Namib Desert primary productivity is driven by cryptic microbial community N-fixation

Ramond, Jean‐Baptiste; Woodborne, Stephan; Hall, Grant; Seely, Mary; Cowan, Don A.

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25078-4

Cited by 36 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…However, transcripts relating to the nitrogen metabolism KEGG pathway represented a small portion (0.2%) of our soil metatranscriptomes and virtually no nifD nitrogenase transcripts were detected (Figure 3A). These findings are compatible with recent observations that hypolithic communities, and not surface soil communities, were the primary sources of N 2 -fixation in Namib Desert gravel plains (Ramond et al, 2018).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Nutrient Acquisition, Rather Than Stress Response Over Diel Cycles, Drives Microbial Transcription in a Hyper-Arid Namib Desert Soil

et al. 2019

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Hot desert surface soils are characterized by extremely low water activities for large parts of any annual cycle. It is widely assumed that microbial processes in such soils are very limited. Here we present the first metatranscriptomic survey of microbial community function in a low water activity hyperarid desert soil. Sequencing of total mRNA revealed a diverse and active community, dominated by Actinobacteria. Metatranscriptomic analysis of samples taken at different times over 3 days indicated that functional diel variations were limited at the whole community level, and mostly affected the eukaryotic subpopulation which was induced during the cooler night hours. High levels of transcription of chemoautotrophic carbon fixation genes contrasted with limited expression of photosynthetic genes, indicating that chemoautotrophy is an important alternative to photosynthesis for carbon cycling in desiccated desert soils. Analysis of the transcriptional levels of key N-cycling genes provided strong evidence that soil nitrate was the dominant nitrogen input source. Transcriptional network analyses and taxon-resolved functional profiling suggested that nutrient acquisition processes, and not diurnal environmental variation, were the main drivers of community activity in hyperarid Namib Desert soil. While we also observed significant levels of expression of common stress response genes, these genes were not dominant hubs in the co-occurrence network.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Nutrient Acquisition, Rather Than Stress Response Over Diel Cycles, Drives Microbial Transcription in a Hyper-Arid Namib Desert Soil

et al. 2019

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“…3A). These findings are compatible with recent observations that hypolithic communities, and not surface soil communities, were the primary sources of N 2 -fixation in Namib Desert gravel plains (Ramond et al , 2018).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Nutrient acquisition, rather than stress response over diel cycles, drives microbial transcription in a dessicated Namib Desert soil

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et al. 2018

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“…In desert environments the hypolithic microbial community can be dominated by Cyanobacteria [ 12 ]. Ramond et al [ 13 ] describes the relevance of hypoliths in the Namib Desert gravel plaints and stress their importance of hot desert productivity via their capacity for N-fixation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living Lithic and Sublithic Bacterial Communities in Namibian Drylands

et al. 2021

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Dryland xeric conditions exert a deterministic effect on microbial communities, forcing life into refuge niches. Deposited rocks can form a lithic niche for microorganisms in desert regions. Mineral weathering is a key process in soil formation and the importance of microbial-driven mineral weathering for nutrient extraction is increasingly accepted. Advances in geobiology provide insight into the interactions between microorganisms and minerals that play an important role in weathering processes. In this study, we present the examination of the microbial diversity in dryland rocks from the Tsauchab River banks in Namibia. We paired culture-independent 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with culture-dependent (isolation of bacteria) techniques to assess the community structure and diversity patterns. Bacteria isolated from dryland rocks are typical of xeric environments and are described as being involved in rock weathering processes. For the first time, we extracted extra- and intracellular DNA from rocks to enhance our understanding of potentially rock-weathering microorganisms. We compared the microbial community structure in different rock types (limestone, quartz-rich sandstone and quartz-rich shale) with adjacent soils below the rocks. Our results indicate differences in the living lithic and sublithic microbial communities.

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Namib Desert primary productivity is driven by cryptic microbial community N-fixation

Cited by 36 publications

References 54 publications

Nutrient Acquisition, Rather Than Stress Response Over Diel Cycles, Drives Microbial Transcription in a Hyper-Arid Namib Desert Soil

Nutrient Acquisition, Rather Than Stress Response Over Diel Cycles, Drives Microbial Transcription in a Hyper-Arid Namib Desert Soil

Nutrient acquisition, rather than stress response over diel cycles, drives microbial transcription in a dessicated Namib Desert soil

Living Lithic and Sublithic Bacterial Communities in Namibian Drylands

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