Interactions between microbial diversity and substrate chemistry determine the fate of carbon in soil

Raczka, Nanette C.; Piñeiro, Juan; Tfaily, Malak M.; Chu, Rosalie K.; Lipton, Mary S.; Pasa-Tolic, Ljiljana; Morrissey, Ember; Brzostek, Edward

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97942-9

Interactions between microbial diversity and substrate chemistry determine the fate of carbon in soil

Journal Article · Wed Sep 29 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97942-9· OSTI ID:1828756

Raczka, Nanette C. ^[1]; Piñeiro, Juan ^[2]; Tfaily, Malak M. ^[3]; Chu, Rosalie K. ^[4]; Lipton, Mary S. ^[4]; Pasa-Tolic, Ljiljana ^[4]; Morrissey, Ember ^[2]; Brzostek, Edward ^[2]

West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States); West Virginia University
West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)

Microbial decomposition drives the transformation of plant-derived substrates into microbial products that form stable soil organic matter (SOM). Recent theories have posited that decomposition depends on an interaction between SOM chemistry with microbial diversity and resulting function (e.g., enzymatic capabilities, growth rates). Here, we explicitly test these theories by coupling quantitative stable isotope probing and metabolomics to track the fate of ¹³C enriched substrates that vary in chemical composition as they are assimilated by microbes and transformed into new metabolic products in soil. We found that differences in forest nutrient economies (e.g., nutrient cycling, microbial competition) led to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) soils harboring greater diversity of fungi and bacteria than ectomycorrhizal (ECM) soils. When incubated with ¹³C enriched substrates, substrate type drove shifts in which species were active decomposers and the abundance of metabolic products that were reduced or saturated in the highly diverse AM soils. The decomposition pathways were more static in the less diverse, ECM soil. Importantly, the majority of these shifts were driven by taxa only present in the AM soil suggesting a strong link between microbial identity and their ability to decompose and assimilate substrates. Collectively, these results highlight an important interaction between ecosystem-level processes and microbial diversity; whereby the identity and function of active decomposers impacts the composition of decomposition products that can form stable SOM.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019472

OSTI ID:: 1828756

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1843979

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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