Macroecological distributions of gene variants highlight the functional organization of soil microbial systems - Université de Montpellier
Article Dans Une Revue The International Society of Microbiologial Ecology Journal Année : 2021

Macroecological distributions of gene variants highlight the functional organization of soil microbial systems

Fabiana S. Paula
  • Fonction : Auteur
Yunfeng Yang
  • Fonction : Auteur
Linwei Wu
  • Fonction : Auteur
Feifei Liu
  • Fonction : Auteur
Jiaje Feng
  • Fonction : Auteur
Jizhong Zhou
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

The recent application of macroecological tools and concepts has made it possible to identify consistent patterns in the distribution of microbial biodiversity, which greatly improved our understanding of the microbial world at large scales. However, the distribution of microbial functions remains largely uncharted from the macroecological point of view. Here, we used macroecological models to examine how the genes encoding the functional capabilities of microorganisms are distributed within and across soil systems. Models built using functional gene array data from 818 soil microbial communities showed that the occupancy-frequency distributions of genes were bimodal in every studied site, and that their rank-abundance distributions were best described by a lognormal model. In addition, the relationships between gene occupancy and abundance were positive in all sites. This allowed us to identify genes with high abundance and ubiquitous distribution (core) and genes with low abundance and limited spatial distribution (satellites), and to show that they encode different sets of microbial traits. Common genes encode microbial traits related to the main biogeochemical cycles (C, N, P and S) while rare genes encode traits related to adaptation to environmental stresses, such as nutrient limitation, resistance to heavy metals and degradation of xenobiotics. Overall, this study characterized for the first time the distribution of microbial functional genes within soil systems, and highlight the interest of macroecological models for understanding the functional organization of microbial systems across spatial scales.

Dates et versions

hal-03475049 , version 1 (10-12-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

Arthur Escalas, Fabiana S. Paula, Francois Guilhaumon, Mengting Yuan, Yunfeng Yang, et al.. Macroecological distributions of gene variants highlight the functional organization of soil microbial systems. The International Society of Microbiologial Ecology Journal, 2021, ⟨10.1038/s41396-021-01120-8⟩. ⟨hal-03475049⟩
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