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Nieto EE, Jurburg SD, Steinbach N, Festa S, Morelli IS, Coppotelli BM, Chatzinotas A. DNA stable isotope probing reveals the impact of trophic interactions on bioaugmentation of soils with different pollution histories. MICROBIOME 2024; 12:146. [PMID: 39113100 PMCID: PMC11305082 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-024-01865-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bioaugmentation is considered a sustainable and cost-effective methodology to recover contaminated environments, but its outcome is highly variable. Predation is a key top-down control mechanism affecting inoculum establishment, however, its effects on this process have received little attention. This study focused on the impact of trophic interactions on bioaugmentation success in two soils with different pollution exposure histories. We inoculated a 13C-labelled pollutant-degrading consortium in these soils and tracked the fate of the labelled biomass through stable isotope probing (SIP) of DNA. We identified active bacterial and eukaryotic inoculum-biomass consumers through amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes coupled to a novel enrichment factor calculation. RESULTS Inoculation effectively increased PAH removal in the short-term, but not in the long-term polluted soil. A decrease in the relative abundance of the inoculated genera was observed already on day 15 in the long-term polluted soil, while growth of these genera was observed in the short-term polluted soil, indicating establishment of the inoculum. In both soils, eukaryotic genera dominated as early incorporators of 13C-labelled biomass, while bacteria incorporated the labelled biomass at the end of the incubation period, probably through cross-feeding. We also found different successional patterns between the two soils. In the short-term polluted soil, Cercozoa and Fungi genera predominated as early incorporators, whereas Ciliophora, Ochrophyta and Amoebozoa were the predominant genera in the long-term polluted soil. CONCLUSION Our results showed differences in the inoculum establishment and predator community responses, affecting bioaugmentation efficiency. This highlights the need to further study predation effects on inoculum survival to increase the applicability of inoculation-based technologies. Video Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban E Nieto
- Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales, CONICET), CINDEFI (UNLP, CCT-La Plata Street 50 N°227, 1900, La Plata, Argentina.
- Department of Applied Microbial Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Stephanie D Jurburg
- Department of Applied Microbial Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nicole Steinbach
- Department of Applied Microbial Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sabrina Festa
- Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales, CONICET), CINDEFI (UNLP, CCT-La Plata Street 50 N°227, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Irma S Morelli
- Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales, CONICET), CINDEFI (UNLP, CCT-La Plata Street 50 N°227, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
- Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de La Provincia de Buenos Aires, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Bibiana M Coppotelli
- Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriales, CONICET), CINDEFI (UNLP, CCT-La Plata Street 50 N°227, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Antonis Chatzinotas
- Department of Applied Microbial Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
- Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
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Wieczorek AS, Schmidt O, Chatzinotas A, von Bergen M, Gorissen A, Kolb S. Ecological Functions of Agricultural Soil Bacteria and Microeukaryotes in Chitin Degradation: A Case Study. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:1293. [PMID: 31281293 PMCID: PMC6596343 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Chitin provides a valuable carbon and nitrogen source for soil microorganisms and is a major component of particulate organic matter in agricultural soils. To date, there is no information on interaction and interdependence in chitin-degrading soil microbiomes. Since microbial chitin degradation occurs under both oxic and anoxic conditions and both conditions occur simultaneously in soil, the comparison of the active microbiome members under both conditions can reveal key players for the overall degradation in aerated soil. A time-resolved 16S rRNA stable isotope probing experiment was conducted with soil material from the top soil layer of a wheat-covered field. [13CU]-chitin was largely mineralized within 20 days under oxic conditions. Cellvibrio, Massilia, and several Bacteroidetes families were identified as initially active chitin degraders. Subsequently, Planctomycetes and Verrucomicrobia were labeled by assimilation of 13C carbon either from [13CU]-chitin or from 13C-enriched components of primary chitin degraders. Bacterial predators (e.g., Bdellovibrio and Bacteriovorax) were labeled, too, and non-labeled microeukaryotic predators (Alveolata) increased their relative abundance toward the end of the experiment (70 days), indicating that chitin degraders were subject to predation. Trophic interactions differed substantially under anoxic and oxic conditions. Various fermentation types occurred along with iron respiration. While Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi were the first taxa to be labeled, although at a low 13C level, Firmicutes and uncultured Bacteroidetes were predominantly labeled at a much higher 13C level during the later stages, suggesting that the latter two bacterial taxa were mainly responsible for the degradation of chitin and also provided substrates for iron reducers. Eventually, our study revealed that (1) hitherto unrecognized Bacteria were involved in a chitin-degrading microbial food web of an agricultural soil, (2) trophic interactions were substantially shaped by the oxygen availability, and (3) detectable predation was restricted to oxic conditions. The gained insights into trophic interactions foster our understanding of microbial chitin degradation, which is in turn crucial for an understanding of soil carbon dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam S Wieczorek
- Department of Ecological Microbiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Oliver Schmidt
- Department of Ecological Microbiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Antonis Chatzinotas
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin von Bergen
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy and Psychology, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, University of Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark
| | | | - Steffen Kolb
- Microbial Biogeochemistry, RA Landscape Functioning, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
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Wu W, Huang B. Protist diversity and community assembly in surface sediments of the South China Sea. Microbiologyopen 2019; 8:e891. [PMID: 31218846 PMCID: PMC6813438 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2019] [Revised: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Protists are pivotal components of marine ecosystems in terms of their high diversity, but protist communities have been poorly explored in benthic environments. Here, we investigated protist diversity and community assembly in surface sediments in the South China Sea (SCS) at a basin scale. Pyrosequencing of 18S rDNA was performed for a total of six samples taken from the surface seafloor at water depths ranging from 79 to 2,939 m. We found that Cercozoa was the dominant group, accounting for an average of 39.9% and 25.3% of the reads and operational taxonomic units (OTUs), respectively. The Cercozoa taxa were highly diverse, comprising 14 phylogenetic clades, six of which were affiliated with unknown groups belonging to Filosa and Endomyxa. Fungi were also an important group in both read‐ (18.1% on average) and OTU‐derived (9.3% on average) results. Moreover, the turnover patterns of the protist communities were differently explained by species sorting (53.3%), dispersal limitation (33.3%), mass effects (0%), and drift (13.3%). In summary, our findings show that the basin‐wide protist communities in the surface sediments of the SCS are primarily dominated by Cercozoa and are mainly assembled by species sorting and dispersal limitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxue Wu
- School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Bangqin Huang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
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Huhe, Chen X, Hou F, Wu Y, Cheng Y. Bacterial and Fungal Community Structures in Loess Plateau Grasslands with Different Grazing Intensities. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:606. [PMID: 28439265 PMCID: PMC5383705 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 03/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Loess Plateau of China is one of the most fragile ecosystems worldwide; thus, human production activities need to be conducted very cautiously. In this study, MiSeq high-throughput sequencing was applied to assess the relationship between bacterial and fungal community structures and changes in vegetation and soil physical and chemical properties induced by grazing, in four grasslands with different levels of grazing intensity (0, 2.67, 5.33, and 8.67 sheep/ha) in the semiarid region of the Loess Plateau. The relative abundances of the bacterial community in the grasslands with 2.67 and 5.33 sheep/ha were significantly higher than those in grasslands with 0 and 8.67 sheep/ha, and the fungal diversity was significantly lower for grasslands with 2.67 sheep/ha than for the other grasslands. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that plant biomass, nitrate, and total nitrogen have significant effects on bacterial community structure, whereas nitrate and total nitrogen also significantly affect fungal community structure. Variation partitioning showed that soil and plant characteristics influence the bacterial and fungal community structures; these characteristics explained 51.9 and 52.9% of the variation, respectively. Thus, bacterial and fungal community structures are very sensitive to grazing activity and change to different extents with different grazing intensities. Based on our findings, a grazing intensity of about 2.67 sheep/ha is considered the most appropriate in semiarid grassland of the Loess Plateau.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huhe
- Soil Fertilizer and Water-Saving Institute, Gansu Academy of Agricultural SciencesLanzhou, China
- The Ministry of Agriculture in Gansu Province Cultivated Land Conservation and Agricultural Environmental Science Observation Experiment StationsWuwei, China
| | - Xianjiang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou UniversityLanzhou, China
| | - Fujiang Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou UniversityLanzhou, China
| | - Yanpei Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou UniversityLanzhou, China
| | - Yunxiang Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou UniversityLanzhou, China
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Saleem M, Fetzer I, Harms H, Chatzinotas A. Trophic complexity in aqueous systems: bacterial species richness and protistan predation regulate dissolved organic carbon and dissolved total nitrogen removal. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20152724. [PMID: 26888033 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Loading of water bodies with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) affects their integrity and functioning. Microbial interactions mitigate the negative effects of high nutrient loads in these ecosystems. Despite numerous studies on how biodiversity mediates ecosystem functions, whether and how diversity and complexity of microbial food webs (horizontal, vertical) and the underlying ecological mechanisms influence nutrient removal has barely been investigated. Using microbial microcosms accommodating systematic combinations of prey (bacteria) and predator (protists) species, we showed that increasing bacterial richness improved the extent and reliability of DOC and DTN removal. Bacterial diversity drove nutrient removal either due to species foraging physiology or functional redundancy, whereas protistan diversity affected nutrient removal through bacterial prey resource partitioning and changing nutrient balance in the system. Our results demonstrate that prey-predator diversity and trophic interactions interactively determine nutrient contents, thus implying the vital role of microbial trophic complexity as a biological buffer against DOC and DTN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Saleem
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, Leipzig 04318, Germany Department of Soil and Plant Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Ingo Fetzer
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, Leipzig 04318, Germany Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm 11419, Sweden
| | - Hauke Harms
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, Leipzig 04318, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Antonis Chatzinotas
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, Leipzig 04318, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, Leipzig 04103, Germany
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Kramer S, Dibbern D, Moll J, Huenninghaus M, Koller R, Krueger D, Marhan S, Urich T, Wubet T, Bonkowski M, Buscot F, Lueders T, Kandeler E. Resource Partitioning between Bacteria, Fungi, and Protists in the Detritusphere of an Agricultural Soil. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:1524. [PMID: 27725815 PMCID: PMC5035733 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 09/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The flow of plant-derived carbon in soil is a key component of global carbon cycling. Conceptual models of trophic carbon fluxes in soil have assumed separate bacterial and fungal energy channels in the detritusphere, controlled by both substrate complexity and recalcitrance. However, detailed understanding of the key populations involved and niche-partitioning between them is limited. Here, a microcosm experiment was performed to trace the flow of detritusphere C from substrate analogs (glucose, cellulose) and plant biomass amendments (maize leaves, roots) in an agricultural soil. Carbon flow was traced by rRNA stable isotope probing and amplicon sequencing across three microbial kingdoms. Distinct lineages within the Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Gammaproteobacteria, Basidiomycota, Ascomycota as well as Peronosporomycetes were identified as important primary substrate consumers. A dynamic succession of primary consumers was observed especially in the cellulose treatments, but also in plant amendments over time. While intra-kingdom niche partitioning was clearly observed, distinct bacterial and fungal energy channels were not apparent. Furthermore, while the diversity of primary substrate consumers did not notably increase with substrate complexity, consumer succession and secondary trophic links to bacterivorous and fungivorous microbes resulted in increased food web complexity in the more recalcitrant substrates. This suggests that rather than substrate-defined energy channels, consumer succession as well as intra- and inter-kingdom cross-feeding should be considered as mechanisms supporting food web complexity in the detritusphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Kramer
- Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Dörte Dibbern
- Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Julia Moll
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-HalleHalle, Germany; Institute of Biology, University of LeipzigLeipzig, Germany
| | - Maike Huenninghaus
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne Köln, Germany
| | - Robert Koller
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne Köln, Germany
| | - Dirk Krueger
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle Halle, Germany
| | - Sven Marhan
- Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Tim Urich
- Department of Bacterial Physiology, Institute for Microbiology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald Greifswald, Germany
| | - Tesfaye Wubet
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-HalleHalle, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Bonkowski
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne Köln, Germany
| | - François Buscot
- Department of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-HalleHalle, Germany; Institute of Biology, University of LeipzigLeipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tillmann Lueders
- Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Ellen Kandeler
- Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim Stuttgart, Germany
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Glaser K, Kuppardt A, Boenigk J, Harms H, Fetzer I, Chatzinotas A. The influence of environmental factors on protistan microorganisms in grassland soils along a land-use gradient. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2015; 537:33-42. [PMID: 26282737 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2015] [Revised: 07/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/31/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the effect of land use intensity, soil parameters and vegetation on protistan communities in grassland soils. We performed qualitative (T-RFLP) and quantitative (qPCR) analyses using primers specifically targeting the 18S rRNA gene for all Eukarya and for two common flagellate groups, i.e. the Chrysophyceae and the Kinetoplastea. Both approaches were applied to extracted soil DNA and RNA, in order to distinguish between the potentially active protists (i.e. RNA pool) and the total protistan communities, including potentially inactive and encysted cells (i.e. DNA pool). Several environmental determinants such as site, soil parameters and vegetation had an impact on the T-RFLP community profiles and the abundance of the quantified 18S rRNA genes. Correlating factors often differed between quantitative (qPCR) and qualitative (T-RFLP) approaches. For instance the Chrysophyceae/Eukarya 18S rDNA ratio as determined by qPCR correlated with the C/N ratio, whereas the community composition based on T-RLFP analysis was not affected indicating that both methods taken together provide a more complete picture of the parameters driving protist diversity. Moreover, distinct T-RFs were obtained, which could serve as potential indicators for either active organisms or environmental conditions like water content. While site was the main determinant across all investigated exploratories, land use seemed to be of minor importance for structuring protist communities. The impact of other parameters differed between the target groups, e.g. Kinetoplastea reacted on changes to water content on all sites, whereas Chrysophyceae were only affected in the Schorfheide. Finally, in most cases different responses were observed on RNA- and DNA-level, respectively. Vegetation for instance influenced the two flagellate groups only at the DNA-level across all sites. Future studies should thus include different protistan groups and also distinguish between active and inactive cells, in order to reveal causal shifts in community composition and abundance in agriculturally used systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Glaser
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anke Kuppardt
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jens Boenigk
- Department of Biodiversity, University Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Hauke Harms
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ingo Fetzer
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden
| | - Antonis Chatzinotas
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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Geisen S, Tveit AT, Clark IM, Richter A, Svenning MM, Bonkowski M, Urich T. Metatranscriptomic census of active protists in soils. THE ISME JOURNAL 2015; 9:2178-90. [PMID: 25822483 PMCID: PMC4579471 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2015.30] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2014] [Revised: 01/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The high numbers and diversity of protists in soil systems have long been presumed, but their true diversity and community composition have remained largely concealed. Traditional cultivation-based methods miss a majority of taxa, whereas molecular barcoding approaches employing PCR introduce significant biases in reported community composition of soil protists. Here, we applied a metatranscriptomic approach to assess the protist community in 12 mineral and organic soil samples from different vegetation types and climatic zones using small subunit ribosomal RNA transcripts as marker. We detected a broad diversity of soil protists spanning across all known eukaryotic supergroups and revealed a strikingly different community composition than shown before. Protist communities differed strongly between sites, with Rhizaria and Amoebozoa dominating in forest and grassland soils, while Alveolata were most abundant in peat soils. The Amoebozoa were comprised of Tubulinea, followed with decreasing abundance by Discosea, Variosea and Mycetozoa. Transcripts of Oomycetes, Apicomplexa and Ichthyosporea suggest soil as reservoir of parasitic protist taxa. Further, Foraminifera and Choanoflagellida were ubiquitously detected, showing that these typically marine and freshwater protists are autochthonous members of the soil microbiota. To the best of our knowledge, this metatranscriptomic study provides the most comprehensive picture of active protist communities in soils to date, which is essential to target the ecological roles of protists in the complex soil system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Geisen
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute for Ecology, (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander T Tveit
- Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Ian M Clark
- Department of AgroEcology, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, UK
| | - Andreas Richter
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mette M Svenning
- Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Michael Bonkowski
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Tim Urich
- Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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