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Updated: Sep 1, 2025

Compost Microcosms as Microbially Diverse, Natural-like Environments for Microbiome Research in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: September 13, 2022
Fungivorous nematodes drive microbial diversity and carbon cycling in soil
Jennifer L Kane1, James B Kotcon1, Zachary B Freedman2
1Division of Plant and Soil Science, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
Abstract:
Soil bacteria and fungi mediate terrestrial biogeochemical cycling, but we know relatively little about how trophic interactions influence their community composition, diversity, and function. Specifically, it is unclear how consumer populations affect the activity of microbial taxa they consume, and therefore the interaction of those taxa with other members of the microbial community. Due to its extreme diversity, studying trophic dynamics in soil is a complex feat. Seeking to address these challenges, we performed a microcosm-based consumer manipulation experiment to determine the impact of a common fungal-feeding nematode (Aphelenchus avenae) on soil microbial community composition, diversity, and activity (e.g., C cycling parameters). Fungivory decreased fungal and bacterial α-diversity and stimulated C and N cycling, possibly via cascading impacts of fungivory on bacterial communities. Our results present experimental evidence that soil trophic dynamics are intimately linked with microbial diversity and function, factors that are key in understanding global patterns in biogeochemical cycling.
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