Bacterial population-level trade-offs between drought tolerance and resource acquisition traits impact decomposition

Malik, Ashish A.; Martiny, Jennifer B. H.; Ribeiro, Antonio; Sheridan, Paul O.; Weihe, Claudia; Brodie, Eoin L.; Allison, Steven D.

doi:10.1093/ismejo/wrae224

Bacterial population-level trade-offs between drought tolerance and resource acquisition traits impact decomposition

Journal Article · Sun Nov 03 23:00:00 EST 2024 · The ISME Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wrae224· OSTI ID:2480700

Malik, Ashish A. ^[1]; Martiny, Jennifer B. H. ^[2]; Ribeiro, Antonio ^[3]; Sheridan, Paul O. ^[4]; Weihe, Claudia ^[2]; Brodie, Eoin L. ^[5]; Allison, Steven D. ^[2]

University of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom); Univ. of Aberdeen (United Kingdom); University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom)
University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom); University of Galway (Ireland)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Microbes drive fundamental ecosystem processes, such as decomposition. Environmental stressors are known to affect microbes, their fitness, and the ecosystem functions that they perform; yet, understanding the causal mechanisms behind this influence has been difficult. We used leaf litter on soil surface as a model in situ system to assess changes in bacterial genomic traits and decomposition rates for 18 months with drought as a stressor. We hypothesized that genome-scale trade-offs due to investment in stress tolerance traits under drought reduce the capacity for bacterial populations to carry out decomposition, and that these population-level trade-offs scale up to impact emergent community traits, thereby reducing decomposition rates. We observed drought tolerance mechanisms that were heightened in bacterial populations under drought, identified as higher gene copy numbers in metagenome-assembled genomes. A subset of populations under drought had reduced carbohydrate-active enzyme genes that suggested—as a trade-off—a decline in decomposition capabilities. These trade-offs were driven by community succession and taxonomic shifts as distinct patterns appeared in populations. We show that trait–trade-offs in bacterial populations under drought could scale up to reduce overall decomposition capabilities and litter decay rates. Using a trait-based approach to assess the population ecology of soil bacteria, we demonstrate genome-level trade-offs in response to drought with consequences for decomposition rates.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of California, Irvine, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0020382; AC02-05CH11231; SC0016410

OSTI ID:: 2480700

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2481472

Journal Information:: The ISME Journal, Journal Name: The ISME Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 18; ISSN 1751-7362

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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