Metabolic flexibility allows bacterial habitat generalists to become dominant in a frequently disturbed ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Ecological theory suggests that habitat disturbance differentially influences distributions of habitat generalist and specialist species. While well-established for macroorganisms, this theory has rarely been explored for microorganisms. Here we tested these principles in permeable (sandy) sediments, ecosystems with much spatiotemporal variation in resource availability and physicochemical conditions. Microbial community composition and function were profiled in intertidal and subtidal sediments using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomics, yielding 135 metagenome-assembled genomes. Community composition and metabolic traits modestly varied with sediment depth and sampling date. Several taxa were highly abundant and prevalent in all samples, including within the orders Woeseial

SUBMITTER: Chen YJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8443593 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature