T16:25:56Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-07-18", "title": "Ethylene inhibits rice root elongation in compacted soil via ABA- and auxin-mediated mechanisms", "description": "Soil compaction represents a major agronomic challenge, inhibiting root elongation and impacting crop yields. Roots use ethylene to sense soil compaction as the restricted air space causes this gaseous signal to accumulate around root tips. Ethylene inhibits root elongation and promotes radial expansion in compacted soil, but its mechanistic basis remains unclear. Here, we report that ethylene promotes abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and cortical cell radial expansion. Rice mutants of ABA biosynthetic genes had attenuated cortical cell radial expansion in compacted soil, leading to better penetration. Soil compaction-induced ethylene also up-regulates the auxin biosynthesis gene OsYUC8 . Mutants lacking OsYUC8 are better able to penetrate compacted soil. The auxin influx transporter OsAUX1 is also required to mobilize auxin from the root tip to the elongation zone during a root compaction response. Moreover, osaux1 mutants penetrate compacted soil better than the wild-type roots and do not exhibit cortical cell radial expansion. We conclude that ethylene uses auxin and ABA as downstream signals to modify rice root cell elongation and radial expansion, causing root tips to swell and reducing their ability to penetrate compacted soil. Co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidation of a range of alkenes, dienes, and aromatic compounds by whole cells of the isoprene\uffe2\uff80\uff90degrading bacterium Rhodococcus sp. AD45 expressing isoprene monooxygenase was investigated, revealing a relatively broad substrate specificity for this soluble diiron centre monooxygenase. A range of 1\uffe2\uff80\uff90alkynes (C 2 \uffe2\uff80\uff93C 8 ) were tested as potential inhibitors. Acetylene, a potent inhibitor of the related enzyme soluble methane monooxygenase, had little inhibitory effect, whereas 1\uffe2\uff80\uff90octyne was a potent inhibitor of isoprene monooxygenase, indicating that 1\uffe2\uff80\uff90octyne could potentially be used as a specific inhibitor to differentiate between isoprene consumption by bona fide isoprene degraders and co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidation of isoprene by other oxygenase\uffe2\uff80\uff90containing bacteria, such as methanotrophs, in environmental samples. The isoprene oxidation kinetics of a variety of monooxygenase\uffe2\uff80\uff90expressing bacteria were also investigated, revealing that alkene monooxygenase from Xanthobacter and soluble methane monooxygenases from Methylococcus and Methylocella , but not particulate methane monooxygenases from Methylococcus or Methylomicrobium , could co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidise isoprene at appreciable rates. Interestingly the ammonia monooxygenase from the nitrifier Nitrosomonas europaea could also co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidise isoprene at relatively high rates, suggesting that co\uffe2\uff80\uff90oxidation of isoprene by additional groups of bacteria, under the right conditions, might occur in the environment.