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Feng M, Varliero G, Qi W, Stierli B, Edwards A, Robinson S, van der Heijden MGA, Frey B. Microbial dynamics in soils of the Damma glacier forefield show succession in the functional genetic potential. Environ Microbiol 2023; 25:3116-3138. [PMID: 37688461 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Glacier retreat is a visible consequence of climate change worldwide. Although taxonomic change of the soil microbiomes in glacier forefields have been widely documented, how microbial genetic potential changes along succession is little known. Here, we used shotgun metagenomics to analyse whether the soil microbial genetic potential differed between four stages of soil development (SSD) sampled along three transects in the Damma glacier forefield (Switzerland). The SSDs were characterized by an increasing vegetation cover, from barren soil, to biological soil crust, to sparsely vegetated soil and finally to vegetated soil. Results suggested that SSD significantly influenced microbial genetic potential, with the lowest functional diversity surprisingly occurring in the vegetated soils. Overall, carbohydrate metabolism and secondary metabolite biosynthesis genes overrepresented in vegetated soils, which could be partly attributed to plant-soil feedbacks. For C degradation, glycoside hydrolase genes enriched in vegetated soils, while auxiliary activity and carbohydrate esterases genes overrepresented in barren soils, suggested high labile C degradation potential in vegetated, and high recalcitrant C degradation potential in barren soils. For N-cycling, organic N degradation and synthesis genes dominated along succession, and gene families involved in nitrification were overrepresented in barren soils. Our study provides new insights into how the microbial genetic potential changes during soil formation along the Damma glacier forefield.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maomao Feng
- Rhizosphere Processes Group, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gilda Varliero
- Rhizosphere Processes Group, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Weihong Qi
- Functional Genomics Center Zurich, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics SIB, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Beat Stierli
- Rhizosphere Processes Group, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Arwyn Edwards
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Serina Robinson
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Marcel G A van der Heijden
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Plant-Soil Interactions, Agroscope, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Beat Frey
- Rhizosphere Processes Group, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Hussain S, Chen M, Liu Y, Mustafa G, Wang X, Liu J, Sheikh TMM, Bano H, Yasoob TB. Composition and assembly mechanisms of prokaryotic communities in wetlands, and their relationships with different vegetation and reclamation methods. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 897:166190. [PMID: 37567310 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
Coastal wetlands are undergoing substantial transformations globally as a result of increased human activities. However, compared to other ecosystems, diversity and functional characteristics of microbial communities in reclaimed coastal wetlands are not well studied compared to other ecosystems. This is important because it is known that microorganisms can play a crucial role in biogeochemical cycling within coastal wetland ecosystems. Hence, this study utilized the high-throughput sequencing technique to investigate the structure and assembly processes of microbial communities in reclaimed coastal wetlands. The results revealed a substantial change in soil properties following coastal wetland reclamation. Remarkably, the reclaimed soil exhibited significantly lower pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total salinity (TS) values (p < 0.05). The dominant phyla included Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, and Planctomycetes among study sites. However, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria increased from un-reclaimed coastal wetlands to reclaimed ones. The Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria showed higher relative abundance in vegetated soil compared to bare soil, while Bacteroidetes and Planctomycetes exhibited the opposite trend. Notably, vegetation types exerted the strongest influence on microbial diversity, surpassing the effects of soil types and depth (F = 34.49, p < 0.001; F = 25.49, p < 0.001; F = 3.173, p < 0.078, respectively). Stochastic assembly processes dominated in un-reclaimed soil, whereas deterministic processes governed the assembly in artificial sea embankment wetlands (SEW). The presence of Spartina alterniflora in all soil types (except SEW soils) indicated stochastic assembly, while Phragmites australis in reclaimed soils pointed toward deterministic microbial assembly. Furthermore, environmental factors such as pH, soil water content (SWC), SOC, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), NH4+-N, vegetation types, soil depth, and geographic distance exhibited significant effects on microbial beta diversity indices. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed a stronger association between taxa in SEW compared to land reclaimed from wetlands (LRW) and natural coastal wetlands (NCW). The bottom soil layer exhibited more complex network interactions than the topsoil layer. Besides soil parameters, reclamation and varieties of vegetation were also substantial factors influencing the composition, diversity, and assembly processes of microbial communities in coastal wetlands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarfraz Hussain
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Min Chen
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Yuhong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
| | - Ghulam Mustafa
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Xue Wang
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Jiayuan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
| | - Taha Majid Mahmood Sheikh
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Hamida Bano
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; Department of animal sciences, Faculty of agricultural Sciences, Ghazi university, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan
| | - Talat Bilal Yasoob
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; Department of Zoology, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan
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Ni G, Leung PM, Daebeler A, Guo J, Hu S, Cook P, Nicol GW, Daims H, Greening C. Nitrification in acidic and alkaline environments. Essays Biochem 2023; 67:753-768. [PMID: 37449414 PMCID: PMC10427799 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20220194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Aerobic nitrification is a key process in the global nitrogen cycle mediated by microorganisms. While nitrification has primarily been studied in near-neutral environments, this process occurs at a wide range of pH values, spanning ecosystems from acidic soils to soda lakes. Aerobic nitrification primarily occurs through the activities of ammonia-oxidising bacteria and archaea, nitrite-oxidising bacteria, and complete ammonia-oxidising (comammox) bacteria adapted to these environments. Here, we review the literature and identify knowledge gaps on the metabolic diversity, ecological distribution, and physiological adaptations of nitrifying microorganisms in acidic and alkaline environments. We emphasise that nitrifying microorganisms depend on a suite of physiological adaptations to maintain pH homeostasis, acquire energy and carbon sources, detoxify reactive nitrogen species, and generate a membrane potential at pH extremes. We also recognize the broader implications of their activities primarily in acidic environments, with a focus on agricultural productivity and nitrous oxide emissions, as well as promising applications in treating municipal wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaofeng Ni
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Pok Man Leung
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Anne Daebeler
- Institute of Soil Biology and Biogeochemistry, Biology Centre CAS, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (Formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Perran Cook
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Graeme W Nicol
- Univ Lyon, CNRS, INSA Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Ampère, UMR5005, 69134 Ecully, France
| | - Holger Daims
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- The Comammox Research Platform, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Chris Greening
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Centre to Impact AMR, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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