The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities
ABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient that is often in limited supply, with P availability constraining biomass production in many terrestrial ecosystems. Despite decades of work on plant responses to P deficiency and the importance of soil microbes to terrestrial ecosystem processes, how...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2020-10-01
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| Series: | mBio |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01718-20 |
| _version_ | 1798032154940145664 |
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| author | Angela M. Oliverio Andrew Bissett Krista McGuire Kristin Saltonstall Benjamin L. Turner Noah Fierer |
| author_facet | Angela M. Oliverio Andrew Bissett Krista McGuire Kristin Saltonstall Benjamin L. Turner Noah Fierer |
| author_sort | Angela M. Oliverio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient that is often in limited supply, with P availability constraining biomass production in many terrestrial ecosystems. Despite decades of work on plant responses to P deficiency and the importance of soil microbes to terrestrial ecosystem processes, how soil microbes respond to, and cope with, P deficiencies remains poorly understood. We studied 583 soils from two independent sample sets that each span broad natural gradients in extractable soil P and collectively represent diverse biomes, including tropical forests, temperate grasslands, and arid shrublands. We paired marker gene and shotgun metagenomic analyses to determine how soil bacterial and archaeal communities respond to differences in soil P availability and to detect corresponding shifts in functional attributes. We identified microbial taxa that are consistently responsive to extractable soil P, with those taxa found in low P soils being more likely to have traits typical of oligotrophic life history strategies. Using environmental niche modeling of genes and gene pathways, we found an enriched abundance of key genes in low P soils linked to the carbon-phosphorus (C-P) lyase and phosphonotase degradation pathways, along with key components of the high-affinity phosphate-specific transporter (Pst) and phosphate regulon (Pho) systems. Taken together, these analyses suggest that catabolism of phosphonates is an important strategy used by bacteria to scavenge phosphate in P-limited soils. Surprisingly, these same pathways are important for bacterial growth in P-limited marine waters, highlighting the shared metabolic strategies used by both terrestrial and marine microbes to cope with P limitation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:09:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79c1a0f370fb49b997fe5c0d24fd6516 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-7511 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:09:16Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | mBio |
| spelling | doaj.art-79c1a0f370fb49b997fe5c0d24fd65162022-12-22T04:05:11ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymBio2150-75112020-10-0111510.1128/mBio.01718-20The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic CapabilitiesAngela M. Oliverio0Andrew Bissett1Krista McGuire2Kristin Saltonstall3Benjamin L. Turner4Noah Fierer5Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USACSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaInstitute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USASmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of PanamaSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of PanamaDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USAABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient that is often in limited supply, with P availability constraining biomass production in many terrestrial ecosystems. Despite decades of work on plant responses to P deficiency and the importance of soil microbes to terrestrial ecosystem processes, how soil microbes respond to, and cope with, P deficiencies remains poorly understood. We studied 583 soils from two independent sample sets that each span broad natural gradients in extractable soil P and collectively represent diverse biomes, including tropical forests, temperate grasslands, and arid shrublands. We paired marker gene and shotgun metagenomic analyses to determine how soil bacterial and archaeal communities respond to differences in soil P availability and to detect corresponding shifts in functional attributes. We identified microbial taxa that are consistently responsive to extractable soil P, with those taxa found in low P soils being more likely to have traits typical of oligotrophic life history strategies. Using environmental niche modeling of genes and gene pathways, we found an enriched abundance of key genes in low P soils linked to the carbon-phosphorus (C-P) lyase and phosphonotase degradation pathways, along with key components of the high-affinity phosphate-specific transporter (Pst) and phosphate regulon (Pho) systems. Taken together, these analyses suggest that catabolism of phosphonates is an important strategy used by bacteria to scavenge phosphate in P-limited soils. Surprisingly, these same pathways are important for bacterial growth in P-limited marine waters, highlighting the shared metabolic strategies used by both terrestrial and marine microbes to cope with P limitation.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01718-20phosphorus limitationC-P lyase pathwayorganophosphonate degradationphosphate starvationsoil microbiology |
| spellingShingle | Angela M. Oliverio Andrew Bissett Krista McGuire Kristin Saltonstall Benjamin L. Turner Noah Fierer The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities mBio phosphorus limitation C-P lyase pathway organophosphonate degradation phosphate starvation soil microbiology |
| title | The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities |
| title_full | The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities |
| title_short | The Role of Phosphorus Limitation in Shaping Soil Bacterial Communities and Their Metabolic Capabilities |
| title_sort | role of phosphorus limitation in shaping soil bacterial communities and their metabolic capabilities |
| topic | phosphorus limitation C-P lyase pathway organophosphonate degradation phosphate starvation soil microbiology |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01718-20 |
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