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Soil Lysimeter Excavation for Coupled Hydrological, Geochemical, and Microbiological Investigations
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The structure and function of soil archaea across biomes
Robert Starke1, José A Siles2, Maysa Lima Parente Fernandes1
1Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Vídeňská 1083, 14220 Praha 4, Czech Republic.
Journal of Proteomics
|February 14, 2021
Summary
Soil archaeal communities are dominated by Nitrosophaerales and Thermoplasmata. Increasing aridity positively influences archaeal gene proportion and protein abundance, shaping soil microbial community function.
Area of Science:
- Microbial Ecology
- Environmental Microbiology
- Soil Science
Background:
- Understanding the environmental factors influencing soil archaeal community structure and function is crucial.
- The archaeal proteome in soils remains understudied, limiting our knowledge of these organisms' roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the structure and function of soil archaea across diverse terrestrial ecosystems.
- To identify environmental drivers, including climate and vegetation, that shape archaeal communities and their proteomes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a multi-omics approach combining 16S rRNA gene sequencing for community structure and metaproteomics for functional analysis.
- Analyzed 32 soil samples from various global terrestrial ecosystems with contrasting climates and vegetation.
Main Results:
- Nitrosophaerales and Thermoplasmata dominated archaeal genes across continents.
- Archaea constituted approximately 2.3% of the total microbial proteins in the analyzed soils.
- Soil aridity showed a positive correlation with the abundance of Nitrosophaerales genes and archaeal proteins.
- The interplay between climate and vegetation significantly influenced the functional profiles of archaeal communities.
Conclusions:
- This study provides novel insights into the structure and function of soil archaea globally.
- Increasing global aridity may significantly impact soil archaeal communities and their ecological roles.
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