Chemical pollution drives taxonomic and functional shifts in marine sediment microbiome, influencing benthic metazoans.

ABSTRACT: Microbial communities in marine sediments contribute significantly to the overall health and resiliency of marine ecosystems. However, increased human disturbance undermines biodiversity and, hence, natural functionality provided by marine sediments. Here, through a deep shotgun metagenomics sequencing of the sediment microbiome and COI metabarcoding of benthic metazoans, we demonstrate that >50% of the microorganisms' and metazoan's taxonomic variation can be explained by specific chemical pollution indices. Interestingly, there was a significant correlation between the similarity in microbiome communities' taxonomical and functional attributes and the similarity of benthic metazoans community composition. Furthermore, mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate the microbiome-mediated i

SUBMITTER: Xu LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11851482 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature