Papers by Michael Gillings
Microbial mass movements
Altres ajuts: this research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41571130063... more Altres ajuts: this research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41571130063), Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB15020302 and XDB15020402), the Australian Research Council (DP130103839).For several billion years, microorganisms and the genes they carry have mainly been moved by physical forces such as air and water currents. These forces generated biogeographic patterns for microorganisms that are similar to those of animals and plants (1). In the past 100 years, humans have changed these dynamics by transporting large numbers of cells to new locations through waste disposal, tourism, and global transport and by modifying selection pressures at those locations. As a consequence, we are in the midst of a substantial alteration to microbial biogeography. This has the potential to change ecosystem services and biogeochemistry in unpredictable ways
DNA sequencing of Duddingtonia flagrans ‘Trial 1’ isolates
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2000
Phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal RNA gene sequences (rDNAs) retrieved from an Australian desert... more Phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal RNA gene sequences (rDNAs) retrieved from an Australian desert soil sample (Sturt National Park) revealed the presence of a number of clones which branched deeply from the high GC Gram-positive division line of descent. The most abundant group of these clones were related to Rubrobacter. An oligonucleotide probe was designed to have broad specificity to Rubrobacter and relatives. This probe was used to interrogate eight rDNA libraries representing four distinct land forms within the Australian arid zone. Relative abundance of Rubrobacter-relatives in these samples ranged from 2.6 to 10.2%. Clones from these libraries were selected for sequence analysis on the basis of a heteroduplex mobility assay to maximise the diversity represented in the sample. Phylogenetic analyses of these rDNA clones and Rubrobacter-related clones reported in the literature show strong support for three distinct groups. Database-searching revealed`Rubrobacteria' were relatively abundant in a number of published soil rDNA libraries but absent from others. A PCR assay for group-1`Rubrobacteria' was used to test for their presence in 21 environmental samples. Only marine and arid-zone soil samples gave positive PCR results. Taken together these results indicate`Rubrobacteria' are a widespread group of variable abundance and diversity.
Differential antimicrobial activity in response to the entomopathogenic fungus Cordyceps in six Australian bee species
Australian Journal of Entomology, 2010
Abstract Microbial pathogens were important in the evolution of insect societies and remain a maj... more Abstract Microbial pathogens were important in the evolution of insect societies and remain a major cause of colony death. The differential effects are reported of antimicrobial compounds extracted from six species of Australian native bees on the spores and hyphae of the entomopathogenic fungus Cordyceps bassiana. The bee species were: Amegilla bombiformis, A. asserta, Exoneura robusta, E. nigrescens, Exoneurella tridentata and Trigona carbonaria. The fungus was isolated from E. robusta and it was this species that ...
Changes in Prokaryote and Eukaryote Assemblages Along a Gradient of Hydrocarbon Contamination in Groundwater
Geomicrobiology Journal, 2013
Abstract Groundwater biota are particularly sensitive to environmental perturbations such as grou... more Abstract Groundwater biota are particularly sensitive to environmental perturbations such as groundwater contamination. The diversity of prokaryotic and eukaryotic biota has been examined along a gradient of chlorinated hydrocarbon (CHC) contamination in the Botany Sands, an urban coastal sand-bed aquifer (Sydney, Australia). Molecular techniques were used to analyse the richness and composition of prokaryote and eukaryote assemblages using 16S and 18S rDNA, respectively. Taxon richness did not change significantly along ...
Additional file 4: of Discovery of the fourth mobile sulfonamide resistance gene
List of previously not reported gene cassettes. (XLSX 325Â kb)
The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has established large populations in Australia’s urban and rural area... more The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has established large populations in Australia’s urban and rural areas since its introduction following European settlement. Foxes’ cryptic and highly adaptable nature allows them to invade cities and live among humans while remaining largely unnoticed. Urban living and access to anthropogenic food resources also influences fox ecology. Urban foxes grow larger, live at higher densities and are more social than their rural counterparts. These ecological changes in urban red foxes are likely to impact the pathogens that they harbour, and foxes could pose a disease risk to humans and other species that share these urban spaces. To assess this possibility, we used a meta-transcriptomic approach to characterise the viromes of urban and rural foxes across the Greater Sydney region in Australia. Urban and rural foxes differed significantly in virome composition, with rural foxes harbouring a greater abundance of viruses compared to their urban counterparts. In c...
Environment International, 2019
The concept of planetary health acknowledges the links between ecosystems, biodiversity and human... more The concept of planetary health acknowledges the links between ecosystems, biodiversity and human health and well-being. Soil, the critical component of the interconnected ecosystem, is the most biodiverse habitat on Earth, and soil microbiomes play a major role in human health and well-being through ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, pollutant remediation and synthesis of bioactive compounds such as antimicrobials. Soil is also a natural source of antimicrobial resistance, which is often termed intrinsic resistance. However, increasing use and misuse of antimicrobials in humans and animals in recent decades has increased both the diversity and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in soils, particularly in areas affected by human and animal wastes, such as organic manures and reclaimed wastewater, and also by air transmission. Antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance are two sides of the sword, while antimicrobials are essential in health care; globally, antimicrobial resistance is jeopardizing the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs, thus threatening human health. Soil is a crucial pathway through which humans are exposed to antimicrobial resistance determinants, including those harbored by human pathogens. In this review, we use the nexus of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance as a focus to discuss the role of soil in planetary health and illustrate the impacts of soil microbiomes on human health and well-being. This review examines the sources and dynamics of antimicrobial resistance in soils and uses the perspective of planetary health to track the movement of antimicrobial-resistance genes between environmental compartments, including soil, water, food and air.
Frontiers in microbiology, 2015
Antibiotics are disseminated into aquatic environments via human waste streams and agricultural r... more Antibiotics are disseminated into aquatic environments via human waste streams and agricultural run-off. Here they can persist at low, but biologically relevant, concentrations. Antibiotic pollution establishes a selection gradient for resistance and may also raise the frequency of events that generate resistance: point mutations; recombination; and lateral gene transfer. This study examined the response of bacteria to sub-inhibitory levels of antibiotics. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas protegens were exposed kanamycin, tetracycline or ciprofloxacin at 1/10 the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) in a serial streaking experiment over 40 passages. Significant changes in rep-PCR fingerprints were noted in both species when exposed to sub-inhibitory antibiotic concentrations. These changes were observed in as few as five passages, despite the fact that the protocols used sample less than 0.3% of the genome, in turn suggesting much more widespread alterations to sequence and ...
Australasian Plant Pathology, 2006
An international collection of the sugarcane ratoon stunting disease pathogen, Leifsonia xyli sub... more An international collection of the sugarcane ratoon stunting disease pathogen, Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli, was analysed to assess genetic diversity. DNA fingerprinting using BOX primers was performed on 105 isolates, comprising 65 Australian isolates and an additional 40 isolates from
Additional file 9: of Discovery of the fourth mobile sulfonamide resistance gene
Phylogenetic tree of DHPS proteins encoded by chromosomal genes and mobile sulfonamide resistance... more Phylogenetic tree of DHPS proteins encoded by chromosomal genes and mobile sulfonamide resistance genes. (TXT 283Â kb)
Additional file 8: of Discovery of the fourth mobile sulfonamide resistance gene
Phylogenetic tree of the identified OXA-variant gene cassettes and 289 known OXA-variants retriev... more Phylogenetic tree of the identified OXA-variant gene cassettes and 289 known OXA-variants retrieved from the CARD database. (TXT 9Â kb)
Additional file 3: of Rhizosphere microorganisms can influence the timing of plant flowering
Taxonomy (relative abundance) of rhizosphere microorganisms at the genus level. (XLSX 46 kb)
Additional file 2: of Rhizosphere microorganisms can influence the timing of plant flowering
Taxonomy (relative abundance) of rhizosphere microorganisms at the phylum level. (XLSX 35 kb)
Additional file 1: of Metagenomics of urban sewage identifies an extensively shared antibiotic resistome in China
Table S1. Supplementary information of WWTP sewage samples. (XLSX 16 kb)
Additional file 14: of Metagenomics of urban sewage identifies an extensively shared antibiotic resistome in China
Dataset 4. Characteristics of network analysis of bacterial taxa and ARGs in summer and winter. (... more Dataset 4. Characteristics of network analysis of bacterial taxa and ARGs in summer and winter. (XLSX 35Â kb)
Additional file 12: of Metagenomics of urban sewage identifies an extensively shared antibiotic resistome in China
Figure S7. Seasonal variation of antibiotic resistomes and microbial communities in sewage. a Per... more Figure S7. Seasonal variation of antibiotic resistomes and microbial communities in sewage. a Percentage of the core resistomes in urban sewage samples. MLS Macrolide-Lincosamide-Streptogramin resistance. b NMDS analysis revealing the distribution pattern of the core resistomes at subtype level (Adonis tests, P
Additional file 7: of Metagenomics of urban sewage identifies an extensively shared antibiotic resistome in China
Figure S3. Cluster analysis (hierarchical cluster) based on between-groups linkage method reveale... more Figure S3. Cluster analysis (hierarchical cluster) based on between-groups linkage method revealed that no distinct geographic clustering of resistome and bacterial community in urban sewage was observed. The Euclidian distances between two observations were measured using interval and square Euclidean distance. a All ARG subtypes. b Shared ARG subtypes. c Bacterial community. d Shared bacterial OTUs. e Human gut microbiota. f Shared human gut genera. Numbers on the top indicate rescaled distance cluster combine. (PDF 220Â kb)
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Papers by Michael Gillings