Diversity of microbial communities and genes involved in nitrous oxide emissions in Antarctic soils impacted by marine animals as revealed by metagenomics and 100 metagenome-assembled genomes

Antarctic soils generally have low temperatures and limited availability of liquid water and nutrients. However, animals can increase the nutrient availability of ice-free areas by transferring nutrients from marine to terrestrial ecosystems, mainly through their excreta. In this study, we employed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2021-09, Vol.788, p.147693-147693, Article 147693
Main Authors: Ramírez-Fernández, Lia, Orellana, Luis H., Johnston, Eric R., Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T., Orlando, Julieta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal-impacted soils
King George Island
Livingston Island
Nitrous oxide emission
Rhodanobacter
Soil microbial diversity
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Summary:Antarctic soils generally have low temperatures and limited availability of liquid water and nutrients. However, animals can increase the nutrient availability of ice-free areas by transferring nutrients from marine to terrestrial ecosystems, mainly through their excreta. In this study, we employed shotgun metagenomics and population genome binning techniques to study the diversity of microbial communities in Antarctic soils impacted by marine pinnipeds and birds relative to soils with no evident animal presence. We obtained ~285,000 16S rRNA gene-carrying metagenomic reads representing ~60 phyla and 100 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) representing eight phyla. Only nine of these 100 MAGs represented previously described species, revealing that these soils harbor extensive novel diversity. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the most abundant phyla in all samples, with Rhodanobacter being one of the most abundant genera in the bird-impacted soils. Further, the relative abundance of genes related to denitrification was at least double in soils impacted by birds than soils without animal influence. These results advance our understanding of the microbial populations and their genes involved in nitrous oxide emissions in ice-free coastal Antarctic soils impacted by marine animals and reveal novel microbial diversity associated with these ecosystems. [Display omitted] •Marine animals, birds and pinnipeds, enrich soil nutrients in ice-free coastal lands.•We assessed microbial diversity by shotgun metagenomics and population genome binning.•Animal-impacted soils from Antarctica have a novelty microbial diversity.•Rhodanobacter is one of the most abundant genera in soils impacted by marine animals.•Denitrification genes are highly abundant in bird-impacted soils from Antarctica.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147693