From c59fafd367af9c4c5d6f17c7f63779a9c496c35f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "marcin p. joachimiak" <4625870+realmarcin@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2026 21:23:40 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Bound xylan mediation, mercury evidence and Z123 functional inference --- ...ix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture.html | 31 +- ..._Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community.html | 177 +-- ...Gordonia_Z123_LDPE_Degradation_SynCom.html | 30 +- .../2026-10-07T041550Z-codex-c8a69e.yaml | 28 + .../2026-10-07T041550Z-codex-898bb6.yaml | 29 + .../2026-10-07T041551Z-codex-dc3798.yaml | 25 + ...ix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture.yaml | 70 +- ..._Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community.yaml | 174 ++- ...Gordonia_Z123_LDPE_Degradation_SynCom.yaml | 59 +- references_cache/PMID_32414793.md | 18 +- reports/causal_graph_review/README.md | 28 + .../adversarial-review-20261007-batch77.yaml | 236 ++++ .../20261007-four-records-batch77.yaml | 434 +++++++ reports/causal_graph_review/inventory.tsv | 8 +- reports/causal_graph_review/summary.json | 10 +- .../validation-20261007-batch77.json | 1013 +++++++++++++++++ tests/test_causal_review_batch77.py | 178 +++ 17 files changed, 2271 insertions(+), 277 deletions(-) create mode 100644 history/records/Neocallimastix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture/2026-10-07T041550Z-codex-c8a69e.yaml create mode 100644 history/records/Ngawha_Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community/2026-10-07T041550Z-codex-898bb6.yaml create mode 100644 history/records/Nitratireductor_Gordonia_Z123_LDPE_Degradation_SynCom/2026-10-07T041551Z-codex-dc3798.yaml create mode 100644 reports/causal_graph_review/adversarial-review-20261007-batch77.yaml create mode 100644 reports/causal_graph_review/decisions/20261007-four-records-batch77.yaml create mode 100644 reports/causal_graph_review/validation-20261007-batch77.json create mode 100644 tests/test_causal_review_batch77.py diff --git a/docs/communities/Neocallimastix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture.html b/docs/communities/Neocallimastix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture.html index f9975a4c1..6a9e63ff8 100644 --- a/docs/communities/Neocallimastix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture.html +++ b/docs/communities/Neocallimastix_Methanobrevibacter_Xylan_Coculture.html @@ -579,7 +579,7 @@

Ecological Interactions

Interspecies Hydrogen Transfer During Xylan Fermentation

SYNTROPHY -

M. smithii removes reducing equivalents from the fungal fermentation, preventing hydrogen accumulation and shifting the metabolite profile toward acetate during xylan degradation.

+

In the N. frontalis PNK2-M. smithii coculture, hydrogen and formate did not accumulate, acetate formation increased and lactate decreased, consistent with the reported interspecies hydrogen transfer and methanogenesis. M. smithii alone did not utilize xylan or supply the assayed extracellular hydrolase activities. These results support metabolic coupling without establishing obligate dependence of fungal growth on this partner.

Source Taxon: Neocallimastix frontalis

@@ -632,14 +632,12 @@

Interspecies Hydrogen Transfer During Xylan Fermentation

→ Methanogen-Stimulated Xylan Utilization -

Hydrogen removal by M. smithii shifts fungal fermentation away from reduced products, supporting the observed increase in xylan utilization. -

+

PARTIAL - Methanogenic removal of fermentation products shifts fungal metabolism toward acetate and is proposed to support the observed increase in xylan-derived sugar utilization. The coculture comparison supports the positive effect, but does not isolate hydrogen removal from growth and other partner-associated changes; utilization is distinct from polymer depolymerization.

→ Enhanced Extracellular Hemicellulase Activities -

Interspecies hydrogen transfer in the fungus-methanogen coculture is the syntrophic context in which extracellular xylanase and accessory hemicellulase activities increase. -

+

HYPOTHESIZED - Methanogenic product removal is proposed to improve fungal sugar uptake, reducing extracellular xylose accumulation and catabolite repression of hemicellulases. This supplies a mechanistic path to the measured enzyme increase, not merely a shared coculture context; the authors leave control of sugar uptake unresolved.

@@ -684,7 +682,7 @@

Evidence

Methanogen-Stimulated Xylan Utilization

SYNTROPHY -

Coculture with M. smithii increases both the rate and extent of xylan utilization by anaerobic ruminal fungi relative to axenic fungal culture.

+

Coculture with M. smithii increased the rate and extent of xylan utilization by N. frontalis PNK2 relative to fungal monoculture, with stimulation maintained during an 18-day experiment. Increased utilization does not imply a corresponding increase in polymer depolymerization: N. frontalis already degraded most xylan in both conditions, and the source distinguishes degradation from uptake and fermentation of released sugars.

Source Taxon: Methanobrevibacter smithii

@@ -745,7 +743,7 @@

Evidence

Enhanced Extracellular Hemicellulase Activities

SYNTROPHY -

The M. smithii coculture stimulates extracellular xylanolytic enzyme activities by the anaerobic fungal partner, including xylanase, arabinofuranosidase, and beta-xylosidase activities.

+

Coculture increased extracellular xylanase, alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase and beta-D-xylosidase specific activities, normalized to fungal protein rather than explained solely by greater biomass. Magnitudes depended on fungus, enzyme, substrate and sampling time; the abstract maxima summarize a comparison panel, not uniform fold changes for N. frontalis PNK2. Cell-bound endopeptidase was not increased and alpha-D-glucosidase was little affected.

Source Taxon: Methanobrevibacter smithii

@@ -854,6 +852,25 @@

Associated Datasets

+
+

Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)

+ +
+

+ KNOWLEDGE_GAP + OPEN + Which measurements establish the proposed causal mechanism in this exact system? +

+

Preserve the directly measured coculture utilization and enzyme gains, as well as hydrogen/formate and fermentation-product changes. Distinguish polymer degradation from utilization and protein-normalized enzyme activity from biomass. The primary main text proposes sugar-uptake and catabolite-repression mediation but calls for further work on uptake control. No selective hydrogen-removal or repression-rescue experiment is inferred from the coculture comparison. The three fungal systems in the comparison panel are not additional members of this two-member record.

+ +

Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Interspecies Hydrogen Transfer During Xylan Fermentation, ecological_interactions#Methanogen-Stimulated Xylan Utilization, ecological_interactions#Enhanced Extracellular Hemicellulase Activities

+ + + + +
+ +
diff --git a/docs/communities/Ngawha_Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community.html b/docs/communities/Ngawha_Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community.html index 728623aba..6e8133e87 100644 --- a/docs/communities/Ngawha_Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community.html +++ b/docs/communities/Ngawha_Geothermal_Mercury_Cycling_Community.html @@ -601,7 +601,7 @@

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Ngawha Geothermal Acidic Springs Mercury Cycling Community - Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and each ecological interaction is drawn as a distinct non-circular symbol, with colour repeating the same distinction (syntrophy, niche partitioning). + Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and each ecological interaction is drawn as a distinct non-circular symbol, with colour repeating the same distinction.
@@ -609,13 +609,8 @@

Ecological Interactions

Syntrophy -
-
- Niche partitioning + aria-hidden="true" data-symbol="symbolTriangle2" + data-color="#929caa"> Other
@@ -624,10 +619,8 @@

Ecological Interactions

Acidic Warm-Spring Mercury Speciation Regime

- NICHE_PARTITIONING
-

Adjacent acidic warm springs in the Ngawha Geothermal Field had pH below 4.5, temperatures below 55 C, and exceptionally high dissolved total and methylated mercury, defining the geochemical regime constraining microbial Hg transformations. -

+

Geochemical measurements characterize acidic warm Ngawha springs with high dissolved total mercury and methylmercury and high sediment mercury. These measured environmental pools constrain hypotheses about bioavailability, but total dissolved mercury is not synonymous with freely available Hg(II), and co-occurrence does not show that the regime caused the observed diversity.

@@ -648,31 +641,9 @@

Acidic Warm-Spring Mercury Speciation Regime

-

Biological Processes:

- -
- Downstream Effects: - -
- → Diverse Acidophile Guilds Under Ultrahigh Mercury -

The high-Hg acidic spring regime was inhabited by unexpectedly diverse sulfur-, iron-, Hg/As-resistance, and archaeal guilds. -

-
- -
- -

Evidence