High Genetic Potential for Proteolytic Decomposition in Northern Peatland Ecosystems

• Emily B. Graham ^[1] ; Fan Yang ^[2] ; Sheryl Bell ^[1] ; Kirsten S. Hofmockel ^[3]
  1. [1] Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

     Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

     Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Iowa State University

     Iowa State University

     Township of Franklin, Estados Unidos

     
  3. [3] a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA; c Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA

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• Localización: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, ISSN 0099-2240, Vol. 85, Nº 10, 2019
• Idioma: inglés
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  • Nitrogen (N) is a common limitation on primary productivity, and its source remains unresolved in northern peatlands that are vulnerable to environmental change. Decomposition of complex organic matter into free amino acids has been proposed as an important N source, but the genetic potential of microorganisms mediating this process has not been examined. Such information can inform possible responses of northern peatlands to environmental change. We show high genetic potential for microbial production of free amino acids across a range of microbial guilds in northern peatlands. In particular, the abundance and diversity of bacterial genes encoding proteolytic activity suggest a predominant role for bacteria in regulating productivity and contrasts with a paradigm of fungal dominance of organic N decomposition. Our results expand our current understanding of coupled carbon and nitrogen cycles in northern peatlands and indicate that understudied bacterial and archaeal lineages may be central in this ecosystem’s response to environmental change.