title: Evidence for Ecological Flexibility in the Cosmopolitan GenusCurtobacterium.
abstract: Assigning ecological roles to bacterial taxa remains imperative to understanding how microbial communities will respond to changing environmental conditions. Here we analyze the genusCurtobacterium, as it was found to be the most abundant taxon in a leaf litter community in southern California. Traditional characterization of this taxon predominantly associates it as the causal pathogen in the agricultural crops of dry beans. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether the abundance of this genus was because of its role as a plant pathogen or another ecological role. By collating >24,000 16S rRNA sequences with 120 genomes across the Microbacteriaceae family, we show thatCurtobacteriumhas a global distribution with a predominant presence in soil ecosystems. Moreover, this genus harbors a high diversity of genomic potential for the degradation of carbohydrates, specifically with regards to structural polysaccharides. We conclude thatCurtobacteriummay be responsible for the degradation of organic matter within litter communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.affiliation: Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arevalo
authors.affiliation: Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Martin F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Polz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Long Beach Long Beach, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berlemont
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer B H
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Martiny
keywords: Actinobacteria; Microbacteriaceae; decomposition; glycoside hydrolases; leaf litter