Contrasting soil microbial community functional structures in two major landscapes of the Tibetan alpine meadow

Journal Article · Mon Jul 07 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · MicrobiologyOpen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.190 · OSTI ID:1213567

Chu, Houjuan ^[1]; Wang, Shiping ^[2]; Yue, Haowei ^[1]; Lin, Qiaoyan ^[3]; Hu, Yigang ^[4]; Li, Xiangzhen ^[5]; Zhou, Jizhong ^[6]; Yang, Yunfeng ^[1]

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1. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment.
2. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity.
3. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining (China). Key Laboratory of Adaption and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology.
4. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining (China). Key Laboratory of Adaption and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou, (China). Shapotou Desert Experiment and Research Station; Cold and Arid Regions and Environmental & Engineering Research Institute.
5. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, (China). Chengdu Institute of Biology.
6. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment; Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Inst. for Environmental Genomics and Dept. of Botany and Microbiology; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth Sciences Division.

The grassland and shrubland are two major landscapes of the Tibetan alpine meadow, a region very sensitive to the impact of global warming and anthropogenic perturbation. Herein, we report a study showing that a majority of differences in soil microbial community functional structures, measured by a functional gene array named GeoChip 4.0, in two adjacent shrubland and grassland areas, were explainable by environmental properties, suggesting that the harsh environments in the alpine grassland rendered niche adaptation important. Furthermore, genes involved in labile carbon degradation were more abundant in the shrubland than those of the grassland but genes involved in recalcitrant carbon degradation were less abundant, which was conducive to long-term carbon storage and sequestration in the shrubland despite low soil organic carbon content. In addition, genes of anerobic nitrogen cycling processes such as denitrification and dissimilatory nitrogen reduction were more abundant, shifting soil nitrogen cycling toward ammonium biosynthesis and consequently leading to higher soil ammonium contents. We also noted higher abundances of stress genes responsive to nitrogen limitation and oxygen limitation, which might be attributed to low total nitrogen and higher water contents in the shrubland. Together, these results provide mechanistic knowledge about microbial linkages to soil carbon and nitrogen storage and potential consequences of vegetation shifts in the Tibetan alpine meadow.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231; SC0004601
• OSTI ID: 1213567
• Journal Information: MicrobiologyOpen, Journal Name: MicrobiologyOpen Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 3; ISSN 2045-8827
• Publisher: WileyCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English