Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil
Cultivation-independent surveys have shown that the desert soils of Antarctica harbour surprisingly rich microbial communities. Given that phototroph abundance varies across these Antarctic soils, an enduring question is what supports life in those communities with low photosynthetic capacity. Here...
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ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:715659 2023-05-15T13:52:34+02:00 Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil Ji, Mukan Greening, Chris Vanwonterghem, Inka Carere, Carlo R. Bay, Sean K. Steen, Jason A. Montgomery, Kate Lines, Thomas Beardall, John van Dorst, Josie Snape, Ian Stott, Matthew B. Hugenholtz, Philip Ferrari, Belinda C. 2017-12-06 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:715659 eng eng Nature Publishing Group doi:10.1038/nature25014 issn:1476-4687 issn:0028-0836 orcid:0000-0002-0150-2622 orcid:0000-0001-5386-7925 4406 FT170100341 DE170100310 DP120103498 FL150100038 16-GNS-035 Not set Rna Gene Database Microbial Communities Dry Valley High-Affinity Sequence Data Diversity Bacteria Ecology Genomes Metagenomes 1000 General Journal Article 2017 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25014 2020-12-08T02:54:49Z Cultivation-independent surveys have shown that the desert soils of Antarctica harbour surprisingly rich microbial communities. Given that phototroph abundance varies across these Antarctic soils, an enduring question is what supports life in those communities with low photosynthetic capacity. Here we provide evidence that atmospheric trace gases are the primary energy sources of two Antarctic surface soil communities. We reconstructed 23 draft genomes from metagenomic reads, including genomes from the candidate bacterial phyla WPS-2 and AD3. The dominant community members encoded and expressed high-affinity hydrogenases, carbon monoxide dehydrogenases, and a RuBisCO lineage known to support chemosynthetic carbon fixation. Soil microcosms aerobically scavenged atmospheric H2 and CO at rates sufficient to sustain their theoretical maintenance energy and mediated substantial levels of chemosynthetic but not photosynthetic CO2 fixation. We propose that atmospheric H2, CO2 and CO provide dependable sources of energy and carbon to support these communities, which suggests that atmospheric energy sources can provide an alternative basis for ecosystem function to solar or geological energy sources. Although more extensive sampling is required to verify whether this process is widespread in terrestrial Antarctica and other oligotrophic habitats, our results provide new understanding of the minimal nutritional requirements for life and open the possibility that atmospheric gases support life on other planets. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Antarctic Nature 552 7685 400 403 |
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Open Polar |
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The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivqespace |
language |
English |
topic |
Rna Gene Database Microbial Communities Dry Valley High-Affinity Sequence Data Diversity Bacteria Ecology Genomes Metagenomes 1000 General |
spellingShingle |
Rna Gene Database Microbial Communities Dry Valley High-Affinity Sequence Data Diversity Bacteria Ecology Genomes Metagenomes 1000 General Ji, Mukan Greening, Chris Vanwonterghem, Inka Carere, Carlo R. Bay, Sean K. Steen, Jason A. Montgomery, Kate Lines, Thomas Beardall, John van Dorst, Josie Snape, Ian Stott, Matthew B. Hugenholtz, Philip Ferrari, Belinda C. Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil |
topic_facet |
Rna Gene Database Microbial Communities Dry Valley High-Affinity Sequence Data Diversity Bacteria Ecology Genomes Metagenomes 1000 General |
description |
Cultivation-independent surveys have shown that the desert soils of Antarctica harbour surprisingly rich microbial communities. Given that phototroph abundance varies across these Antarctic soils, an enduring question is what supports life in those communities with low photosynthetic capacity. Here we provide evidence that atmospheric trace gases are the primary energy sources of two Antarctic surface soil communities. We reconstructed 23 draft genomes from metagenomic reads, including genomes from the candidate bacterial phyla WPS-2 and AD3. The dominant community members encoded and expressed high-affinity hydrogenases, carbon monoxide dehydrogenases, and a RuBisCO lineage known to support chemosynthetic carbon fixation. Soil microcosms aerobically scavenged atmospheric H2 and CO at rates sufficient to sustain their theoretical maintenance energy and mediated substantial levels of chemosynthetic but not photosynthetic CO2 fixation. We propose that atmospheric H2, CO2 and CO provide dependable sources of energy and carbon to support these communities, which suggests that atmospheric energy sources can provide an alternative basis for ecosystem function to solar or geological energy sources. Although more extensive sampling is required to verify whether this process is widespread in terrestrial Antarctica and other oligotrophic habitats, our results provide new understanding of the minimal nutritional requirements for life and open the possibility that atmospheric gases support life on other planets. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ji, Mukan Greening, Chris Vanwonterghem, Inka Carere, Carlo R. Bay, Sean K. Steen, Jason A. Montgomery, Kate Lines, Thomas Beardall, John van Dorst, Josie Snape, Ian Stott, Matthew B. Hugenholtz, Philip Ferrari, Belinda C. |
author_facet |
Ji, Mukan Greening, Chris Vanwonterghem, Inka Carere, Carlo R. Bay, Sean K. Steen, Jason A. Montgomery, Kate Lines, Thomas Beardall, John van Dorst, Josie Snape, Ian Stott, Matthew B. Hugenholtz, Philip Ferrari, Belinda C. |
author_sort |
Ji, Mukan |
title |
Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil |
title_short |
Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil |
title_full |
Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric trace gases support primary production in Antarctic desert surface soil |
title_sort |
atmospheric trace gases support primary production in antarctic desert surface soil |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:715659 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
doi:10.1038/nature25014 issn:1476-4687 issn:0028-0836 orcid:0000-0002-0150-2622 orcid:0000-0001-5386-7925 4406 FT170100341 DE170100310 DP120103498 FL150100038 16-GNS-035 Not set |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25014 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
552 |
container_issue |
7685 |
container_start_page |
400 |
op_container_end_page |
403 |
_version_ |
1766256990728749056 |