Project description:Anthropogenic nutrient inputs alter soil biodiversity; however, it remains largely unknown whether changes in soil microeukaryotes (fungi and protists) are primarily driven by direct effects, such as modifications in soil properties, or by indirect effects, such as plant diversity loss. To disentangle these mechanisms, we investigated the long-term effects (11 years) of fertilization and manipulated plant diversity (1, 2, or 4 plant species) on soil microeukaryote communities in a temperate grassland experiment using long-amplicon rRNA sequencing. Our results indicate that fertilization generally had a stronger influence on microeukaryote communities than plant species richness. Fertilization altered the community composition of fungi and protists, increased OTU richness by 20.8% and 52.7%, respectively, and shifted community dominance from fungi to protists. Regarding plant diversity, we observed an effect exclusively on the protist community. Changes were primarily explained by increased plant biomass (driven by both fertilization and plant diversity) and by higher soil phosphorus and lower soil pH levels (driven exclusively by fertilization). Regarding life strategies, we observed synergistic treatment effects: fertilization primarily enhanced fungal saprophytes (only richness), fungal animal pathogens, and protist consumers, whereas plant diversity affected phototrophic protists (reduction) and protist animal pathogens (enhancement). Notably, fertilization and plant diversity decline together led to a cumulative increase in fungal plant pathogens. In conclusion, we highlight that fertilisation alone has a significant effect on soil microeukaryotes, while the additional decline in plant diversity affects different soil groups that are not directly affected by fertilisation. This synergistic pattern indicates that fertilization can influence the entire microeukaryote community through direct and indirect mechanisms, with a cumulative enhancement on certain groups, such as plant pathogens.
Project description:Soil microorganisms carry out decomposition of complex organic carbon molecules, such as chitin. High diversity of the soil microbiome and complexity of the soil habitat has posed a challenge to elucidate specific interactions between soil microorganisms. Here, we overcame this challenge by studying a model soil consortium (MSC-2) that is composed of 8 species. The MSC-2 isolates were originally obtained from the same soil that was enriched with chitin as a substrate. Our aim was to elucidate specific roles of the 8 member species during chitin metabolism in soil. The 8 species were added to sterile soil with chitin and incubated for 3 months. Multi-omics was used to understand how the community composition, transcript and protein expression and chitin-related metabolites shifted during the incubation period. The data clearly and consistently revealed a temporal shift during chitin decomposition and defined contributions by individual species. A Streptomyces species was a key player in early steps of chitin decomposition, followed by other members of MSC-2. These results illustrate how multi-omics applied to a defined consortium untangles complex interactions between soil microorganisms.
2025-02-01 | GSE251759 | GEO
Project description:microbial community diversity of farmland soil
| PRJNA604302 | ENA
Project description:microbial community diversity of farmland soil
| PRJNA627569 | ENA
Project description:Study of Prokaryotic Microbial Diversity in Baiyangdian Soil
| PRJNA630830 | ENA
Project description:Baiyangdian Lake Raw sequence reads
| PRJNA647002 | ENA
Project description:Baiyangdian Lake Raw sequence reads
| PRJNA647053 | ENA
Project description:Baiyangdian Lake Raw sequence reads
| PRJNA636304 | ENA
Project description:Baiyangdian Lake Raw sequence reads