scholarly journals Linking nitrogen load to the structure and function of wetland soil and rhizosphere microbial communities

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R Hester ◽  
Sarah F. Harpenslager ◽  
Josepha MH van Diggelen ◽  
Leon L Lamers ◽  
Mike SM Jetten ◽  
...  

AbstractWetland ecosystems are important reservoirs of biodiversity and significantly contribute to emissions of the greenhouse gases CO2, N2O and CH4. High anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs from agriculture and fossil fuel combustion have been recognized as a severe threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning such as control of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore it is important to understand how increased N input into pristine wetlands affects the composition and activity of micro-organisms, especially in interaction with dominant wetland plants. In a series of incubations analyzed over 90 days, we disentangle the effects of N fertilization on the microbial community in bulk soil and the rhizosphere ofJuncus acutiflorus, a common and abundant graminoid wetland plant. We observed an increase in greenhouse gas emissions when N is increased in incubations withJ. acutiflorus, changing the system from a greenhouse gas sink to a source. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, we determined that the bacterial orders Opitutales, Subgroup-6 Acidobacteria and Sphingobacteriales significantly responded to high N availability and we hypothesize that these groups are contributing to the increased greenhouse gas emissions. These results indicated that increased N input leads to shifts in microbial activity within the rhizosphere, severely altering N cycling dynamics. Our study provides a framework for connecting environmental conditions of wetland bulk and rhizosphere soil to the structure and metabolic output of microbial communities.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haitao Wang ◽  
Micha Weil ◽  
Dominik Zak ◽  
Diana Münch ◽  
Anke Günther ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundDrainage of high-organic peatlands for agricultural purposes has led to increased greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity. In the last decades, rewetting of peatlands is on the rise worldwide, to mitigate these negative impacts. However, it remains still questionable how rewetting would influence peat microbiota as important drivers of nutrient cycles and ecosystem restoration. Here, we investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of the diversity, community composition and network interactions of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and the influence of rewetting on these microbial features in formerly long-term drained and agriculturally used fens. Peat-soils were sampled seasonally from three drained and three rewetted sites representing the dominating fen peatland types of glacial landscapes in Northern Germany, namely alder forest, costal fen and percolation fen.ResultsCostal fens as salt-water impacted systems showed a lower microbial diversity and their microbial community composition showed the strongest distinction from the other two peatland types. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic community compositions showed a congruent pattern which was mostly driven by peatland type and rewetting. Rewetting decreased the abundances of fungi and prokaryotic decomposers, while the abundance of potential methanogens was significantly higher in the rewetted sites. Rewetting also influenced the abundance of ecological clusters in the microbial communities identified from the co-occurrence network. The microbial communities changed only slightly with depth and over time. According to structural equation models rewetted conditions affected the microbial communities through different mechanisms across the three studied peatland types.ConclusionsOur results suggest that rewetting strongly impacts the structure of microbial communities and, thus, important biogeochemical processes, which may explain the high variation in greenhouse gas emissions upon rewetting of peatlands. The improved understanding of functional mechanisms of rewetting in different peatland types lays the foundation for securing best practices to fulfil multiple restoration goals including those targeting on climate, water, and species protection.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha M.B. Krause ◽  
Stefan Bertilsson ◽  
Hans-Peter Grossart ◽  
Paul L.E. Bodelier ◽  
Peter van Bodegom ◽  
...  

Conventional agricultural practices negatively impact soil biodiversity, carbon stocks, and greenhouse gas emissions in ways that make them unsustainable for supporting future supply of food and fiber. Better management of agrobiodiversity will likely play a critical role in transitioning towards more sustainable practices. In particular, innovation and developments targeting the aboveground and belowground components of agroecosystems should be informed by frameworks and approaches that harness the –in particular functional– diversity of complex microbial communities. Here, we review and discuss microbial trait-based approaches that will help us understand and steer agroecosystem functioning in the face of global change. We highlight how trait-based approaches can improve agricultural practices related to soil functioning (e.g. soil fertility and aggregation); climate regulation (e.g. carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation to climate change; plant health; and reduction of contaminant-related hazards for human health. We also consider how microbial trait-based approaches can be used as a tool to improve cultivated plant performance through artificial selection and microbiome engineering. Last, we discuss the inherent obstacles associated with the development and implementation of trait-based approaches owing to strong interactions within microbial communities and linkages between plants and the soil environment. Despite these obstacles, microbial trait-based approaches hold promise for the sustainable management of agricultural ecosystems needed to feed and nourish a rapidly growing human population.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basem Al-Shayeb ◽  
Marie C. Schoelmerich ◽  
Jacob West-Roberts ◽  
Luis E. Valentin-Alvarado ◽  
Rohan Sachdeva ◽  
...  

Anaerobic methane oxidation exerts a key control on greenhouse gas emissions, yet factors that modulate the activity of microorganisms performing this function remain little explored. In studying groundwater, sediments, and wetland soil where methane production and oxidation occur, we discovered extraordinarily large, diverse DNA sequences that primarily encode hypothetical proteins. Four curated, complete genomes are linear, up to ~1 Mbp in length and share genome organization, including replicore structure, long inverted terminal repeats, and genome-wide unique perfect tandem direct repeats that are intergenic or generate amino acid repeats. We infer that these are a new type of archaeal extrachromosomal element with a distinct evolutionary origin. Gene sequence similarity, phylogeny, and local divergence of sequence composition indicate that many of their genes were assimilated from methane-oxidizing Methanoperedens archaea. We refer to these elements as "Borgs". We identified at least 19 different Borg types coexisting with Methanoperedens in four distinct ecosystems. Borg genes expand redox and respiratory capacity (e.g., clusters of multiheme cytochromes), ability to respond to changing environmental conditions, and likely augment Methanoperedens capacity for methane oxidation (e.g., methyl coenzyme M reductase). By this process, Borgs could play a previously unrecognized role in controlling greenhouse gas emissions.


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