title: Characterization of the prokaryotic diversity through a stratigraphic permafrost core profile from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
abstract: Permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the most sensitive regions to climate warming, thus characterizing its microbial diversity and community composition may be important for understanding their potential responses to climate changes. Here, we investigated the prokaryotic diversity in a 10-m-long permafrost core from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis targeting the 16S rRNA gene. We detected 191 and 17 bacterial and archaeal phylotypes representing 14 and 2 distinct phyla, respectively. Proteobacteria was the dominant bacterial phylum, while archaeal communities were characterized by a preponderance of Thaumarchaeota. Some of prokaryotic phylotypes were closely related to characterized species involved in carbon and nitrogen cycles, including nitrogen fixation, methane oxidation and nitrification. However, the majority of the phylotypes were only distantly related to known taxa at order or species level, suggesting the potential of novel diversity. Additionally, both bacterial α diversity and community composition changed significantly with sampling depth, where these communities mainly distributed according to core horizons. Arthrobacter-related phylotypes presented at high relative abundance in two active layer soils, while the deeper permafrost soils were dominated by Psychrobacter-related clones. Changes in bacterial community composition were correlated with most measured soil variables, such as carbon and nitrogen contents, pH, and conductivity.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Weigang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Dingyao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering (SKLFSE), Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China. qbwu@lzb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qingbai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering (SKLFSE), Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Fujun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
authors.forename: Lizhe
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China. fenghy@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huyuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D064307:Microbiota; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D065946:Permafrost / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D044096:Psychrobacter / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Archaea; Bacteria; Community structure; Permafrost; Prokaryotic diversity; Qinghai-Tibet Plateau