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Title: Dramatic Increases of Soil Microbial Functional Gene Diversity at the Treeline Ecotone of Changbai Mountain

Journal Article · · Frontiers in Microbiology
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [2]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing (China); Univ. of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing (China)
  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  4. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
  5. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

The elevational and latitudinal diversity patterns of microbial taxa have attracted great attention in the past decade. Recently, the distribution of functional attributes has been in the spotlight. Here, we report a study profiling soil microbial communities along an elevation gradient (500-2200 m) on Changbai Mountain. Using a comprehensive functional gene microarray (GeoChip 5.0), we found that microbial functional gene richness exhibited a dramatic increase at the treeline ecotone, but the bacterial taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing did not exhibit such a similar trend. However, the β-diversity (compositional dissimilarity among sites) pattern for both bacterial taxa and functional genes was similar, showing significant elevational distance-decay patterns which presented increased dissimilarity with elevation. The bacterial taxonomic diversity/structure was strongly influenced by soil pH, while the functional gene diversity/structure was significantly correlated with soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC). This finding highlights that soil DOC may be a good predictor in determining the elevational distribution of microbial functional genes. The finding of significant shifts in functional gene diversity at the treeline ecotone could also provide valuable information for predicting the responses of microbial functions to climate change.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); National Basic Research Program of China; State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; 41371254; 2014CB954002; XDB15010101; XDB15010312; ISSASIP1641; 2015FY110100; LFSE2014-02
OSTI ID:
1630593
Journal Information:
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol. 7, Issue JUL; ISSN 1664-302X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 30 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Seasonal soil microbial responses are limited to changes in functionality at two Alpine forest sites differing in altitude and vegetation journal May 2017
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Above- and belowground linkages shape responses of mountain vegetation to climate change journal September 2019
Microbial Taxa Distribution Is Associated with Ecological Trophic Cascades along an Elevation Gradient journal October 2017
Changes in the Substrate Source Reveal Novel Interactions in the Sediment-Derived Methanogenic Microbial Community journal September 2019
Above- and belowground linkages shape responses of mountain vegetation to climate change text January 2019
Fungal Elevational Rapoport pattern from a High Mountain in Japan journal April 2019
Changes in the Substrate Source Reveal Novel Interactions in the Sediment-Derived Methanogenic Microbial Community journal September 2019

Figures / Tables (9)