Open AccessBiological H2 and CO oxidation activities are sensitive to compositional change of soil microbial communities
Author(s) -
Julien Saavedra-Lavoie,
Anne de la Porte,
Sarah PichéChoquette,
Claude Guertin,
Philippe Constant
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
canadian journal of microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.635
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1480-3275
pISSN - 0008-4166
DOI - 10.1139/cjm-2019-0412
Subject(s) - microcosm , microbial population biology , dilution , environmental chemistry , soil water , microorganism , soil microbiology , biology , carbon dioxide , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , ecology , physics , genetics , thermodynamics
Trace gas uptake by microorganisms controls the oxidative capacity of the troposphere, but little is known about how this important function is affected by changes in soil microbial diversity. This article bridges that knowledge gap by examining the response of the microbial community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) production, and molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation activities to manipulation of microbial diversity in soil microcosms. Microbial diversity was manipulated by mixing nonsterile and sterile soil with and without the addition of antibiotics. Nonsterile soil without antibiotics was used as a reference. Species composition changed significantly in soil microcosms as a result of dilution and antibiotic treatments, but there was no difference in species richness, according to PCR amplicon sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. The CLPP was 15% higher in all dilution and antibiotic treatments than in reference microcosms, but the dilution treatment had no effect on CO 2 production. Soil microcosms with dilution treatments had 58%–98% less H 2 oxidation and 54%–99% lower CO oxidation, relative to reference microcosms, but did not differ among the antibiotic treatments. These results indicate that H 2 and CO oxidation activities respond to compositional changes of microbial community in soil.