Distribution Characteristics of Soil Viruses Under Different Precipitation Gradients on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Frontiers in Microbiology

Li Bi¹  Shu-Jun Chen²  Ji-Zheng He³  Hua-Yong Wu⁴  Li-Li Han⁵  Yuan Ge⁵  Si-Yi Liu⁶  Li-Mei Zhang⁷  Bing Han⁷  Miao-Miao Cao⁷ 

[1] Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia;Information Technology Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-Geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China;State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China;State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;The Zhongke-Ji’an Institute for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Ji’an, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;

关键词: soil viruses;    metagenome;    precipitation;    abundance;    diversity;    carbon cycle;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2022.848305

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Viruses are extremely abundant in the soil environment and have potential roles in impacting on microbial population, evolution, and nutrient biogeochemical cycles. However, how environment and climate changes affect soil viruses is still poorly understood. Here, a metagenomic approach was used to investigate the distribution, diversity, and potential biogeochemical impacts of DNA viruses in 12 grassland soils under three precipitation gradients on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is one of the most sensitive areas to climate change. A total of 557 viral operational taxonomic units were obtained, spanning 152 viral families from the 30 metagenomes. Both virus-like particles (VLPs) and microbial abundance increased with average annual precipitation. A significant positive correlation of VLP counts was observed with soil water content, total carbon, total nitrogen, soil organic matter, and total phosphorus. Among these biological and abiotic factors, SWC mainly contributed to the variability in VLP abundance. The order Caudovirales (70.1% of the identified viral order) was the predominant viral type in soils from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with the Siphoviridae family being the most abundant. Remarkably, abundant auxiliary carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) genes represented by glycoside hydrolases were identified, indicating that soil viruses may play a potential role in the carbon cycle on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. There were more diverse hosts and abundant CAZyme genes in soil with moderate precipitation. Our study provides a strong evidence that changes in precipitation impact not only viral abundance and virus–host interactions in soil but also the viral functional potential, especially carbon cycling.

【 授权许可】

Unknown