Soil microbial adaptation to carbon deprivation: shifts in lignocellulolytic gene profiles following long-term plant exclusion.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lignocellulose represents a primary input of organic carbon (C) into soils, yet the identity of specific microorganisms and genes which drive lignocellulose turnover in soils remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we used a 10-year grassland plant-exclusion experiment to investigate how reduced plant C inputs affect microbial communities and their lignocellulolytic potential using a combination of metagenomic sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. We specifically tested the hypothesis that microbial community function in bare fallow plots would transition towards microbiota with genes for recalcitrant biomass degradation (i.e., lignocellulose), when compared to grassland plots with high labile C inputs.

Results

Long-term plant exclusion lowered

SUBMITTER: Fidler DB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12802329 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature