TY - JOUR T1 - Assessing Comparative Microbiome Performance in Plant Cell Wall Deconstruction Using Multi-‘omics-Informed Network Analysis JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2022.01.07.475446 SP - 2022.01.07.475446 AU - Lauren M. Tom AU - Martina Aulitto AU - Yu-Wei Wu AU - Kai Deng AU - Yu Gao AU - Naijia Xiao AU - Beatrice Garcia Rodriguez AU - Clifford Louime AU - Trent R. Northen AU - Aymerick Eudes AU - Jenny C. Mortimer AU - Paul Adams AU - Henrik Scheller AU - Blake A. Simmons AU - Javier A. Ceja-Navarro AU - Steven W. Singer Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/10/2022.01.07.475446.abstract N2 - Plant cell walls are interwoven structures recalcitrant to degradation. Both native and adapted microbiomes are particularly effective at plant cell wall deconstruction. Studying these deconstructive microbiomes provides an opportunity to assess microbiome performance and relate it to specific microbial populations and enzymes. To establish a system assessing comparative microbiome performance, parallel microbiomes were cultivated on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) from compost inocula. Biomass loss and biochemical assays indicated that these microbiomes diverged in their ability to deconstruct biomass. Network reconstructions from time-dependent gene expression identified key deconstructive groups within the adapted sorghum-degrading communities, including Actinotalea, Filomicrobium, and Gemmanimonadetes populations. Functional analysis of gene expression demonstrated that the microbiomes proceeded through successional stages that are linked to enzymes that deconstruct plant cell wall polymers. This combination of network and functional analysis highlighted the importance of celluloseactive Actinobacteria in differentiating the performance of these microbiomes.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -