Forest harvesting reduces the soil metagenomic potential for biomass decomposition metagenomic assembly
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ABSTRACT: EMG produced TPA metagenomics assembly of the Forest harvesting reduces the soil metagenomic potential for biomass decomposition (Forest harvesting reduces the soil metagenomic potential for biomass decomposition) data set
Project description:Evidence shows that bacteria contribute actively to the decomposition of cellulose and hemicellulose in forest soil; however, their role in this process is still unclear. Here we performed the screening and identification of bacteria showing potential cellulolytic activity from litter and organic soil of a temperate oak forest. The genomes of three cellulolytic isolates previously described as abundant in this ecosystem were sequenced and their proteomes were characterized during the growth on plant biomass and on microcrystalline cellulose. Pedobacter and Mucilaginibacter showed complex enzymatic systems containing highly diverse carbohydrate-active enzymes for the degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose, which were functionally redundant for endoglucanases, -glucosidases, endoxylanases, -xylosidases, mannosidases and carbohydrate-binding modules. Luteibacter did not express any glycosyl hydrolases traditionally recognized as cellulases. Instead, cellulose decomposition was likely performed by an expressed GH23 family protein containing a cellulose-binding domain. Interestingly, the presence of plant lignocellulose as well as crystalline cellulose both trigger the production of a wide set of hydrolytic proteins including cellulases, hemicellulases and other glycosyl hydrolases. Our findings highlight the extensive and unexplored structural diversity of enzymatic systems in cellulolytic soil bacteria and indicate the roles of multiple abundant bacterial taxa in the decomposition of cellulose and other plant polysaccharides.
Project description:Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition may affect soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition, thus affecting the global terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. However, it remains unclear how the level of N deposition affects SOC decomposition by regulating microbial community composition and function, especially C-cycling functional genes structure. We investigated the effects of short-term N addition on soil microbial C-cycling functional gene composition, SOC-degrading enzyme activities, and CO2 emission in a 5-year field experiment established in an artificial Pinus tabulaeformis forest on the Loess Plateau, China.
Project description:Abstract: A large part of the nitrogen in forest soils is found in recalcitrant organic matter-protein complexes. Ectomycorrhizal fungi are thought to have a key role in the decomposition and mobilization of nitrogen from such complexes. The knowledge on the functional mechanisms of these processes, and how they are regulated by carbon from the host plant and the availability of more easily available forms of nitrogen sources are limited. We used spectroscopic analyses and transcriptome profiling to examine how the presence/absence of glucose and ammonium regulates the decomposition and mobilization of nitrogen from litter material by the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus. Amendments of glucose triggered the assimilation of nitrogen and the decomposition of the litter material. Concomitantly, the expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in oxidative (i.e. Fenton chemistry) degradation of polysaccharides and polyphenols, peptidases, nitrogen transporters and enzymes in pathways of the nitrogen and carbon metabolism were upregulated in concert. Addition of ammonium had minute effects on both the expression of transcripts and decomposition of litter material, and only when glucose was present. Based on the spectroscopic analyses, three major types of chemical modifications of the litter material were observed. Each of them was correlated with the expression of specific sets of genes encoding extracellular enzymes. Our data suggests that the expression of the decomposition and nitrogen assimilation machinery of ectomycorrhizal fungi can be firmly regulated by the host carbon supply, i.e. priming, and that the availability of inorganic nitrogen as such has limited effects on the saprotrophic activities. Rineau F, Shah F., Smits M.M., Persson P., Johansson T., Carleer R., Troein C., Tunlid A. (2013) Carbon availability triggers the decomposition of plant litter and assimilation of nitrogen by an ectomycorrhizal fungus (submitted) A one-chip study (data from 12 subarrays collected from a 12-plex Nimblegen microarray (ID 467991) using total RNA recovered from three separate glass-bead cultures of Paxillus involutus (ATCC200175) after amendments of various soil-derived substrates. Transcriptome profiling to examine how the presence/absence of glucose and ammonium regulates the decomposition and mobilization of nitrogen from litter material by the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus.
Project description:Many trees form ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with fungi. During symbiosis, the tree roots supply sugar to the fungi in exchange for nitrogen, and this process is critical for the nitrogen and carbon cycles in forest ecosystems. However, the extents to which ectomycorrhizal fungi can liberate nitrogen and modify the soil organic matter and the mechanisms by which they do so remain unclear since they have lost many enzymes for litter decomposition that were present in their free-living, saprotrophic ancestors. Using time-series spectroscopy and transcriptomics, we examined the ability of two ectomycorrhizal fungi from two independently evolved ectomycorrhizal lineages to mobilize soil organic nitrogen. Both species oxidized the organic matter and accessed the organic nitrogen. The expression of those events was controlled by the availability of glucose and inorganic nitrogen. Despite those similarities, the decomposition mechanisms, including the type of genes involved as well as the patterns of their expression, differed markedly between the two species. Our results suggest that in agreement with their diverse evolutionary origins, ectomycorrhizal fungi use different decomposition mechanisms to access organic nitrogen entrapped in soil organic matter. The timing and magnitude of the expression of the decomposition activity can be controlled by the below-ground nitrogen quality and the above-ground carbon supply.
Project description:Soil is the key resource that must be managed to ensure sustainable forest productivity. Soil microbial communities mediate numerous essential ecosystem functions, and recent studies show that forest harvesting alters soil community composition. From a long-term soil productivity study site in a temperate coniferous forest in British Columbia, 21 forest soil shotgun metagenomes were generated, totaling 187?Gb. A method to analyze unassembled metagenome reads from the complex community was optimized and validated. The subsequent metagenome analysis revealed that, 12 years after forest harvesting, there were 16% and 8% reductions in relative abundances of biomass decomposition genes in the organic and mineral soil layers, respectively. Organic and mineral soil layers differed markedly in genetic potential for biomass degradation, with the organic layer having greater potential and being more strongly affected by harvesting. Gene families were disproportionately affected, and we identified 41 gene families consistently affected by harvesting, including families involved in lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin degradation. The results strongly suggest that harvesting profoundly altered below-ground cycling of carbon and other nutrients at this site, with potentially important consequences for forest regeneration. Thus, it is important to determine whether these changes foreshadow long-term changes in forest productivity or resilience and whether these changes are broadly characteristic of harvested forests.
Project description:Abstract: A large part of the nitrogen in forest soils is found in recalcitrant organic matter-protein complexes. Ectomycorrhizal fungi are thought to have a key role in the decomposition and mobilization of nitrogen from such complexes. The knowledge on the functional mechanisms of these processes, and how they are regulated by carbon from the host plant and the availability of more easily available forms of nitrogen sources are limited. We used spectroscopic analyses and transcriptome profiling to examine how the presence/absence of glucose and ammonium regulates the decomposition and mobilization of nitrogen from litter material by the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus. Amendments of glucose triggered the assimilation of nitrogen and the decomposition of the litter material. Concomitantly, the expression of genes encoding enzymes involved in oxidative (i.e. Fenton chemistry) degradation of polysaccharides and polyphenols, peptidases, nitrogen transporters and enzymes in pathways of the nitrogen and carbon metabolism were upregulated in concert. Addition of ammonium had minute effects on both the expression of transcripts and decomposition of litter material, and only when glucose was present. Based on the spectroscopic analyses, three major types of chemical modifications of the litter material were observed. Each of them was correlated with the expression of specific sets of genes encoding extracellular enzymes. Our data suggests that the expression of the decomposition and nitrogen assimilation machinery of ectomycorrhizal fungi can be firmly regulated by the host carbon supply, i.e. priming, and that the availability of inorganic nitrogen as such has limited effects on the saprotrophic activities. Rineau F, Shah F., Smits M.M., Persson P., Johansson T., Carleer R., Troein C., Tunlid A. (2013) Carbon availability triggers the decomposition of plant litter and assimilation of nitrogen by an ectomycorrhizal fungus (submitted)