The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils
Thawing of permafrost soils is expected to stimulate microbial decomposition and respiration of sequestered carbon. This could, in turn, increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, and create a positive feedback to climate warming. Recent metagenomic...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:20f87b4525fe492dbb8bd16952f0bdc4 2023-05-15T15:13:44+02:00 The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils M J L Coolen William D Orsi 2015-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197 https://doaj.org/article/20f87b4525fe492dbb8bd16952f0bdc4 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197 https://doaj.org/article/20f87b4525fe492dbb8bd16952f0bdc4 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 6 (2015) DNA Repair metatranscriptomics Biofilm formation Permafrost acetoclastic methanogenesis Cellular defense mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197 2023-01-08T01:31:15Z Thawing of permafrost soils is expected to stimulate microbial decomposition and respiration of sequestered carbon. This could, in turn, increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, and create a positive feedback to climate warming. Recent metagenomic studies suggest that permafrost has a large metabolic potential for carbon processing, including pathways for fermentation and methanogenesis. Here, we performed a pilot study using ultrahigh throughput Illumina HiSeq sequencing of reverse transcribed messenger RNA to obtain a detailed overview of active metabolic pathways and responsible organisms in up to 70 cm deep permafrost soils at a moist acidic tundra location in Arctic Alaska. The transcriptional response of the permafrost microbial community was compared before and after eleven days of thaw. In general, the transcriptional profile under frozen conditions suggests a dominance of stress responses, survival strategies, and maintenance processes, whereas upon thaw a rapid enzymatic response to decomposing soil organic matter (SOM) was observed. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, ascomycete fungi, and methanogens were responsible for largest transcriptional response upon thaw. Transcripts indicative of heterotrophic methanogenic pathways utilizing acetate, methanol, and methylamine were found predominantly in the permafrost table after thaw. Furthermore, transcripts involved in acetogenesis were expressed exclusively after thaw suggesting that acetogenic bacteria are a potential source of acetate for acetoclastic methanogenesis in freshly thawed permafrost. Metatranscriptomics is shown here to be a useful approach for inferring the activity of permafrost microbes that has potential to improve our understanding of permafrost SOM bioavailability and biogeochemical mechanisms contributing to greenhouse gas emissions as a result of permafrost thaw. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Frontiers in Microbiology 6 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
DNA Repair metatranscriptomics Biofilm formation Permafrost acetoclastic methanogenesis Cellular defense mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
DNA Repair metatranscriptomics Biofilm formation Permafrost acetoclastic methanogenesis Cellular defense mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502 M J L Coolen William D Orsi The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils |
topic_facet |
DNA Repair metatranscriptomics Biofilm formation Permafrost acetoclastic methanogenesis Cellular defense mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Thawing of permafrost soils is expected to stimulate microbial decomposition and respiration of sequestered carbon. This could, in turn, increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, and create a positive feedback to climate warming. Recent metagenomic studies suggest that permafrost has a large metabolic potential for carbon processing, including pathways for fermentation and methanogenesis. Here, we performed a pilot study using ultrahigh throughput Illumina HiSeq sequencing of reverse transcribed messenger RNA to obtain a detailed overview of active metabolic pathways and responsible organisms in up to 70 cm deep permafrost soils at a moist acidic tundra location in Arctic Alaska. The transcriptional response of the permafrost microbial community was compared before and after eleven days of thaw. In general, the transcriptional profile under frozen conditions suggests a dominance of stress responses, survival strategies, and maintenance processes, whereas upon thaw a rapid enzymatic response to decomposing soil organic matter (SOM) was observed. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, ascomycete fungi, and methanogens were responsible for largest transcriptional response upon thaw. Transcripts indicative of heterotrophic methanogenic pathways utilizing acetate, methanol, and methylamine were found predominantly in the permafrost table after thaw. Furthermore, transcripts involved in acetogenesis were expressed exclusively after thaw suggesting that acetogenic bacteria are a potential source of acetate for acetoclastic methanogenesis in freshly thawed permafrost. Metatranscriptomics is shown here to be a useful approach for inferring the activity of permafrost microbes that has potential to improve our understanding of permafrost SOM bioavailability and biogeochemical mechanisms contributing to greenhouse gas emissions as a result of permafrost thaw. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
M J L Coolen William D Orsi |
author_facet |
M J L Coolen William D Orsi |
author_sort |
M J L Coolen |
title |
The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils |
title_short |
The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils |
title_full |
The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils |
title_fullStr |
The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils |
title_full_unstemmed |
The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils |
title_sort |
transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing alaskan permafrost soils |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197 https://doaj.org/article/20f87b4525fe492dbb8bd16952f0bdc4 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 6 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197 https://doaj.org/article/20f87b4525fe492dbb8bd16952f0bdc4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00197 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
6 |
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1766344258555478016 |