Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i>
Earthworms heavily modify the soil microbiome as it passes throughout their guts. However, there are no detailed studies describing changes in the composition, structure and diversity of soil microbiomes during gut transit and once they are released back to the soil as casts. To address this knowled...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/5/1025 |
| _version_ | 1797497675318296576 |
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| author | Manuel Aira Marcos Pérez-Losada Keith A. Crandall Jorge Domínguez |
| author_facet | Manuel Aira Marcos Pérez-Losada Keith A. Crandall Jorge Domínguez |
| author_sort | Manuel Aira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Earthworms heavily modify the soil microbiome as it passes throughout their guts. However, there are no detailed studies describing changes in the composition, structure and diversity of soil microbiomes during gut transit and once they are released back to the soil as casts. To address this knowledge gap, we used 16S rRNA next-generation sequencing to characterize the microbiomes of soil, gut and casts from the earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i>. We also studied whether these three microbiomes are clearly distinct in composition or can be merged into metacommunities. A large proportion of bacteria was unique to each microbiome—soil (82%), gut (89%) and casts (75%), which indicates that the soil microbiome is greatly modified during gut transit. The three microbiomes also differed in alpha diversity, which peaked during gut transit and decreased in casts. Furthermore, gut transit also modified the structure of the soil microbiome, which clustered away from those of the earthworm gut and cast samples. However, this clustering pattern was not supported by metacommunity analysis, which indicated that soil and gut samples make up one metacommunity and cast samples another. These results have important implications for understanding the dynamics of soil microbial communities and nutrient cycles. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:22:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f1f0b5bf0d264ea89d5d6c697fa98b2a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:22:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-f1f0b5bf0d264ea89d5d6c697fa98b2a2023-11-23T12:16:41ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072022-05-01105102510.3390/microorganisms10051025Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i>Manuel Aira0Marcos Pérez-Losada1Keith A. Crandall2Jorge Domínguez3Grupo de Ecoloxía Animal (GEA), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, SpainDepartment of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Computational Biology Institute, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USADepartment of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Computational Biology Institute, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USAGrupo de Ecoloxía Animal (GEA), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, SpainEarthworms heavily modify the soil microbiome as it passes throughout their guts. However, there are no detailed studies describing changes in the composition, structure and diversity of soil microbiomes during gut transit and once they are released back to the soil as casts. To address this knowledge gap, we used 16S rRNA next-generation sequencing to characterize the microbiomes of soil, gut and casts from the earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i>. We also studied whether these three microbiomes are clearly distinct in composition or can be merged into metacommunities. A large proportion of bacteria was unique to each microbiome—soil (82%), gut (89%) and casts (75%), which indicates that the soil microbiome is greatly modified during gut transit. The three microbiomes also differed in alpha diversity, which peaked during gut transit and decreased in casts. Furthermore, gut transit also modified the structure of the soil microbiome, which clustered away from those of the earthworm gut and cast samples. However, this clustering pattern was not supported by metacommunity analysis, which indicated that soil and gut samples make up one metacommunity and cast samples another. These results have important implications for understanding the dynamics of soil microbial communities and nutrient cycles.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/5/1025earthworm microbiomegut transitearthworm castalpha diversitymetacommunitysoil microbiome |
| spellingShingle | Manuel Aira Marcos Pérez-Losada Keith A. Crandall Jorge Domínguez Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i> Microorganisms earthworm microbiome gut transit earthworm cast alpha diversity metacommunity soil microbiome |
| title | Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i> |
| title_full | Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i> |
| title_fullStr | Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i> |
| title_short | Composition, Structure and Diversity of Soil Bacterial Communities before, during and after Transit through the Gut of the Earthworm <i>Aporrectodea caliginosa</i> |
| title_sort | composition structure and diversity of soil bacterial communities before during and after transit through the gut of the earthworm i aporrectodea caliginosa i |
| topic | earthworm microbiome gut transit earthworm cast alpha diversity metacommunity soil microbiome |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/5/1025 |
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