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Temporal dynamics of microbial transcription in wetted hyperarid desert soils

View ORCID ProfileCarlos León-Sobrino, View ORCID ProfileJean-Baptiste Ramond, View ORCID ProfileClément Coclet, Ritha-Meriam Kapitango, View ORCID ProfileGillian Maggs-Kölling, View ORCID ProfileDon A. Cowan
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.12.443739
Carlos León-Sobrino
1Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
2The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
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Jean-Baptiste Ramond
1Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
3Departamento Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
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Clément Coclet
1Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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Ritha-Meriam Kapitango
4Gobabeb - Namib Research Institute, Walvis Bay, Namibia
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Gillian Maggs-Kölling
4Gobabeb - Namib Research Institute, Walvis Bay, Namibia
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  • ORCID record for Gillian Maggs-Kölling
Don A. Cowan
1Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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  • For correspondence: don.cowan@up.ac.za
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Abstract

Rainfall is rare in hyperarid deserts but, when it occurs, it triggers large biological responses which are considered to be essential for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity. In such environments, microbial communities have major roles in nutrient cycling, but their functional responses to short-lived resource opportunities are poorly understood. We used whole community metatranscriptomic data to demonstrate structured and sequential functional responses in desiccated desert soils to a simulated rainfall event over a seven-day time frame. Rapid transcriptional activation of Actinobacteria, Alpha-proteobacteria and phage transcripts was followed by a marked increase in protist and myxobacterial activity, before returning to the original state. In functional terms, motility systems were activated in the early phases, whereas competition-toxicity systems increased in parallel to the activity from predators and the drying of soils. The dispersal-predation dynamic was identified as a central driver of microbial community responses to watering. Carbon fixation mechanisms that were active under dry condition were rapidly down-regulated in wetted soils, and only reactivated on a return to a near-dry state, suggesting a reciprocal balance between carbon fixation and fixed-carbon acquisition processes. Water addition induced a general reduction in the transcription of stress response genes, most prominently HSP20, indicating that this chaperone is particularly important for life in desiccated ecosystems. Based on these data, we propose a rainfall response model for desert soil microbiomes.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted May 14, 2021.
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Temporal dynamics of microbial transcription in wetted hyperarid desert soils
Carlos León-Sobrino, Jean-Baptiste Ramond, Clément Coclet, Ritha-Meriam Kapitango, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Don A. Cowan
bioRxiv 2021.05.12.443739; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.12.443739
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Temporal dynamics of microbial transcription in wetted hyperarid desert soils
Carlos León-Sobrino, Jean-Baptiste Ramond, Clément Coclet, Ritha-Meriam Kapitango, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Don A. Cowan
bioRxiv 2021.05.12.443739; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.12.443739

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