Microbial functional genes elucidate environmental drivers of biofilm metabolism in glacier-fed streams.

ABSTRACT: Benthic biofilms in glacier-fed streams harbor diverse microorganisms driving biogeochemical cycles and, consequently, influencing ecosystem-level processes. Benthic biofilms are vulnerable to glacial retreat induced by climate change. To investigate microbial functions of benthic biofilms in glacier-fed streams, we predicted metagenomes from 16s rRNA gene sequence data using PICRUSt and identified functional genes associated with nitrogen and sulfur metabolisms based on KEGG database and explored the relationships between metabolic pathways and abiotic factors in glacier-fed streams in the Tianshan Mountains in Central Asia. Results showed that the distribution of functional genes was mainly associated with glacier area proportion, glacier source proportion, total nitrogen, dissolved orga

SUBMITTER: Ren Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5627277 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature