Title: Metaphenomic Responses of a Native Prairie Soil Microbiome to Moisture Perturbations

Abstract

Climate change is causing shifts in precipitation patterns in the central grasslands of the United States, with largely unknown consequences on the collective physiological responses of the soil microbial community, i.e., the metaphenome. Here, we used an untargeted omics approach to determine the soil microbial community’s metaphenomic response to soil moisture and to define specific metabolic signatures of the response. Specifically, we aimed to develop the technical approaches and metabolic mapping framework necessary for future systematic ecological studies. We collected soil from three locations at the Konza Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) field station in Kansas, and the soils were incubated for 15 days under dry or wet conditions and compared to field-moist controls. The microbiome response to wetting or drying was determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics, and the resulting shifts in taxa, gene expression, and metabolites were assessed. Soil drying resulted in significant shifts in both the composition and function of the soil microbiome. In contrast, there were few changes following wetting. The combined metabolic and metatranscriptomic data were used to generate reaction networks to determine the metaphenomic response to soil moisture transitions. Site location was a strong determinant of the response of the soil microbiomemore » to moisture perturbations. However, some specific metabolic pathways changed consistently across sites, including an increase in pathways and metabolites for production of sugars and other osmolytes as a response to drying. Using this approach, we demonstrate that despite the high complexity of the soil habitat, it is possible to generate insight into the effect of environmental change on the soil microbiome and its physiology and functions, thus laying the groundwork for future, targeted studies. Climate change is predicted to result in increased drought extent and intensity in the highly productive, former tallgrass prairie region of the continental United States. These soils store large reserves of carbon. The decrease in soil moisture due to drought has largely unknown consequences on soil carbon cycling and other key biogeochemical cycles carried out by soil microbiomes. In this study, we found that soil drying had a significant impact on the structure and function of soil microbial communities, including shifts in expression of specific metabolic pathways, such as those leading toward production of osmoprotectant compounds. This study demonstrates the application of an untargeted multi-omics approach to decipher details of the soil microbial community’s metaphenotypic response to environmental perturbations and should be applicable to studies of other complex microbial systems as well.« less

Authors:

Roy Chowdhury, Taniya  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-4028-7996"

Lee, Joon-Yong  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-5864-8518"

Bottos, Eric M. ^[1]; Brislawn, Colin J.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-9109-1950"

White, Richard Allen ^[1]; Bramer, Lisa M.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8384-1926"

Brown, Joseph M.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-7678-6105"

Zucker, Jeremy D.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-7276-9009"

Kim, Young-Mo  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8972-7593"

Jumpponen, Ari ^[2]; Rice, Charles W. ^[2]; Fansler, Sarah J. ^[1]; Metz, Thomas O.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-6049-3968"

McCue, Lee Ann  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4456-517X"

Callister, Stephen J. ^[1]; Song, Hyun-Seob  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2154-6358"

Jansson, Janet K. ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2. Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (United States)

Publication Date:

Tue Jun 11 00:00:00 EDT 2019

Research Org.:

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1530883

Report Number(s):

PNNL-SA-129510
Journal ID: ISSN 2379-5077

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC05-76RL01830

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

mSystems

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2379-5077

Publisher:

American Society for Microbiology

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; metaphenome; metatranscriptome; multi-omics; soil microbiome