Microorganisms (Jun 2024)

Quest for the Nitrogen-Metabolic Versatility of Microorganisms in Soil and Marine Ecosystems

  • Yongpeng Zhao,
  • Xia Zhu-Barker,
  • Kai Cai,
  • Shuling Wang,
  • Alan L. Wright,
  • Xianjun Jiang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071283
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 7
p. 1283

Abstract

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Whether nitrogen (N)-metabolic versatility is a common trait of N-transforming microbes or if it only occurs in a few species is still unknown. We collected 83 soil samples from six soil types across China, retrieved 19 publicly available metagenomic marine sample data, and analyzed the functional traits of N-transforming microorganisms using metagenomic sequencing. More than 38% and 35% of N-transforming species in soil and marine ecosystems, respectively, encoded two or more N-pathways, although N-transforming species differed greatly between them. Furthermore, in both soil and marine ecosystems, more than 80% of nitrifying and N-fixing microorganisms at the species level were N-metabolic versatile. This study reveals that N-metabolic versatility is a common trait of N-transforming microbes, which could expand our understanding of the functional traits of drivers of nitrogen biogeochemistry.

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