Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem

ABSTRACT Soil salinization is a growing environmental problem caused by both natural and human activities. Excessive salinity in soil suppresses growth, decreases species diversity, and alters the community composition of plants; however, the effect of salinity on soil microbial communities is poorl...

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Autores principales:	Kaoping Zhang, Yu Shi, Xiaoqing Cui, Ping Yue, Kaihui Li, Xuejun Liu, Binu M. Tripathi, Haiyan Chu
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2019
Materias:	community assembly processes community diversity desert ecosystem microbial phenotypes salinity Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0de34c24294a4fada55983a24dc9fb43
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0de34c24294a4fada55983a24dc9fb432021-12-02T18:15:45ZSalinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem10.1128/mSystems.00225-182379-5077https://doaj.org/article/0de34c24294a4fada55983a24dc9fb432019-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSystems.00225-18https://doaj.org/toc/2379-5077ABSTRACT Soil salinization is a growing environmental problem caused by both natural and human activities. Excessive salinity in soil suppresses growth, decreases species diversity, and alters the community composition of plants; however, the effect of salinity on soil microbial communities is poorly understood. Here, we characterize the soil microbial community along a natural salinity gradient in Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China. Microbial diversity linearly decreased with increases in salinity, and community dissimilarity significantly increased with salinity differences. Soil salinity showed a strong effect on microbial community dissimilarity, even after controlling for the effects of spatial distance and other environmental variables. Microbial phylotypes (n = 270) belonging to Halobacteria, Nitriliruptoria, [Rhodothermi], Gammaproteobacteria, and Alphaproteobacteria showed a high-salinity niche preference. Out of nine potential phenotypes predicted by BugBase, oxygen-related phenotypes showed a significant relationship with salinity content. To explore the community assembly processes, we used null models of within-community (nearest-taxon index [NTI]) and between-community (βNTI) phylogenetic composition. NTI showed a significantly negative relationship with salinity, suggesting that the microbial community was less phylogenetically clustered in more-saline soils. βNTI, the between-community analogue of NTI, showed that deterministic processes have overtaken stochastic processes across all sites, suggesting the importance of environmental filtering in microbial community assembly. Taken together, these results suggest the importance of salinity in soil microbial community composition and assembly processes in a desert ecosystem. IMPORTANCE Belowground microorganisms are indispensable components for nutrient cycling in desert ecosystems, and understanding how they respond to increased salinity is essential for managing and ameliorating salinization. Our sequence-based data revealed that microbial diversity decreased with increasing salinity, and certain salt-tolerant phylotypes and phenotypes showed a positive relationship with salinity. Using a null modeling approach to estimate microbial community assembly processes along a salinity gradient, we found that salinity imposed a strong selection pressure on the microbial community, which resulted in a dominance of deterministic processes. Studying microbial diversity and community assembly processes along salinity gradients is essential in understanding the fundamental ecological processes in desert ecosystems affected by salinization.Kaoping ZhangYu ShiXiaoqing CuiPing YueKaihui LiXuejun LiuBinu M. TripathiHaiyan ChuAmerican Society for Microbiologyarticlecommunity assembly processescommunity diversitydesert ecosystemmicrobial phenotypessalinityMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmSystems, Vol 4, Iss 1 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	community assembly processes community diversity desert ecosystem microbial phenotypes salinity Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	community assembly processes community diversity desert ecosystem microbial phenotypes salinity Microbiology QR1-502 Kaoping Zhang Yu Shi Xiaoqing Cui Ping Yue Kaihui Li Xuejun Liu Binu M. Tripathi Haiyan Chu Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem
description	ABSTRACT Soil salinization is a growing environmental problem caused by both natural and human activities. Excessive salinity in soil suppresses growth, decreases species diversity, and alters the community composition of plants; however, the effect of salinity on soil microbial communities is poorly understood. Here, we characterize the soil microbial community along a natural salinity gradient in Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China. Microbial diversity linearly decreased with increases in salinity, and community dissimilarity significantly increased with salinity differences. Soil salinity showed a strong effect on microbial community dissimilarity, even after controlling for the effects of spatial distance and other environmental variables. Microbial phylotypes (n = 270) belonging to Halobacteria, Nitriliruptoria, [Rhodothermi], Gammaproteobacteria, and Alphaproteobacteria showed a high-salinity niche preference. Out of nine potential phenotypes predicted by BugBase, oxygen-related phenotypes showed a significant relationship with salinity content. To explore the community assembly processes, we used null models of within-community (nearest-taxon index [NTI]) and between-community (βNTI) phylogenetic composition. NTI showed a significantly negative relationship with salinity, suggesting that the microbial community was less phylogenetically clustered in more-saline soils. βNTI, the between-community analogue of NTI, showed that deterministic processes have overtaken stochastic processes across all sites, suggesting the importance of environmental filtering in microbial community assembly. Taken together, these results suggest the importance of salinity in soil microbial community composition and assembly processes in a desert ecosystem. IMPORTANCE Belowground microorganisms are indispensable components for nutrient cycling in desert ecosystems, and understanding how they respond to increased salinity is essential for managing and ameliorating salinization. Our sequence-based data revealed that microbial diversity decreased with increasing salinity, and certain salt-tolerant phylotypes and phenotypes showed a positive relationship with salinity. Using a null modeling approach to estimate microbial community assembly processes along a salinity gradient, we found that salinity imposed a strong selection pressure on the microbial community, which resulted in a dominance of deterministic processes. Studying microbial diversity and community assembly processes along salinity gradients is essential in understanding the fundamental ecological processes in desert ecosystems affected by salinization.
format	article
author	Kaoping Zhang Yu Shi Xiaoqing Cui Ping Yue Kaihui Li Xuejun Liu Binu M. Tripathi Haiyan Chu
author_facet	Kaoping Zhang Yu Shi Xiaoqing Cui Ping Yue Kaihui Li Xuejun Liu Binu M. Tripathi Haiyan Chu
author_sort	Kaoping Zhang
title	Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem
title_short	Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem
title_full	Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem
title_fullStr	Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem
title_full_unstemmed	Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem
title_sort	salinity is a key determinant for soil microbial communities in a desert ecosystem
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/0de34c24294a4fada55983a24dc9fb43
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Salinity Is a Key Determinant for Soil Microbial Communities in a Desert Ecosystem

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