Dataset Information

Short-Term Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Changes in Air Temperature, Soil Moisture and UV Radiation.

ABSTRACT: We analyzed the effects on a soil microbial community of short-term alterations in air temperature, soil moisture and ultraviolet radiation and assessed the role of invertebrates (species Enchytraeus crypticus) in modulating the community's response to these factors. The reference soil, Lufa 2.2, was incubated for 48 h, with and without invertebrates, under the following conditions: standard (20 °C + 50% water holding capacity (WHC)); increased air temperature (15-25 °C or 20-30 °C + 50% WHC); flood (20 °C + 75% WHC); drought (20 °C + 25% WHC); and ultraviolet radiation (UV) (20 °C + 50% WHC + UV). BIOLOG EcoPlates and 16S rDNA sequencing (Illumina) were used to assess the microbial community's physiological profile and the bacterial community's structure, respectively. The bacterial abundance (estimated by 16S rDNA qPCR) did not change. Most of the conditions led to an increase in microbial activity and a decrease in diversity. The structure of the bacterial community was particularly affected by higher air temperatures (20-30 °C, without E. crypticus) and floods (with E. crypticus). Effects were observed at the class, genera and OTU levels. The presence of invertebrates mostly resulted in the attenuation of the observed effects, highlighting the importance of considering microbiome-invertebrate interactions. Considering future climate changes, the effects described here raise concern. This study provides fundamental knowledge to develop effective strategies to mitigate these negative outcomes. However, long-term studies integrating biotic and abiotic factors are needed.

SUBMITTER: Silva I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9142034 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Short-Term Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Changes in Air Temperature, Soil Moisture and UV Radiation.

Silva Isabel I Alves Marta M Malheiro Catarina C Silva Ana Rita R ARR Loureiro Susana S Henriques Isabel I González-Alcaraz M Nazaret MN

Genes 20220510 5

We analyzed the effects on a soil microbial community of short-term alterations in air temperature, soil moisture and ultraviolet radiation and assessed the role of invertebrates (species <i>Enchytraeus crypticus</i>) in modulating the community's response to these factors. The reference soil, Lufa 2.2, was incubated for 48 h, with and without invertebrates, under the following conditions: standard (20 °C + 50% water holding capacity (WHC)); increased air temperature (15-25 °C or 20-30 °C + 50% ...[more]

PMID: 35627235

Similar Datasets

Project description:Heterotrophic respiration contributes a substantial fraction of the carbon flux from soil to atmosphere, and responds strongly to environmental conditions. However, the mechanisms through which short-term changes in environmental conditions affect microbial respiration still remain unclear. Microorganisms cope with adverse environmental conditions by transitioning into and out of dormancy, a state in which they minimize rates of metabolism and respiration. These transitions are poorly characterized in soil and are generally omitted from decomposition models. Most current approaches to model microbial control over soil CO2 production relate responses to total microbial biomass (TMB) and do not differentiate between microorganisms in active and dormant physiological states. Indeed, few data for active microbial biomass (AMB) exist with which to compare model output. Here, we tested the hypothesis that differences in soil microbial respiration rates across various environmental conditions are more closely related to differences in AMB (e.g., due to activation of dormant microorganisms) than in TMB. We measured basal respiration (SBR) of soil incubated for a week at two temperatures (24 and 33°C) and two moisture levels (10 and 20% soil dry weight [SDW]), and then determined TMB, AMB, microbial specific growth rate, and the lag time before microbial growth (t lag ) using the Substrate-Induced Growth Response (SIGR) method. As expected, SBR was more strongly correlated with AMB than with TMB. This relationship indicated that each g active biomass C contributed ~0.04 g CO2-C h(-1) of SBR. TMB responded very little to short-term changes in temperature and soil moisture and did not explain differences in SBR among the treatments. Maximum specific growth rate did not respond to environmental conditions, suggesting that the dominant microbial populations remained similar. However, warmer temperatures and increased soil moisture both reduced t lag , indicating that favorable abiotic conditions activated soil microorganisms. We conclude that soil respiratory responses to short-term changes in environmental conditions are better explained by changes in AMB than in TMB. These results suggest that decomposition models that explicitly represent microbial carbon pools should take into account the active microbial pool, and researchers should be cautious in comparing modeled microbial pool sizes with measurements of TMB.

Project description:Soil salinization due to seawater intrusion along coastal areas is an increasing threat to rice cultivation worldwide. While the detrimental impact on rice growth and yield has been thoroughly studied, little is known about how severe salinity affects structure and function of paddy soil microbial communities. Here, we examined their short-term responses to half- and full-strength seawater salinity in controlled laboratory experiments. Slurry microcosms were incubated under anoxic conditions, with rice straw added as carbon source. Stress exposure time was for 2 days after a pre-incubation period of 7 days. Relative to the control, moderate (300 mM NaCl) and high (600 mM NaCl) salt stress suppressed both net consumption of acetate and methane production by 50% and 70%, respectively. Correspondingly, community-wide mRNA expression decreased by 50-65%, with significant changes in relative transcript abundance of family-level groups. mRNA turnover was clearly more responsive to salt stress than rRNA dynamics. Among bacteria, Clostridiaceae were most abundant and the only group whose transcriptional activity was strongly stimulated at 600 mM NaCl. In particular, clostridial mRNA involved in transcription/translation, fermentation, uptake and biosynthesis of compatible solutes, and flagellar motility was significantly enriched in response salt stress. None of the other bacterial groups were able to compete at 600 mM NaCl. Their responses to 300 mM NaCl were more diverse. Lachnospiraceae increased, Ruminococcaceae maintained, and Peptococcaceae, Veillonellaceae, and Syntrophomonadaceae decreased in relative mRNA abundance. Among methanogens, Methanosarcinaceae were most dominant. Relative to other family-level groups, salt stress induced a significant enrichment of transcripts related to the CO dehydrogenase/acetyl-coenzyme A synthase complex, methanogenesis, heat shock, ammonium uptake, and thermosomes, but the absolute abundance of methanosarcinal mRNA decreased. Most strikingly, the transcriptional activity of the Methanocellaceae was completely suppressed already at 300 mM NaCl. Apparently, the key taxonomic groups involved in the methanogenic breakdown of plant polymers significantly differ in their ability to cope with severe salt stress. Presumably, this different ability is directly linked to differences in their genetic potential and metabolic flexibility to reassign available energy resources for cellular adaptation to salt stress.

Dataset Information

Short-Term Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Changes in Air Temperature, Soil Moisture and UV Radiation.

Publications

Short-Term Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Changes in Air Temperature, Soil Moisture and UV Radiation.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets