Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils

Expansion of penguin activity in maritime Antarctica, under ice thaw, increases the chances of penguin feces affecting soil microbiomes. The detail of such effects begins to be revealed. By comparing soil geochemistry and microbiome composition inside (one site) and outside (three sites) of the rook...

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Main Authors: Yudong Guo, Nengfei Wang, Gaoyang Li, Gabriela Rosas, Jiaye Zang, Yue Ma, Jie Liu, Wenbing Han, Huansheng Cao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00552/full
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spelling doaj-d009545ee00448eebb0a56f94561f8882020-11-24T22:57:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2018-04-01910.3389/fmicb.2018.00552332064Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic SoilsYudong Guo0Nengfei Wang1Gaoyang Li2Gabriela Rosas3Jiaye Zang4Yue Ma5Jie Liu6Wenbing Han7Huansheng Cao8Department of Bioengineering, College of Marine Sciences and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, ChinaKey Lab of Marine Bioactive Substances, First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, ChinaCollege of Computer Science and Technology, Jilin University, Changchun, ChinaCenter for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesKey Lab of Marine Bioactive Substances, First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, ChinaDepartment of Bioengineering, College of Marine Sciences and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, ChinaDepartment of Bioengineering, College of Marine Sciences and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, ChinaCollege of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, ChinaCenter for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesExpansion of penguin activity in maritime Antarctica, under ice thaw, increases the chances of penguin feces affecting soil microbiomes. The detail of such effects begins to be revealed. By comparing soil geochemistry and microbiome composition inside (one site) and outside (three sites) of the rookery, we found significant effects of penguin feces on both. First, penguin feces change soil geochemistry, causing increased moisture content (MC) of ornithogenic soils and nutrients C, N, P, and Si in the rookery compared to non-rookery sites, but not pH. Second, penguin feces directly affect microbiome composition in the rookery, not those outside. Specifically, we found 4,364 operational taxonomical units (OTUs) in 404 genera in six main phyla: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes. Although the diversity is similar among the four sites, the composition is different. For example, penguin rookery has a lower abundance of Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Nitrospirae but a higher abundance of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Thermomicrobia. Strikingly, the family Clostridiaceae of Firmicutes of penguin-feces origin is most abundant in the rookery than non-rookery sites with two most abundant genera, Tissierella and Proteiniclasticum. Redundancy analysis showed all measured geochemical factors are significant in structuring microbiomes, with MC showing the highest correlation. We further extracted 21 subnetworks of microbes which contain 4,318 of the 4,364 OTUs using network analysis and are closely correlated with all geochemical factors except pH. Our finding f penguin feces, directly and indirectly, affects soil microbiome suggests an important role of penguins in soil geochemistry and microbiome structure of maritime Antarctica.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00552/fullAntarcticageochemical propertiesnetworkpenguinornithogenic soilmicrobiome
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Yudong Guo
Nengfei Wang
Gaoyang Li
Gabriela Rosas
Jiaye Zang
Yue Ma
Jie Liu
Wenbing Han
Huansheng Cao
spellingShingle Yudong Guo
Nengfei Wang
Gaoyang Li
Gabriela Rosas
Jiaye Zang
Yue Ma
Jie Liu
Wenbing Han
Huansheng Cao
Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils
Frontiers in Microbiology
Antarctica
geochemical properties
network
penguin
ornithogenic soil
microbiome
author_facet Yudong Guo
Nengfei Wang
Gaoyang Li
Gabriela Rosas
Jiaye Zang
Yue Ma
Jie Liu
Wenbing Han
Huansheng Cao
author_sort Yudong Guo
title Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils
title_short Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils
title_full Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils
title_fullStr Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils
title_full_unstemmed Direct and Indirect Effects of Penguin Feces on Microbiomes in Antarctic Ornithogenic Soils
title_sort direct and indirect effects of penguin feces on microbiomes in antarctic ornithogenic soils
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Microbiology
issn 1664-302X
publishDate 2018-04-01
description Expansion of penguin activity in maritime Antarctica, under ice thaw, increases the chances of penguin feces affecting soil microbiomes. The detail of such effects begins to be revealed. By comparing soil geochemistry and microbiome composition inside (one site) and outside (three sites) of the rookery, we found significant effects of penguin feces on both. First, penguin feces change soil geochemistry, causing increased moisture content (MC) of ornithogenic soils and nutrients C, N, P, and Si in the rookery compared to non-rookery sites, but not pH. Second, penguin feces directly affect microbiome composition in the rookery, not those outside. Specifically, we found 4,364 operational taxonomical units (OTUs) in 404 genera in six main phyla: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes. Although the diversity is similar among the four sites, the composition is different. For example, penguin rookery has a lower abundance of Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Nitrospirae but a higher abundance of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Thermomicrobia. Strikingly, the family Clostridiaceae of Firmicutes of penguin-feces origin is most abundant in the rookery than non-rookery sites with two most abundant genera, Tissierella and Proteiniclasticum. Redundancy analysis showed all measured geochemical factors are significant in structuring microbiomes, with MC showing the highest correlation. We further extracted 21 subnetworks of microbes which contain 4,318 of the 4,364 OTUs using network analysis and are closely correlated with all geochemical factors except pH. Our finding f penguin feces, directly and indirectly, affects soil microbiome suggests an important role of penguins in soil geochemistry and microbiome structure of maritime Antarctica.
topic Antarctica
geochemical properties
network
penguin
ornithogenic soil
microbiome
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00552/full
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