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Metagenomic analysis provides insights into functional capacity in a hyperarid desert soil niche community
Author(s) -
Vikram Surendra,
Guerrero Leandro D.,
Makhalanyane Thulani P.,
Le Phuong T.,
Seely Mary,
Cowan Don A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.13088
Subject(s) - biology , metagenomics , archaea , microbial mat , ecology , phylogenetic tree , niche differentiation , niche , anoxygenic photosynthesis , microbial ecology , geomicrobiology , ecosystem , prochlorococcus , phototroph , environmental biotechnology , cyanobacteria , gene , botany , photosynthesis , genetics , bacteria , synechococcus
Summary In hyperarid ecosystems, macroscopic communities are often restricted to cryptic niches, such as hypoliths (microbial communities found beneath translucent rocks), which are widely distributed in hyperarid desert environments. While hypolithic communities are considered to play a major role in productivity, the functional guilds implicated in these processes remain unclear. Here, we describe the metagenomic sequencing, assembly and analysis of hypolithic microbial communities from the N amib D esert. Taxonomic analyses using S mall S ubunit phylogenetic markers showed that bacterial phylotypes (93%) dominated the communities, with relatively small proportions of archaea (0.43%) and fungi (5.6%). Refseq‐viral database analysis showed the presence of double stranded DNA viruses (7.8% contigs), dominated by C audovirales (59.2%). Analysis of functional genes and metabolic pathways revealed that cyanobacteria were primarily responsible for photosynthesis with the presence of multiple copies of genes for both photosystems I and II , with a smaller but significant fraction of proteobacterial anoxic photosystem II genes. Hypolithons demonstrated an extensive genetic capacity for the degradation of phosphonates and mineralization of organic sulphur. Surprisingly, we were unable to show the presence of genes representative of complete nitrogen cycles. Taken together, our analyses suggest an extensive capacity for carbon, phosphate and sulphate cycling but only limited nitrogen biogeochemistry.