Soil as an extended composite phenotype of the microbial metagenome

Abstract

© 2020, The Author(s). We use a unique set of terrestrial experiments to demonstrate how soil management practises result in emergence of distinct associations between physical structure and biological functions. These associations have a significant effect on the flux, resilience and efficiency of nutrient delivery to plants (including water). Physical structure, determining the air–water balance in soil as well as transport rates, is influenced by nutrient and physical interventions. Contrasting emergent soil structures exert selective pressures upon the microbiome metagenome. These selective pressures are associated with the quality of organic carbon inputs, the prevalence of anaerobic microsites and delivery of nutrients to microorganisms attached to soil surfaces. This variety results in distinctive gene assemblages characterising each state. The nature of the interactions provide evidence that soil behaves as an extended composite phenotype of the resident microbiome, responsive to the input and turnover of plant-derived organic carbon. We provide new evidence supporting the theory that soil-microbe systems are self-organising states with organic carbon acting as a critical determining parameter. This perspective leads us to propose carbon flux, rather than soil organic carbon content as the critical factor in soil systems, and we present evidence to support this view.

Citation

Neal, A. L., Bacq-Labreuil, A., Zhang, X., Clark, I. M., Coleman, K., Mooney, S. J., …Crawford, J. W. (2020). Soil as an extended composite phenotype of the microbial metagenome. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 10649. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67631-0

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 5, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 30, 2020
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jun 16, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 30, 2020
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Print ISSN: 2045-2322
• Electronic ISSN: 2045-2322
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 10649
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67631-0
• Keywords: Agroecology, Computational biology and bioinformatics, Environmental sciences, Microbial ecology, Microbiology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4661336
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67631-0
• Additional Information: Received: 24 October 2019; Accepted: 5 June 2020; First Online: 30 June 2020; : The authors declare no competing interests.