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Dang C, Walkup JGV, Hungate BA, Franklin RB, Schwartz E, Morrissey EM. Phylogenetic organization in the assimilation of chemically distinct substrates by soil bacteria. Environ Microbiol 2021; 24:357-369. [PMID: 34811865 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Soils are among the most biodiverse habitats on earth and while the species composition of microbial communities can influence decomposition rates and pathways, the functional significance of many microbial species and phylogenetic groups remains unknown. If bacteria exhibit phylogenetic organization in their function, this could enable ecologically meaningful classification of bacterial clades. Here, we show non-random phylogenetic organization in the rates of relative carbon assimilation for both rapidly mineralized substrates (amino acids and glucose) assimilated by many microbial taxa and slowly mineralized substrates (lipids and cellulose) assimilated by relatively few microbial taxa. When mapped onto bacterial phylogeny using ancestral character estimation this phylogenetic organization enabled the identification of clades involved in the decomposition of specific soil organic matter substrates. Phylogenetic organization in substrate assimilation could provide a basis for predicting the functional attributes of uncharacterized microbial taxa and understanding the significance of microbial community composition for soil organic matter decomposition.
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Li J, Jia C, Lu Q, Hungate BA, Dijkstra P, Wang S, Wu C, Chen S, Li D, Shim H. Mechanistic insights into the success of xenobiotic degraders resolved from metagenomes of microbial enrichment cultures. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2021; 418:126384. [PMID: 34329005 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Even though microbial communities can be more effective at degrading xenobiotics than cultured micro-organisms, yet little is known about the microbial strategies that underpin xenobiotic biodegradation by microbial communities. Here, we employ metagenomic community sequencing to explore the mechanisms that drive the development of 49 xenobiotic-degrading microbial communities, which were enriched from 7 contaminated soils or sediments with a range of xenobiotic compounds. We show that multiple microbial strategies likely drive the development of xenobiotic degrading communities, notably (i) presence of genes encoding catabolic enzymes to degrade xenobiotics; (ii) presence of genes encoding efflux pumps; (iii) auxiliary catabolic genes on plasmids; and (iv) positive interactions dominate microbial communities with efficient degradation. Overall, the integrated analyses of microbial ecological strategies advance our understanding of microbial processes driving the biodegradation of xenobiotics and promote the design of bioremediation systems.
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Stone BW, Li J, Koch BJ, Blazewicz SJ, Dijkstra P, Hayer M, Hofmockel KS, Liu XJA, Mau RL, Morrissey EM, Pett-Ridge J, Schwartz E, Hungate BA. Author Correction: Nutrients cause consolidation of soil carbon flux to small proportion of bacterial community. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4052. [PMID: 34168161 PMCID: PMC8225670 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24314-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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Hungate BA, Marks JC, Power ME, Schwartz E, van Groenigen KJ, Blazewicz SJ, Chuckran P, Dijkstra P, Finley BK, Firestone MK, Foley M, Greenlon A, Hayer M, Hofmockel KS, Koch BJ, Mack MC, Mau RL, Miller SN, Morrissey EM, Propster JR, Purcell AM, Sieradzki E, Starr EP, Stone BWG, Terrer C, Pett-Ridge J. The Functional Significance of Bacterial Predators. mBio 2021; 12:e00466-21. [PMID: 33906922 PMCID: PMC8092244 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00466-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Predation structures food webs, influences energy flow, and alters rates and pathways of nutrient cycling through ecosystems, effects that are well documented for macroscopic predators. In the microbial world, predatory bacteria are common, yet little is known about their rates of growth and roles in energy flows through microbial food webs, in part because these are difficult to quantify. Here, we show that growth and carbon uptake were higher in predatory bacteria compared to nonpredatory bacteria, a finding across 15 sites, synthesizing 82 experiments and over 100,000 taxon-specific measurements of element flow into newly synthesized bacterial DNA. Obligate predatory bacteria grew 36% faster and assimilated carbon at rates 211% higher than nonpredatory bacteria. These differences were less pronounced for facultative predators (6% higher growth rates, 17% higher carbon assimilation rates), though high growth and carbon assimilation rates were observed for some facultative predators, such as members of the genera Lysobacter and Cytophaga, both capable of gliding motility and wolf-pack hunting behavior. Added carbon substrates disproportionately stimulated growth of obligate predators, with responses 63% higher than those of nonpredators for the Bdellovibrionales and 81% higher for the Vampirovibrionales, whereas responses of facultative predators to substrate addition were no different from those of nonpredators. This finding supports the ecological theory that higher productivity increases predator control of lower trophic levels. These findings also indicate that the functional significance of bacterial predators increases with energy flow and that predatory bacteria influence element flow through microbial food webs.IMPORTANCE The word "predator" may conjure images of leopards killing and eating impala on the African savannah or of great white sharks attacking elephant seals off the coast of California. But microorganisms are also predators, including bacteria that kill and eat other bacteria. While predatory bacteria have been found in many environments, it has been challenging to document their importance in nature. This study quantified the growth of predatory and nonpredatory bacteria in soils (and one stream) by tracking isotopically labeled substrates into newly synthesized DNA. Predatory bacteria were more active than nonpredators, and obligate predators, such as Bdellovibrionales and Vampirovibrionales, increased in growth rate in response to added substrates at the base of the food chain, strong evidence of trophic control. This work provides quantitative measures of predator activity and suggests that predatory bacteria-along with protists, nematodes, and phages-are active and important in microbial food webs.
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Wang C, Morrissey EM, Mau RL, Hayer M, Piñeiro J, Mack MC, Marks JC, Bell SL, Miller SN, Schwartz E, Dijkstra P, Koch BJ, Stone BW, Purcell AM, Blazewicz SJ, Hofmockel KS, Pett-Ridge J, Hungate BA. The temperature sensitivity of soil: microbial biodiversity, growth, and carbon mineralization. ISME JOURNAL 2021; 15:2738-2747. [PMID: 33782569 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-00959-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Microorganisms drive soil carbon mineralization and changes in their activity with increased temperature could feedback to climate change. Variation in microbial biodiversity and the temperature sensitivities (Q10) of individual taxa may explain differences in the Q10 of soil respiration, a possibility not previously examined due to methodological limitations. Here, we show phylogenetic and taxonomic variation in the Q10 of growth (5-35 °C) among soil bacteria from four sites, one from each of Arctic, boreal, temperate, and tropical biomes. Differences in the temperature sensitivities of taxa and the taxonomic composition of communities determined community-assembled bacterial growth Q10, which was strongly predictive of soil respiration Q10 within and across biomes. Our results suggest community-assembled traits of microbial taxa may enable enhanced prediction of carbon cycling feedbacks to climate change in ecosystems across the globe.
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Walker AP, De Kauwe MG, Bastos A, Belmecheri S, Georgiou K, Keeling RF, McMahon SM, Medlyn BE, Moore DJP, Norby RJ, Zaehle S, Anderson-Teixeira KJ, Battipaglia G, Brienen RJW, Cabugao KG, Cailleret M, Campbell E, Canadell JG, Ciais P, Craig ME, Ellsworth DS, Farquhar GD, Fatichi S, Fisher JB, Frank DC, Graven H, Gu L, Haverd V, Heilman K, Heimann M, Hungate BA, Iversen CM, Joos F, Jiang M, Keenan TF, Knauer J, Körner C, Leshyk VO, Leuzinger S, Liu Y, MacBean N, Malhi Y, McVicar TR, Penuelas J, Pongratz J, Powell AS, Riutta T, Sabot MEB, Schleucher J, Sitch S, Smith WK, Sulman B, Taylor B, Terrer C, Torn MS, Treseder KK, Trugman AT, Trumbore SE, van Mantgem PJ, Voelker SL, Whelan ME, Zuidema PA. Integrating the evidence for a terrestrial carbon sink caused by increasing atmospheric CO 2. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 229:2413-2445. [PMID: 32789857 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2 ]) is increasing, which increases leaf-scale photosynthesis and intrinsic water-use efficiency. These direct responses have the potential to increase plant growth, vegetation biomass, and soil organic matter; transferring carbon from the atmosphere into terrestrial ecosystems (a carbon sink). A substantial global terrestrial carbon sink would slow the rate of [CO2 ] increase and thus climate change. However, ecosystem CO2 responses are complex or confounded by concurrent changes in multiple agents of global change and evidence for a [CO2 ]-driven terrestrial carbon sink can appear contradictory. Here we synthesize theory and broad, multidisciplinary evidence for the effects of increasing [CO2 ] (iCO2 ) on the global terrestrial carbon sink. Evidence suggests a substantial increase in global photosynthesis since pre-industrial times. Established theory, supported by experiments, indicates that iCO2 is likely responsible for about half of the increase. Global carbon budgeting, atmospheric data, and forest inventories indicate a historical carbon sink, and these apparent iCO2 responses are high in comparison to experiments and predictions from theory. Plant mortality and soil carbon iCO2 responses are highly uncertain. In conclusion, a range of evidence supports a positive terrestrial carbon sink in response to iCO2 , albeit with uncertain magnitude and strong suggestion of a role for additional agents of global change.
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Gao Y, Ding J, Yuan M, Chiariello N, Docherty K, Field C, Gao Q, Gu B, Gutknecht J, Hungate BA, Le Roux X, Niboyet A, Qi Q, Shi Z, Zhou J, Yang Y. Long-term warming in a Mediterranean-type grassland affects soil bacterial functional potential but not bacterial taxonomic composition. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes 2021; 7:17. [PMID: 33558544 PMCID: PMC7870951 DOI: 10.1038/s41522-021-00187-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate warming is known to impact ecosystem composition and functioning. However, it remains largely unclear how soil microbial communities respond to long-term, moderate warming. In this study, we used Illumina sequencing and microarrays (GeoChip 5.0) to analyze taxonomic and functional gene compositions of the soil microbial community after 14 years of warming (at 0.8–1.0 °C for 10 years and then 1.5–2.0 °C for 4 years) in a Californian grassland. Long-term warming had no detectable effect on the taxonomic composition of soil bacterial community, nor on any plant or abiotic soil variables. In contrast, functional gene compositions differed between warming and control for bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities. Functional genes associated with labile carbon (C) degradation increased in relative abundance in the warming treatment, whereas those associated with recalcitrant C degradation decreased. A number of functional genes associated with nitrogen (N) cycling (e.g., denitrifying genes encoding nitrate-, nitrite-, and nitrous oxidereductases) decreased, whereas nifH gene encoding nitrogenase increased in the warming treatment. These results suggest that microbial functional potentials are more sensitive to long-term moderate warming than the taxonomic composition of microbial community.
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Rubin RL, Jones AN, Hayer M, Shuman-Goodier ME, Andrews LV, Hungate BA. Opposing effects of bacterial endophytes on biomass allocation of a wild donor and agricultural recipient. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2020; 96:5710930. [PMID: 31960901 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Root endophytes are a promising tool for increasing plant growth, but it is unclear whether they perform consistently across plant hosts. We characterized the blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) root microbiome using two sequencing methods, quantified the effects of root endophytes in the original host (blue grama) and an agricultural recipient, corn (Zea mays), under drought and well-watered conditions and examined in vitro mechanisms for plant growth promotion. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing revealed that the blue grama root microbiome was similar across an elevation gradient, with the exception of four genera. Culturing and Sanger sequencing revealed eight unique endophytes belonging to the genera Bacillus, Lysinibacillus and Pseudomonas. All eight endophytes colonized corn roots, but had opposing effects on aboveground and belowground biomass in each plant species: they increased blue grama shoot mass by 45% (19) (mean +/- SE) while decreasing corn shoot mass by 10% (19), and increased corn root:shoot by 44% (7), while decreasing blue grama root:shoot by 17% (7). Furthermore, contrary to our expectations, endophytes had stronger effects on plant growth under well-watered conditions rather than drought conditions. Collectively, these results suggest that ecological features, including host identity, bacterial traits, climate conditions and morphological outcomes, should be carefully considered in the design and implementation of agricultural inocula.
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Chen J, van Groenigen KJ, Hungate BA, Terrer C, van Groenigen JW, Maestre FT, Ying SC, Luo Y, Jørgensen U, Sinsabaugh RL, Olesen JE, Elsgaard L. Long-term nitrogen loading alleviates phosphorus limitation in terrestrial ecosystems. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:5077-5086. [PMID: 32529708 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Increased human-derived nitrogen (N) deposition to terrestrial ecosystems has resulted in widespread phosphorus (P) limitation of net primary productivity. However, it remains unclear if and how N-induced P limitation varies over time. Soil extracellular phosphatases catalyze the hydrolysis of P from soil organic matter, an important adaptive mechanism for ecosystems to cope with N-induced P limitation. Here we show, using a meta-analysis of 140 studies and 668 observations worldwide, that N stimulation of soil phosphatase activity diminishes over time. Whereas short-term N loading (≤5 years) significantly increased soil phosphatase activity by 28%, long-term N loading had no significant effect. Nitrogen loading did not affect soil available P and total P content in either short- or long-term studies. Together, these results suggest that N-induced P limitation in ecosystems is alleviated in the long-term through the initial stimulation of soil phosphatase activity, thereby securing P supply to support plant growth. Our results suggest that increases in terrestrial carbon uptake due to ongoing anthropogenic N loading may be greater than previously thought.
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Pappalardo P, Ogle K, Hamman EA, Bence JR, Hungate BA, Osenberg CW. Comparing traditional and Bayesian approaches to ecological meta‐analysis. Methods Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Sieradzki ET, Koch BJ, Greenlon A, Sachdeva R, Malmstrom RR, Mau RL, Blazewicz SJ, Firestone MK, Hofmockel KS, Schwartz E, Hungate BA, Pett-Ridge J. Measurement Error and Resolution in Quantitative Stable Isotope Probing: Implications for Experimental Design. mSystems 2020; 5:e00151-20. [PMID: 32694124 PMCID: PMC7566279 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00151-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) estimates isotope tracer incorporation into DNA of individual microbes and can link microbial biodiversity and biogeochemistry in complex communities. As with any quantitative estimation technique, qSIP involves measurement error, and a fuller understanding of error, precision, and statistical power benefits qSIP experimental design and data interpretation. We used several qSIP data sets-from soil and seawater microbiomes-to evaluate how variance in isotope incorporation estimates depends on organism abundance and resolution of the density fractionation scheme. We assessed statistical power for replicated qSIP studies, plus sensitivity and specificity for unreplicated designs. As a taxon's abundance increases, the variance of its weighted mean density declines. Nine fractions appear to be a reasonable trade-off between cost and precision for most qSIP applications. Increasing the number of density fractions beyond that reduces variance, although the magnitude of this benefit declines with additional fractions. Our analysis suggests that, if a taxon has an isotope enrichment of 10 atom% excess, there is a 60% chance that this will be detected as significantly different from zero (with alpha 0.1). With five replicates, isotope enrichment of 5 atom% could be detected with power (0.6) and alpha (0.1). Finally, we illustrate the importance of internal standards, which can help to calibrate per sample conversions of %GC to mean weighted density. These results should benefit researchers designing future SIP experiments and provide a useful reference for metagenomic SIP applications where both financial and computational limitations constrain experimental scope.IMPORTANCE One of the biggest challenges in microbial ecology is correlating the identity of microorganisms with the roles they fulfill in natural environmental systems. Studies of microbes in pure culture reveal much about their genomic content and potential functions but may not reflect an organism's activity within its natural community. Culture-independent studies supply a community-wide view of composition and function in the context of community interactions but often fail to link the two. Quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP) is a method that can link the identity and functional activity of specific microbes within a naturally occurring community. Here, we explore how the resolution of density gradient fractionation affects the error and precision of qSIP results, how they may be improved via additional experimental replication, and discuss cost-benefit balanced scenarios for SIP experimental design.
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Blazewicz SJ, Hungate BA, Koch BJ, Nuccio EE, Morrissey E, Brodie EL, Schwartz E, Pett-Ridge J, Firestone MK. Taxon-specific microbial growth and mortality patterns reveal distinct temporal population responses to rewetting in a California grassland soil. THE ISME JOURNAL 2020; 14:1520-1532. [PMID: 32203117 PMCID: PMC7242442 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-0617-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Microbial activity increases after rewetting dry soil, resulting in a pulse of carbon mineralization and nutrient availability. The biogeochemical responses to wet-up are reasonably well understood and known to be microbially mediated. Yet, the population level dynamics, and the resulting changes in microbial community patterns, are not well understood as ecological phenomena. Here, we used sequencing of 16S rRNA genes coupled with heavy water (H218O) DNA quantitative stable isotope probing to estimate population-specific rates of growth and mortality in response to a simulated wet-up event in a California annual grassland soil. Bacterial growth and mortality responded rapidly to wet-up, within 3 h, and continued throughout the 168 h incubation, with patterns of sequential growth observed at the phylum level. Of the 37 phyla detected in the prewet community, growth was found in 18 phyla while mortality was measured in 26 phyla. Rapid growth and mortality rates were measurable within 3 h of wet-up but had contrasting characteristics; growth at 3 h was dominated by select taxa within the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, whereas mortality was taxonomically widespread. Furthermore, across the community, mortality exhibited density-independence, consistent with the indiscriminate shock resulting from dry-down and wet-up, whereas growth was density-dependent, consistent with control by competition or predation. Total aggregated growth across the community was highly correlated with total soil CO2 production. Together, these results illustrate how previously "invisible" population responses can translate quantitatively to emergent observations of ecosystem-scale biogeochemistry.
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Chen J, Elsgaard L, van Groenigen KJ, Olesen JE, Liang Z, Jiang Y, Laerke PE, Zhang Y, Luo Y, Hungate BA, Sinsabaugh RL, Jørgensen U. Soil carbon loss with warming: New evidence from carbon-degrading enzymes. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:1944-1952. [PMID: 31909849 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Climate warming affects soil carbon (C) dynamics, with possible serious consequences for soil C stocks and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, the mechanisms underlying changes in soil C storage are not well understood, hampering long-term predictions of climate C-feedbacks. The activity of the extracellular enzymes ligninase and cellulase can be used to track changes in the predominant C sources of soil microbes and can thus provide mechanistic insights into soil C loss pathways. Here we show, using meta-analysis, that reductions in soil C stocks with warming are associated with increased ratios of ligninase to cellulase activity. Furthermore, whereas long-term (≥5 years) warming reduced the soil recalcitrant C pool by 14%, short-term warming had no significant effect. Together, these results suggest that warming stimulates microbial utilization of recalcitrant C pools, possibly exacerbating long-term climate-C feedbacks.
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Qian H, Huang S, Chen J, Wang L, Hungate BA, van Kessel C, Zhang J, Deng A, Jiang Y, van Groenigen KJ, Zhang W. Lower-than-expected CH 4 emissions from rice paddies with rising CO 2 concentrations. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:2368-2376. [PMID: 32003939 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2 ) generally increases carbon input in rice paddy soils and stimulates the growth of methane-producing microorganisms. Therefore, eCO2 is widely expected to increase methane (CH4 ) emissions from rice agriculture, a major source of anthropogenic CH4 . Agricultural practices strongly affect CH4 emissions from rice paddies as well, but whether these practices modulate effects of eCO2 is unclear. Here we show, by combining a series of experiments and meta-analyses, that whereas eCO2 strongly increased CH4 emissions from paddies without straw incorporation, it tended to reduce CH4 emissions from paddy soils with straw incorporation. Our experiments also identified the microbial processes underlying these results: eCO2 increased methane-consuming microorganisms more strongly in soils with straw incorporation than in soils without straw, with the opposite pattern for methane-producing microorganisms. Accounting for the interaction between CO2 and straw management, we estimate that eCO2 increases global CH4 emissions from rice paddies by 3.7%, an order of magnitude lower than previous estimates. Our results suggest that the effect of eCO2 on CH4 emissions from rice paddies is smaller than previously thought and underline the need for judicious agricultural management to curb future CH4 emissions.
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Chen C, van Groenigen KJ, Yang H, Hungate BA, Yang B, Tian Y, Chen J, Dong W, Huang S, Deng A, Jiang Y, Zhang W. Global warming and shifts in cropping systems together reduce China's rice production. GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Yang S, Zheng Q, Yang Y, Yuan M, Ma X, Chiariello NR, Docherty KM, Field CB, Gutknecht JLM, Hungate BA, Niboyet A, Le Roux X, Zhou J. Fire affects the taxonomic and functional composition of soil microbial communities, with cascading effects on grassland ecosystem functioning. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:431-442. [PMID: 31562826 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Fire is a crucial event regulating the structure and functioning of many ecosystems. Yet few studies have focused on how fire affects taxonomic and functional diversities of soil microbial communities, along with changes in plant communities and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. Here, we analyze these effects in a grassland ecosystem 9 months after an experimental fire at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment site in California, USA. Fire altered soil microbial communities considerably, with community assembly process analysis showing that environmental selection pressure was higher in burned sites. However, a small subset of highly connected taxa was able to withstand the disturbance. In addition, fire decreased the relative abundances of most functional genes associated with C degradation and N cycling, implicating a slowdown of microbial processes linked to soil C and N dynamics. In contrast, fire stimulated above- and belowground plant growth, likely enhancing plant-microbe competition for soil inorganic N, which was reduced by a factor of about 2. To synthesize those findings, we performed structural equation modeling, which showed that plants but not microbial communities were responsible for significantly higher soil respiration rates in burned sites. Together, our results demonstrate that fire 'reboots' the grassland ecosystem by differentially regulating plant and soil microbial communities, leading to significant changes in soil C and N dynamics.
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Adams EM, von Hippel FA, Hungate BA, Buck CL. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination of subsistence species on Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Archipelago. Heliyon 2019; 5:e02989. [PMID: 31890953 PMCID: PMC6926255 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Revised: 11/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of synthetic, lipophilic organochlorines that were banned due to their impacts on human and wildlife health and environmental persistence. Although banned, the continued release from pre-banned products allows them to persist at toxic levels in the environment. This is especially the case in lipid rich food webs of the Arctic, where PCBs accumulate due to both long-range atmospheric transport and locally contaminated sites such as formerly used defense (FUD) sites. At the request of the leadership of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Archipelago, we analyzed PCB concentrations in samples of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and subsistence foods (i.e., salmonid species and blue mussels [Mytilus edulis]) collected at both FUD and non-FUD sites. PCBs were extracted from samples using a QuEChERS method. The mean PCB concentrations across all mussel samples was 6.1 ppb; mussels from FUD sites had nearly double the PCB concentrations (7.6 ppb) compared to non-military sites (3.9 ppb), and at two FUD sites the PCB concentrations exceeded safe consumption guidelines. The mean total PCB concentration for fish was 2.8 ppb; fish PCB concentrations were higher at FUD sites (3.2 ppb) compared to non-military sites (1.2 ppb). These results support the need to remediate the FUD sites of "Building 551/T Dock to Airport" and "Delta Western". More generally, these results provide further evidence of the continued problem of PCB contamination at FUD sites in the Arctic, many of which are co-located with indigenous communities.
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Papp K, Hungate BA, Schwartz E. Glucose triggers strong taxon-specific responses in microbial growth and activity: insights from DNA and RNA qSIP. Ecology 2019; 101:e02887. [PMID: 31502670 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Growth of soil microorganisms is often described as carbon limited, and adding labile carbon to soil often results in a transient and large increase in respiration. In contrast, soil microbial biomass changes little, suggesting that growth and respiration are decoupled in response to a carbon pulse. Alternatively, measuring bulk responses of the entire community (total respiration and biomass) could mask ecologically important variation among taxa in response to the added carbon. Here, we assessed taxon-specific variation in cellular growth (measured as DNA synthesis) and metabolic activity (measured as rRNA synthesis) following glucose addition to soil using quantitative stable isotope probing with H2 18 O. We found that glucose addition altered rates of DNA and rRNA synthesis, but the effects were strongly taxon specific: glucose stimulated growth and rRNA transcription for some taxa, and suppressed these for others. These contrasting taxon-specific responses could explain the small and transient changes in total soil microbial biomass. Responses to glucose were not well predicted by a priori assignments of taxa into copiotrophic or oligotrophic categories. Across all taxa, rates of DNA and rRNA synthesis changed in parallel, indicating that growth and activity were coupled, and the degree of coupling was unaffected by glucose addition. This pattern argues against the idea that labile carbon addition causes a large reduction in metabolic growth efficiency; rather, the large pulse of respiration observed with labile substrate addition is more likely to be the result of rapid turnover of microbial biomass, possibly due to trophic interactions. Our results support a strong connection between rRNA synthesis and bacterial growth, and indicate that taxon-specific responses among soil bacteria can buffer responses at the scale of the whole community.
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Li J, Mau RL, Dijkstra P, Koch BJ, Schwartz E, Liu XJA, Morrissey EM, Blazewicz SJ, Pett-Ridge J, Stone BW, Hayer M, Hungate BA. Predictive genomic traits for bacterial growth in culture versus actual growth in soil. THE ISME JOURNAL 2019. [PMID: 31053828 DOI: 10.1038/s41396‐019‐0422‐z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Relationships between microbial genes and performance are often evaluated in the laboratory in pure cultures, with little validation in nature. Here, we show that genomic traits related to laboratory measurements of maximum growth potential failed to predict the growth rates of bacteria in unamended soil, but successfully predicted growth responses to resource pulses: growth increased with 16S rRNA gene copy number and declined with genome size after substrate addition to soils, responses that were repeated in four different ecosystems. Genome size best predicted growth rate in response to addition of glucose alone; adding ammonium with glucose weakened the relationship, and the relationship was absent in nutrient-replete pure cultures, consistent with the idea that reduced genome size is a mechanism of nutrient conservation. Our findings demonstrate that genomic traits of soil bacteria can map to their ecological performance in nature, but the mapping is poor under native soil conditions, where genomic traits related to stress tolerance may prove more predictive. These results remind that phenotype depends on environmental context, underscoring the importance of verifying proposed schemes of trait-based strategies through direct measurement of performance in nature, an important and currently missing foundation for translating microbial processes from genes to ecosystems.
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Yang S, Zheng Q, Yuan M, Shi Z, Chiariello NR, Docherty KM, Dong S, Field CB, Gu Y, Gutknecht J, Hungate BA, Le Roux X, Ma X, Niboyet A, Yuan T, Zhou J, Yang Y. Long-term elevated CO 2 shifts composition of soil microbial communities in a Californian annual grassland, reducing growth and N utilization potentials. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 652:1474-1481. [PMID: 30586832 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Revised: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The continuously increasing concentration of atmospheric CO2 has considerably altered ecosystem functioning. However, few studies have examined the long-term (i.e. over a decade) effect of elevated CO2 on soil microbial communities. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicons and a GeoChip microarray, we investigated soil microbial communities from a Californian annual grassland after 14 years of experimentally elevated CO2 (275 ppm higher than ambient). Both taxonomic and functional gene compositions of the soil microbial community were modified by elevated CO2. There was decrease in relative abundance for taxa with higher ribosomal RNA operon (rrn) copy number under elevated CO2, which is a functional trait that responds positively to resource availability in culture. In contrast, taxa with lower rrn copy number were increased by elevated CO2. As a consequence, the abundance-weighted average rrn copy number of significantly changed OTUs declined from 2.27 at ambient CO2 to 2.01 at elevated CO2. The nitrogen (N) fixation gene nifH and the ammonium-oxidizing gene amoA significantly decreased under elevated CO2 by 12.6% and 6.1%, respectively. Concomitantly, nitrifying enzyme activity decreased by 48.3% under elevated CO2, albeit this change was not significant. There was also a substantial but insignificant decrease in available soil N, with both nitrate (NO3-) (-27.4%) and ammonium (NH4+) (-15.4%) declining. Further, a large number of microbial genes related to carbon (C) degradation were also affected by elevated CO2, whereas those related to C fixation remained largely unchanged. The overall changes in microbial communities and soil N pools induced by long-term elevated CO2 suggest constrained microbial N decomposition, thereby slowing the potential maximum growth rate of the microbial community.
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Jiang Y, Qian H, Wang L, Feng J, Huang S, Hungate BA, van Kessel C, Horwath WR, Zhang X, Qin X, Li Y, Feng X, Zhang J, Deng A, Zheng C, Song Z, Hu S, van Groenigen KJ, Zhang W. Limited potential of harvest index improvement to reduce methane emissions from rice paddies. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:686-698. [PMID: 30449058 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Rice is a staple food for nearly half of the world's population, but rice paddies constitute a major source of anthropogenic CH4 emissions. Root exudates from growing rice plants are an important substrate for methane-producing microorganisms. Therefore, breeding efforts optimizing rice plant photosynthate allocation to grains, i.e., increasing harvest index (HI), are widely expected to reduce CH4 emissions with higher yield. Here we show, by combining a series of experiments, meta-analyses and an expert survey, that the potential of CH4 mitigation from rice paddies through HI improvement is in fact small. Whereas HI improvement reduced CH4 emissions under continuously flooded (CF) irrigation, it did not affect CH4 emissions in systems with intermittent irrigation (II). We estimate that future plant breeding efforts aimed at HI improvement to the theoretical maximum value will reduce CH4 emissions in CF systems by 4.4%. However, CF systems currently make up only a small fraction of the total rice growing area (i.e., 27% of the Chinese rice paddy area). Thus, to achieve substantial CH4 mitigation from rice agriculture, alternative plant breeding strategies may be needed, along with alternative management.
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Papp K, Mau RL, Hayer M, Koch BJ, Hungate BA, Schwartz E. Quantitative stable isotope probing with H 218O reveals that most bacterial taxa in soil synthesize new ribosomal RNA. THE ISME JOURNAL 2018; 12:3043-3045. [PMID: 30042501 PMCID: PMC6246559 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-018-0233-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Most soil bacterial taxa are thought to be dormant, or inactive, yet the extent to which they synthetize new rRNA is poorly understood. We analyzed 18O composition of RNA extracted from soil incubated with H218O and used quantitative stable isotope probing to characterize rRNA synthesis among microbial taxa. RNA was not fully labeled with 18O, peaking at a mean of 23.6 ± 6.8 atom percent excess (APE) 18O after eight days of incubation, suggesting some ribonucleotides in soil were more than eight days old. Microbial taxa varied in the degree they incorporated 18O into their rRNA over time and there was no correlation between the APE 18O of bacterial rRNA and their rRNA to DNA ratios, suggesting that the ratios were not appropriate to measure ribonucleotide synthesis. Our study indicates that, on average, 94% of soil taxa produced new rRNA and therefore were metabolically active.
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Davis GS, Waits K, Nordstrom L, Grande H, Weaver B, Papp K, Horwinski J, Koch B, Hungate BA, Liu CM, Price LB. Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli from retail poultry meat with different antibiotic use claims. BMC Microbiol 2018; 18:174. [PMID: 30390618 PMCID: PMC6215666 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-018-1322-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background We sought to determine if the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli differed across retail poultry products and among major production categories, including organic, “raised without antibiotics”, and conventional. Results We collected all available brands of retail chicken and turkey—including conventional, “raised without antibiotic”, and organic products—every two weeks from January to December 2012. In total, E. coli was recovered from 91% of 546 turkey products tested and 88% of 1367 chicken products tested. The proportion of samples contaminated with E. coli was similar across all three production categories. Resistance prevalence varied by meat type and was highest among E. coli isolates from turkey for the majority of antibiotics tested. In general, production category had little effect on resistance prevalence among E. coli isolates from chicken, although resistance to gentamicin and multidrug resistance did vary. In contrast, resistance prevalence was significantly higher for 6 of the antibiotics tested—and multidrug resistance—among isolates from conventional turkey products when compared to those labelled organic or “raised without antibiotics”. E. coli isolates from chicken varied strongly in resistance prevalence among different brands within each production category. Conclusion The high prevalence of resistance among E. coli isolates from conventionally-raised turkey meat suggests greater antimicrobial use in conventional turkey production as compared to “raised without antibiotics” and organic systems. However, among E. coli from chicken meat, resistance prevalence was more strongly linked to brand than to production category, which could be caused by brand-level differences during production and/or processing, including variations in antimicrobial use. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-018-1322-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Rubin RL, Koch GW, Martinez A, Mau RL, Bowker MA, Hungate BA. Developing climate-smart restoration: Can plant microbiomes be hardened against heat waves? ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 28:1594-1605. [PMID: 29989265 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2017] [Revised: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 05/11/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Heat waves are increasing in frequency and intensity, presenting a challenge for the already difficult practice of ecological restoration. We investigated whether pre-heating locally sourced rhizosphere soil (inoculum) could acclimatize plants to a field-imposed heat wave in a restoration setting. Soil heating in the laboratory caused a marked shift in rhizosphere bacterial community composition, accompanied by an increase in species evenness. Furthermore, pre-heated rhizosphere soil reduced plant height, number of leaves, and shoot mass of the C4 grass, blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and it reduced the shoot mass of the C3 grass, Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica) in the glasshouse. Following transplantation and the application of a field heat wave, pre-heated inoculum did not influence heat wave survival for either plant species. However, there were strong species-level responses to the field heat wave. For instance, heat wave survivorship was over four times higher in blue grama (92%) than in Arizona fescue (22%). These results suggest that the use of C4 seeds may be preferable for sites exhibiting high heat wave risk. Further research is needed to understand whether inocula are more effective in highly degraded soil in comparison with partially degraded soils.
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Carol Adair E, Hooper DU, Paquette A, Hungate BA. Ecosystem context illuminates conflicting roles of plant diversity in carbon storage. Ecol Lett 2018; 21:1604-1619. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
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