1. Metabolic potential of Nitrososphaera-associated clades.
- Author
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Bei Q, Reitz T, Schädler M, Hodgskiss LH, Peng J, Schnabel B, Buscot F, Eisenhauer N, Schleper C, and Heintz-Buschart A
- Subjects
- Germany, Metagenome, Phylogeny, Genome, Archaeal, Soil chemistry, Soil Microbiology, Archaea metabolism, Archaea genetics, Archaea classification, Ammonia metabolism, Oxidation-Reduction
- Abstract
Soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) play a crucial role in converting ammonia to nitrite, thereby mobilizing reactive nitrogen species into their soluble form, with a significant impact on nitrogen losses from terrestrial soils. Yet, our knowledge regarding their diversity and functions remains limited. In this study, we reconstructed 97 high-quality AOA metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from 180 soil samples collected in Central Germany during 2014-2019 summers. These MAGs were affiliated with the order Nitrososphaerales and clustered into four family-level clades (NS-α/γ/δ/ε). Among these MAGs, 75 belonged to the most abundant but least understood δ-clade. Within the δ-clade, the amoA genes in three MAGs from neutral soils showed a 99.5% similarity to the fosmid clone 54d9, which has served as representative of the δ-clade for the past two decades since even today no cultivated representatives are available. Seventy-two MAGs constituted a distinct δ sub-clade, and their abundance and expression activity were more than twice that of other MAGs in slightly acidic soils. Unlike the less abundant clades (α, γ, and ε), the δ-MAGs possessed multiple highly expressed intracellular and extracellular carbohydrate-active enzymes responsible for carbohydrate binding (CBM32) and degradation (GH5), along with highly expressed genes involved in ammonia oxidation. Together, these results suggest metabolic versatility of uncultured soil AOA and a potential mixotrophic or chemolithoheterotrophic lifestyle among 54d9-like AOA., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.)
- Published
- 2024
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