Selenium alters the gene content but not the taxonomic composition of the soil microbiome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Microbiomes, essential to ecosystem processes, face strong selective forces that can drive rapid evolutionary adaptation. However, our understanding of evolutionary processes within natural systems remains limited. We investigated evolution in response to naturally occurring selenium in soils of different geological parental materials on the Western Slope of Colorado. Our study focused on examining changes in gene frequencies within microbial communities in response to selenium exposure.

Results

Despite expectations of taxonomic composition shifts and increased gene content changes at high-selenium sites, we found no significant alterations in microbial diversity or community composition. Surprisingly, we observed a significant increase in differentially abundant

SUBMITTER: Bennett AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11575018 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature