Microorganisms are major drivers of elemental cycling in the biosphere. Determining the abundance of microbial functional traits involved in the transformation of nutrients, including carbon(C), nitrogen(N), phosphoru...Microorganisms are major drivers of elemental cycling in the biosphere. Determining the abundance of microbial functional traits involved in the transformation of nutrients, including carbon(C), nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P) and sulfur(S), is critical for assessing microbial functionality in elemental cycling. We developed a high-throughput quantitative-PCR-based chip, Quantitative microbial element cycling(QMEC), for assessing and quantifying the genetic potential of microbiota to mineralize soil organic matter and to release C, N, P and S. QMEC contains 72 primer pairs targeting 64 microbial functional genes for C, N, P, S and methane metabolism. These primer pairs were characterized by high coverage(average of 18–20 phyla covered per gene)and sufficient specificity(>70% match rate) with a relatively low detection limit(7–102 copies per run). QMEC was successfully applied to soil and sediment samples, identifying significantly different structures, abundances and diversities of the functional genes(P<0.05). QMEC was also able to determine absolute gene abundance. QMEC enabled the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative determination of 72 genes from 72 samples in one run, which is promising for comprehensively investigating microbially mediated ecological processes and biogeochemical cycles in various environmental contexts including those of the current global change.展开更多
Submerged plants in wetlands play important roles as ecosystem engineers to improve self-purification and promote elemental cycling.However,their effects on the functional capacity of microbial communities in wetland ...Submerged plants in wetlands play important roles as ecosystem engineers to improve self-purification and promote elemental cycling.However,their effects on the functional capacity of microbial communities in wetland sediments remain poorly understood.Here,we provide detailed metagenomic insights into the biogeochemical potential of microbial communities in wetland sediments with and without submerged plants(i.e.,Vallisneria natans).A large number of functional genes involved in carbon(C),nitrogen(N)and sulfur(S)cycling were detected in the wetland sediments.However,most functional genes showed higher abundance in sediments with submerged plants than in those without plants.Based on the comparison of annotated functional genes in the N and S cycling databases(i.e.,NCycDB and SCycDB),we found that genes involved in nitrogen fixation(e.g.,nifD/H/K/W),assimilatory nitrate reduction(e.g.,nasA and nirA),denitrification(e.g.,nirK/S and nosZ),assimilatory sulfate reduction(e.g.,cysD/H/J/N/Q and sir),and sulfur oxidation(e.g.,glpE,soeA,sqr and sseA)were significantly higher(correctedp<0.05)in vegetated vs.unvegetated sediments.This could be mainly driven by environmental factors including total phosphorus,total nitrogen,and C:N ratio.The binning of metagenomes further revealed that some archaeal taxa could have the potential of methane metabolism including hydrogenotrophic,acetoclastic,and methylotrophic methanogenesis,which are crucial to the wetland methane budget and carbon cycling.This study opens a new avenue for linking submerged plants with microbial functions,and has further implications for understanding global carbon,nitrogen and sulfur cycling in wetland ecosystems.展开更多
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB15020402, XDB15020302)the Natural Science Foundation of China (41571130063, 41430858)
文摘Microorganisms are major drivers of elemental cycling in the biosphere. Determining the abundance of microbial functional traits involved in the transformation of nutrients, including carbon(C), nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P) and sulfur(S), is critical for assessing microbial functionality in elemental cycling. We developed a high-throughput quantitative-PCR-based chip, Quantitative microbial element cycling(QMEC), for assessing and quantifying the genetic potential of microbiota to mineralize soil organic matter and to release C, N, P and S. QMEC contains 72 primer pairs targeting 64 microbial functional genes for C, N, P, S and methane metabolism. These primer pairs were characterized by high coverage(average of 18–20 phyla covered per gene)and sufficient specificity(>70% match rate) with a relatively low detection limit(7–102 copies per run). QMEC was successfully applied to soil and sediment samples, identifying significantly different structures, abundances and diversities of the functional genes(P<0.05). QMEC was also able to determine absolute gene abundance. QMEC enabled the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative determination of 72 genes from 72 samples in one run, which is promising for comprehensively investigating microbially mediated ecological processes and biogeochemical cycles in various environmental contexts including those of the current global change.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(92051120)the Science&Technology Basic Resources Investigation Program of China(2017FY100300)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(191gzd28)the Sun Yat-sen University(project no.18821107).
文摘Submerged plants in wetlands play important roles as ecosystem engineers to improve self-purification and promote elemental cycling.However,their effects on the functional capacity of microbial communities in wetland sediments remain poorly understood.Here,we provide detailed metagenomic insights into the biogeochemical potential of microbial communities in wetland sediments with and without submerged plants(i.e.,Vallisneria natans).A large number of functional genes involved in carbon(C),nitrogen(N)and sulfur(S)cycling were detected in the wetland sediments.However,most functional genes showed higher abundance in sediments with submerged plants than in those without plants.Based on the comparison of annotated functional genes in the N and S cycling databases(i.e.,NCycDB and SCycDB),we found that genes involved in nitrogen fixation(e.g.,nifD/H/K/W),assimilatory nitrate reduction(e.g.,nasA and nirA),denitrification(e.g.,nirK/S and nosZ),assimilatory sulfate reduction(e.g.,cysD/H/J/N/Q and sir),and sulfur oxidation(e.g.,glpE,soeA,sqr and sseA)were significantly higher(correctedp<0.05)in vegetated vs.unvegetated sediments.This could be mainly driven by environmental factors including total phosphorus,total nitrogen,and C:N ratio.The binning of metagenomes further revealed that some archaeal taxa could have the potential of methane metabolism including hydrogenotrophic,acetoclastic,and methylotrophic methanogenesis,which are crucial to the wetland methane budget and carbon cycling.This study opens a new avenue for linking submerged plants with microbial functions,and has further implications for understanding global carbon,nitrogen and sulfur cycling in wetland ecosystems.
