The Cerrado, the largest savanna region in South America, is located in central Brazil. Cerrado physiognomies, which range from savanna grasslands to forest formations, combined with the highly weathered, acidic clay Cerrado soils form a unique ecoregion. In this study, high-throughput sequencing of ribosomal RNA genes was combined with shotgun metagenomic analysis to explore the taxonomic composition and potential functions of soil microbial communities in four different vegetation physiognomies during both dry and rainy seasons. Our results showed that changes in bacterial, archaeal, and fungal community structures in cerrado denso, cerrado sensu stricto, campo sujo, and gallery forest soils strongly correlated with seasonal patterns of soil water uptake. The relative abundance of AD3, WPS-2, Planctomycetes, Thermoprotei, and Glomeromycota typically decreased in the rainy season, whereas the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Ascomycota increased. In addition, analysis of shotgun metagenomic data revealed a significant increase in the relative abundance of genes associated with iron acquisition and metabolism, dormancy, and sporulation during the dry season, and an increase in the relative abundance of genes related to respiration and DNA and protein metabolism during the rainy season. These gene functional categories are associated with adaptation to water stress. Our results further the understanding of how tropical savanna soil microbial communities may be influenced by vegetation covering and temporal variations in soil moisture.
Enzymology Laboratory, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasilia, Brasília, DF, Brazil;Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Biotechnology Program, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil;Laboratório de Ecologia de Ecossistemas, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil;Embrapa-Agroenergy, Brasília, DF, Brazil;Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology Program, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil;Laboratório de Ecologia de Ecossistemas, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil;Enzymology Laboratory, Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasilia, Brasília, DF, Brazil
Recommended Citation:
Alinne Pereira de Castro,Maria Regina Silveira Sartori da Silva,Betania Ferraz Quirino,et al. Microbial Diversity in Cerrado Biome (Neotropical Savanna) Soils[J]. PLOS ONE,2016-01-01,11(2)