Community-Level Metabolic Shifts Following Land Use Change in the Amazon Rainforest Identified by a Supervised...

Area of Science:

• Environmental microbiology
• Genomics
• Tropical ecology

Background:

• Amazon rainforest deforestation significantly impacts soil microbiome and functions.
• Genomic underpinnings of soil microbial community shifts due to land use change remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• Compare metabolic strategies of soil microbial communities in Amazonian pristine forests versus pastures.
• Investigate genomic alterations in bacteria, archaea, and viruses under different land covers.

Main Methods:

• Deep shotgun metagenomics
• Supervised machine learning analysis
• Comparative analysis of soil microbial communities and their genes.

Main Results:

• Distinct microbial community structures and gene compositions were identified in forest and pasture soils.
• Genomic diversity of bacteria, archaea, and viruses differed between land cover types.
• Alterations in carbohydrate and energy metabolism, C and N cycles, and soil physicochemical properties were observed.

Conclusions:

• Soil microbial communities exhibit altered metabolic strategies driven by genomic changes in response to land use.
• Deforestation and pasture establishment impact the soil DNA virome composition and diversity.
• Findings have significant implications for understanding nutrient cycling in tropical ecosystems.