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Contributed Talk

Session: : Communities: Spatial Patterns And Environmental Gradients 4

COS 78-2 - CANCELLED - Bacterial taxonomic and functional diversity have distinct distribution patterns across an acidic to neutral pH gradient

Tuesday, August 8, 2023
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM PDT
Location: B119

    Presenting Author(s)

  • CW

    Cong Wang

    Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (People's Republic)

    • Coauthor(s)

  • QY

    Qing-Yi Yu

    Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (People's Republic)

  • NJ

    Niu-Niu Ji

    Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    Urbana, IL, China (People's Republic)

  • YZ

    Yong Zheng

    Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007 China, China (People's Republic)

  • JT

    John Taylor, PhD

    University of California Berkeley, United States

  • LG

    Liang-Dong Guo

    State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China, China (People's Republic)

  • CG

    Cheng Gao

    State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China, China (People's Republic)

Abstract: Characterization of microbial diversity is fundamental to ecology. Here, we test if bacterial functional diversity follows bacterial taxonomic diversity that peaks at neutral soil pH. To this end, we collected 36 soil samples from 12 forests along a latitudinal gradient (N21.6°-N50.9°) in China, where soil pH ranged from 3.68 to 7.22. We measured soil bacterial taxonomic and functional diversity by sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenome, respectively. Results show that bacterial taxonomic diversity peaks at neutral soils, and on the contrary, functional gene diversity is higher in acidic than in neutral soils. Moreover, bacteria in acidic soils hold larger average genome size and lower GC content. In addition, bacteria in acidic soils hold higher gene abundance of cell motility, signal transduction, secretion system and decay of complex matter, while bacteria in neutral soils have higher gene abundance of energy metabolism and membrane transport. This distribution of functional gene diversity and composition suggests that microbes are likely K-selected in acidic soil and r-selected in neutral soil. These findings alter current perceptions on the distribution, maintenance, and consequences of microbial diversity.