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The microbial diversity and ecological function in different saline lakes was reduced or disappeared as the influence of climate change and human activities even before they were known. However, reports about prokaryotic microbial of saline lakes from Xinjiang are very limited especially in large-scale investigations. In this study, a total of 6 saline lakes represented three different habitats, including hypersaline lake (HSL), arid saline lake (ASL), and light saltwater lake (LSL) were involved. The distribution pattern and potential functions of prokaryotes were investigated by using the cultivation-independent method of amplicon sequencing. The results showed that Proteobacteria was the predominant community and was widely distributed in all kinds of saline lakes, Desulfobacterota was the representative community in hypersaline lakes, Firmicutes and Acidobacteriota were mainly distributed in arid saline lake samples, and Chloroflexi was more abundant in light saltwater lakes. Specifically, the archaeal community was mainly distributed in the HSL and ASL samples, whereas it was very rare in the LSL lakes. The functional group showed that fermentation was the main metabolic process of microbes in all saline lakes and covered 8 phyla, including Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, Desulfobacterota, Firmicutes, Halanaerobiaeota, Proteobacteria, Spirochaetota, and Verrucomicrobiota. Among the 15 functional phyla, Proteobacteria was a distinctly important community in saline lakes, as it exhibited wide functions in the biogeochemical cycle. According to the correlation of environmental factors, SO 4 2- , Na + , and TN were significantly affected in the microbial community from saline lakes in this study. Overall, our study provided more detailed information about microbial community composition and distribution from three different habitats of saline lakes, especially the potential functions of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, which provided new insight for understanding the complex microbiota adapt to the extreme environment and new perspectives on evaluating microbial contributions to degraded saline lakes under environmental change.3 2- , and TN were significantly affected in the microbial community from saline lakes in this study. Overall, our study provided more detailed information about microbial community composition and distribution from three different habitats of saline lakes, especially the potential functions of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, which provided new insight for understanding the complex microbiota adapt to the extreme environment and new perspectives on evaluating microbial contributions to degraded saline lakes under environmental change., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Bacteriophages typically have small genomes1 and depend on their bacterial hosts for replication2. Here we sequenced DNA from diverse ecosystems and found hundreds of phage genomes with lengths of more than 200 kilobases (kb), including a genome of 735 kb, which is-to our knowledge-the largest phage genome to be described to date. Thirty-five genomes were manually curated to completion (circular and no gaps). Expanded genetic repertoires include diverse and previously undescribed CRISPR-Cas systems, transfer RNAs (tRNAs), tRNA synthetases, tRNA-modification enzymes, translation-initiation and elongation factors, and ribosomal proteins. The CRISPR-Cas systems of phages have the capacity to silence host transcription factors and translational genes, potentially as part of a larger interaction network that intercepts translation to redirect biosynthesis to phage-encoded functions. In addition, some phages may repurpose bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems to eliminate competing phages. We phylogenetically define the major clades of huge phages from human and other animal microbiomes, as well as from oceans, lakes, sediments, soils and the built environment. We conclude that the large gene inventories of huge phages reflect a conserved biological strategy, and that the phages are distributed across a broad bacterial host range and across Earth's ecosystems.

A novel actinobacterium, designated strain JXJ CY 19T, was isolated from a culture mat of Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-905 collected from Dianchi Lake, South-west China. 16S rRNA gene sequences comparison of strain JXJ CY 19T and the available sequences in the GenBank database showed that the strain was closely related to Modestobacter marinus 42H12-1T (99.1% similarity) and Modestobacter roseus KLBMP 1279T (99.0%). The isolate had meso-diaminopimelic in the cell wall with whole-cell sugars of mannose, rhamnose, ribose, glucose, galactose, and arabinose. The menaquinone detected was MK-9(H4), while the major cellular fatty acids include C17:1 ω8c, C15:0 iso, C15:1 iso G and C16:0 iso. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and an unidentified phospholipid. The DNA-DNA hybridization values between strains JXJ CY 19T and the closely related type strains Modestobacter marinus CGMCC 4.5581T and Modestobacter roseus NBRC 108673T were determined to be 50.8 ± 0.8% and 44.1 ± 1.7%, respectively. The DNA G+C content was 71.9 mol%. On the basis of the above taxonomic data and differences in physiological characters from the closely related type strains, strain JXJ CY 19T was recognized as a novel species of the genus Modestobacter, for which the name Modestobacter lacusdianchii sp. nov. (JXJ CY 19T = KCTC 39600T = CPCC 204352T) is proposed. The type strain JXJ CY 19T can solubilize calcium phosphate tribasic (Ca3(PO4)2), phytin and L-α-phosphatidylcholine. The phosphate-solubilizing property of the novel actinobacterium could be a possible factor for the increase in growth of Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-905 in ecosystem where the amount of available soluble phosphate is limited such as Dianchi Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]