Abstract
Purpose
Proglacial terrains provide an ideal environment to determine soil formation and microbial colonization, where autotrophic microbes could play a role as primary producers. We investigated the succession and drivers of autotrophic microorganisms harboring the cbbL gene in deglaciated soils across a 14-year deglaciation chronosequence on the Tibetan Plateau.
Materials and methods
Surface soils were collected in triplicate at 15 points beginning at the glacier terminus. The abundance and community composition of autotrophic microbes were determined using quantitative PCR and sequencing of clone libraries, respectively.
Results and discussion
The abundance of form IC and ID cbbL increased gradually across deglaciation chronosequence, while form IA/B cbbL increased during the first 5 years since deglaciation and then remained stable. The succession of form IA/B and ID autotrophs occurred in a similar manner over three deglaciation stages, early (0-year-old), transitional (1–7-year-old), and late stage (8–14-year-old), whereas form IC autotrophs displayed distinct succession in the early (0–3-year-old) and transitional stage (4–7-year-old). Autotrophic microbial succession was prominently driven by soil moisture, pH, total carbon, and deglaciation age. Proteobacteria dominated young deglaciated soils (4–5-year-old), while Stramenopiles dominated old deglaciated soils (13-year-old). These findings revealed that autotrophic microbes follow clear successional patterns across recently deglaciated chronosequences and are primarily influenced by physicochemical parameters.
Conclusions
Autotrophic microbes quickly colonized deglaciated soils following glacier retreat, and their population increased with increasing deglaciation age. Physicochemical parameters played an important role in driving autotrophic microbes in the early, transitional, and late stages. Chemoautotrophic Proteobacterial-dominated young deglaciated soils to photoautotrophic algae-dominated old deglaciated soils.
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Data availability
Data are available upon request to the first author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors greatly thank the Muztagh Ata Station for Westerlies Environment Observation and Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for logistic support and sampling assistance.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32161123004 and 42177101) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA19070304).
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Khan, A., Kong, W., Khan, S. et al. Community succession and drivers of CO2-fixing microbes in recently deglaciated soils on the Tibetan Plateau. J Soils Sediments 23, 1901–1912 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03446-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03446-6