Nash, MV, Anesio, AM, Barker, G et al. (7 more authors) (2018) Metagenomic insights into diazotrophic communities across Arctic glacier forefields. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 94 (9). fiy114. ISSN 0168-6496
Abstract
Microbial nitrogen fixation is crucial for building labile nitrogen stocks and facilitating higher plant colonization in oligotrophic glacier forefield soils. Here, the diazotrophic bacterial community structure across four Arctic glacier forefields was investigated using metagenomic analysis. In total, 70 soil metagenomes were used for taxonomic interpretation based on 185 nitrogenase (nif) sequences, extracted from assembled contigs. The low number of recovered genes highlights the need for deeper sequencing in some diverse samples, to uncover the complete microbial populations. A key group of forefield diazotrophs, found throughout the forefields, was identified using a nifH phylogeny, associated with nifH Cluster I and III. Sequences related most closely to groups including Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Firmicutes. Using multiple nif genes in a Last Common Ancestor analysis revealed a diverse range of diazotrophs across the forefields. Key organisms identified across the forefields included Nostoc, Geobacter, Polaromonas and Frankia. Nitrogen fixers which are symbiotic with plants were also identified, through the presence of root associated diazotrophs, which fix nitrogen in return for reduced carbon. Additional nitrogen fixers identified in forefield soils were metabolically diverse, including fermentative and sulphur cycling bacteria, halophiles and anaerobes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018, FEMS. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Nitrogen fixation; metagenomics; forefield; Arctic; diversity; diazotrophs |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/J022365/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Jul 2018 11:21 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 21:25 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/femsec/fiy114 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:132831 |