Microbial life in preferential flow paths in subsurface clayey till revealed by metataxonomy and metagenomics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Subsurface microorganisms contribute to important ecosystem services, yet little is known about how the composition of these communities is affected by small scale heterogeneity such as in preferential flow paths including biopores and fractures. This study aimed to provide a more complete characterization of microbial communities from preferential flow paths and matrix sediments of a clayey till to a depth of 400 cm by using 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS2 amplicon sequencing of environmental DNA. Moreover, shotgun metagenomics was applied to samples from fractures located 150 cm below ground surface (bgs) to investigate the bacterial genomic adaptations resulting from fluctuating exposure to nutrients, oxygen and water.

Results

The microbial communities changed si

SUBMITTER: Bak F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11312239 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature