title: Diversity and succession of autotrophic microbial community in high-elevation soils along deglaciation chronosequence.
abstract: Global warming has resulted in substantial glacier retreats in high-elevation areas, exposing deglaciated soils to harsh environmental conditions. Autotrophic microbes are pioneering colonizers in the deglaciated soils and provide nutrients to the extreme ecosystem devoid of vegetation. However, autotrophic communities remain less studied in deglaciated soils. We explored the diversity and succession of the cbbL gene encoding the large subunit of form I RubisCO, a key CO2-fixing enzyme, using molecular methods in deglaciated soils along a 10-year deglaciation chronosequence on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results demonstrated that the abundance of all types of form I cbbL (IA/B, IC and ID) rapidly increased in young soils (0-2.5 years old) and kept stable in old soils. Soil total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) gradually increased along the chronosequence and both demonstrated positive correlations with the abundance of bacteria and autotrophs, indicating that soil TOC and TN originated from autotrophs. Form IA/B autotrophs, affiliated with cyanobacteria, exhibited a substantially higher abundance than IC and ID. Cyanobacterial diversity and evenness increased in young soils (<6 years old) and then remained stable. Our findings suggest that cyabobacteria play an important role in accumulating TOC and TN in the deglaciated soils.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China wdkong@itpcas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Guoshuai
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Ajmal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Guangxia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Chunmao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Building 3, Courtyard 16, Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Shichang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
authors.forename: Rachael M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Morgan-Kiss
mesh_terms: D052818:Autotrophic Processes; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D014644:Genetic Variation; D046448:Ice Cover / Q000382:microbiology*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000235:genetics; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Tibetan Plateau; autotrophic microbial community; cyanobacteria; deglaciated soil