Long-read metagenomics of soil communities reveals phylum-specific secondary metabolite dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Microbial biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) encoding secondary metabolites are thought to impact a plethora of biologically mediated environmental processes, yet their discovery and functional characterization in natural microbiomes remains challenging. Here we describe deep long-read sequencing and assembly of metagenomes from biological soil crusts, a group of soil communities that are rich in BGCs. Taking advantage of the unusually long assemblies produced by this approach, we recovered nearly 3,000 BGCs for analysis, including 712 full-length BGCs. Functional exploration through metatranscriptome analysis of a 3-day wetting experiment uncovered phylum-specific BGC expression upon activation from dormancy, elucidating distinct roles and complex phylogenetic and temporal dynamics in wett

SUBMITTER: Van Goethem MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8602731 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature