Microbial metabolic potential for carbon degradation and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) acquisition in an ombrotrophic peatland.

ABSTRACT: This study integrated metagenomic and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic approaches to investigate microbial metabolic potential for organic matter decomposition and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) acquisition in soils of an ombrotrophic peatland in the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF), Minnesota, USA. This analysis revealed vertical stratification in key enzymatic pathways and taxa containing these pathways. Metagenomic analyses revealed that genes encoding laccases and dioxygenases, involved in aromatic compound degradation, declined in relative abundance with depth, while the relative abundance of genes encoding metabolism of amino sugars and all four saccharide groups increased with depth in parallel with a 50% reduction in carbohydrate content. Most Cu-oxidases were close

SUBMITTER: Lin X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4018864 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature