Redox traits characterize the organization of global microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: The structure of biological communities is conventionally described as profiles of taxonomic units, whose ecological functions are assumed to be known or, at least, predictable. In environmental microbiology, however, the functions of a majority of microorganisms are unknown and expected to be highly dynamic and collectively redundant, obscuring the link between taxonomic structure and ecosystem functioning. Although genetic trait-based approaches at the community level might overcome this problem, no obvious choice of gene categories can be identified as appropriate descriptive units in a general ecological context. We used 247 microbial metagenomes from 18 biomes to determine which set of genes better characterizes the differences among biomes on the global scale. We show that profiles o

SUBMITTER: Ramirez-Flandes S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6397516 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature