Rainfall-induced microbial resuscitation reveals functional decoupling across biocrust succession
This project examines rainfall-induced microbial resuscitation dynamics in biological soil crusts (biocrusts) across successional stages. Intact biocrust microcosms representing early (L-BSC) and late (D-BSC) stages were subjected to a 3 mm simulated precipitation event and incubated under light and dark conditions for 6 hr. Translationally active cells were identified using BONCAT-FACS, and both active and total (bulk DNA) communities were characterized via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.