Multi-omics reveals nitrogen dynamics associated with soil microbial blooms during snowmelt.

ABSTRACT: Snowmelt triggers a soil microbial bloom and crash that affects nitrogen (N) export in high-elevation watersheds. The mechanisms underlying these microbial dynamics are uncertain, making soil nitrogen processes difficult to predict as snowpack declines globally. Here, integration of genome-resolved metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metabolomics in a high-elevation watershed revealed ecologically distinct soil microorganisms linked across the snowmelt time-period by their unique nitrogen cycling capacities. The molecular properties and transformations of dissolved organic N suggested that degradation or recycling of microbial biomass provided N for biosynthesis during the microbial bloom. Winter-adapted Bradyrhizobia spp. oxidized amino acids anaerobically and had the highest gene expre

SUBMITTER: Sorensen PO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12872456 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature