Does metagenomics reveal that detoxification systems are underrepresented in marine bacterial communities?
We found no indication that detoxification systems would be generally more abundant close to the coast compared to the open ocean. On the contrary, for several of the protein families that displayed a significant geographical distribution, like peroxidase, penicillin binding transpeptidase and divalent ion transport protein, the open ocean samples showed the highest abundance. Along the same lines, the abundance of most detoxification proteins did not increase with estimated pollution. The low level of detoxification systems in marine bacteria indicate that the majority of marine bacteria have a low capacity to adapt to increased pollution. Our study exemplifies the use of metagenomics data in ecotoxicology, and in particular how anthropogenic consequences on life in the sea can be examined.
Women with an increased BMI are managed differently in labour than women of normal weight. This difference in management in part explains the increased rate of Caesarean section observed with higher BMI.