Open AccessEcological and Genomic Attributes of Novel Bacterial Taxa That Thrive in Subsurface Soil Horizons
Author(s) -
Tess E. Brewer,
Emma L. Aronson,
Keshav Arogyaswamy,
S. A. Billings,
Jon Botthoff,
Ashley Campbell,
Nicholas C. Dove,
Dawson Fairbanks,
Rachel E. Gallery,
Stephen C. Hart,
Jason P. Kaye,
Gary M. King,
Geoffrey D. Logan,
Kathleen A. Lohse,
Mia R. Maltz,
Emilio Mayorga,
Caitlin O’Neill,
Sarah M. Owens,
Aaron I. Packman,
Jennifer PettRidge,
Alain F. Plante,
Daniel D. Richter,
Whendee L. Silver,
Wendy H. Yang,
Noah Fierer
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
mbio
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.562
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 2161-2129
pISSN - 2150-7511
DOI - 10.1128/mbio.01318-19
Subject(s) - phylum , biogeochemical cycle , soil water , ecology , biology , archaea , soil microbiology , environmental science , bacteria , paleontology
Soil profiles are rarely homogeneous. Resource availability and microbial abundances typically decrease with soil depth, but microbes found in deeper horizons are still important components of terrestrial ecosystems. By studying 20 soil profiles across the United States, we documented consistent changes in soil bacterial and archaeal communities with depth. Deeper soils harbored communities distinct from those of the more commonly studied surface horizons. Most notably, we found that the candidate phylumDormibacteraeota (formerly AD3) was often dominant in subsurface soils, and we used genomes from uncultivated members of this group to identify why these taxa are able to thrive in such resource-limited environments. Simply digging deeper into soil can reveal a surprising number of novel microbes with unique adaptations to oligotrophic subsurface conditions.