Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes
For centuries ecologists have studied how the diversity and functional traits of plant and animal communities vary across biomes. In contrast, we have only just begun exploring similar questions for soil microbial communities despite soil microbes being the dominant engines of biogeochemical cycles...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3535587 2023-05-15T18:40:32+02:00 Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes Fierer, Noah Leff, Jonathan W. Adams, Byron J. Nielsen, Uffe N. Bates, Scott Thomas Lauber, Christian L. Owens, Sarah Gilbert, Jack A. Wall, Diana H. Caporaso, J. Gregory 2012-12-26 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535587 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23236140 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215210110 en eng National Academy of Sciences http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535587 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23236140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215210110 Freely available online through the PNAS open access option. Biological Sciences Text 2012 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215210110 2013-09-04T17:54:25Z For centuries ecologists have studied how the diversity and functional traits of plant and animal communities vary across biomes. In contrast, we have only just begun exploring similar questions for soil microbial communities despite soil microbes being the dominant engines of biogeochemical cycles and a major pool of living biomass in terrestrial ecosystems. We used metagenomic sequencing to compare the composition and functional attributes of 16 soil microbial communities collected from cold deserts, hot deserts, forests, grasslands, and tundra. Those communities found in plant-free cold desert soils typically had the lowest levels of functional diversity (diversity of protein-coding gene categories) and the lowest levels of phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity. Across all soils, functional beta diversity was strongly correlated with taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity; the desert microbial communities were clearly distinct from the nondesert communities regardless of the metric used. The desert communities had higher relative abundances of genes associated with osmoregulation and dormancy, but lower relative abundances of genes associated with nutrient cycling and the catabolism of plant-derived organic compounds. Antibiotic resistance genes were consistently threefold less abundant in the desert soils than in the nondesert soils, suggesting that abiotic conditions, not competitive interactions, are more important in shaping the desert microbial communities. As the most comprehensive survey of soil taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity to date, this study demonstrates that metagenomic approaches can be used to build a predictive understanding of how microbial diversity and function vary across terrestrial biomes. Text Tundra PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 52 21390 21395 |
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Biological Sciences Fierer, Noah Leff, Jonathan W. Adams, Byron J. Nielsen, Uffe N. Bates, Scott Thomas Lauber, Christian L. Owens, Sarah Gilbert, Jack A. Wall, Diana H. Caporaso, J. Gregory Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
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Biological Sciences |
description |
For centuries ecologists have studied how the diversity and functional traits of plant and animal communities vary across biomes. In contrast, we have only just begun exploring similar questions for soil microbial communities despite soil microbes being the dominant engines of biogeochemical cycles and a major pool of living biomass in terrestrial ecosystems. We used metagenomic sequencing to compare the composition and functional attributes of 16 soil microbial communities collected from cold deserts, hot deserts, forests, grasslands, and tundra. Those communities found in plant-free cold desert soils typically had the lowest levels of functional diversity (diversity of protein-coding gene categories) and the lowest levels of phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity. Across all soils, functional beta diversity was strongly correlated with taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity; the desert microbial communities were clearly distinct from the nondesert communities regardless of the metric used. The desert communities had higher relative abundances of genes associated with osmoregulation and dormancy, but lower relative abundances of genes associated with nutrient cycling and the catabolism of plant-derived organic compounds. Antibiotic resistance genes were consistently threefold less abundant in the desert soils than in the nondesert soils, suggesting that abiotic conditions, not competitive interactions, are more important in shaping the desert microbial communities. As the most comprehensive survey of soil taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity to date, this study demonstrates that metagenomic approaches can be used to build a predictive understanding of how microbial diversity and function vary across terrestrial biomes. |
format |
Text |
author |
Fierer, Noah Leff, Jonathan W. Adams, Byron J. Nielsen, Uffe N. Bates, Scott Thomas Lauber, Christian L. Owens, Sarah Gilbert, Jack A. Wall, Diana H. Caporaso, J. Gregory |
author_facet |
Fierer, Noah Leff, Jonathan W. Adams, Byron J. Nielsen, Uffe N. Bates, Scott Thomas Lauber, Christian L. Owens, Sarah Gilbert, Jack A. Wall, Diana H. Caporaso, J. Gregory |
author_sort |
Fierer, Noah |
title |
Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
title_short |
Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
title_full |
Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
title_fullStr |
Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
title_sort |
cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535587 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23236140 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215210110 |
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Tundra |
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Tundra |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535587 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23236140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215210110 |
op_rights |
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215210110 |
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
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109 |
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52 |
container_start_page |
21390 |
op_container_end_page |
21395 |
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1766229915994161152 |