Microbial phosphorus‐cycling genes in soil under global change

Summary

This metagenomic field study quantifies how climate change factors—warming and altered precipitation—individually and synergistically modify soil phosphorus cycling in phosphorus-limited alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau. Warming recruited bacteria encoding extracellular phosphoester hydrolysis enzymes (phoD and phoX), accelerating organic phosphorus mineralisation and phosphorus bioavailability. The combined effect of warming and increased precipitation compensated for detrimental impacts of individual climate stressors, suggesting microbial adaptation capacity under multiple simultaneous environmental changes.

UK applicability

Findings have limited direct applicability to UK lowland farming systems, which differ substantially in soil type, climate, and plant communities from alpine plateau meadows. However, the mechanistic insights into how temperature and water availability regulate microbial phosphorus-cycling gene expression may inform predictions of soil nutrient cycling responses to UK climate projections in upland pasture and moorland systems.

Key measures

Olsen-P (bioavailable phosphorus), NaOH-extractable organic phosphorus, richness and abundance of phosphorus-cycling genes (phoD, phoX), bacterial community composition, metabolic pathway abundance (pyruvate metabolism, phosphotransferase system, oxidative phosphorylation, purine metabolism)

Outcomes reported

The study examined how warming and altered precipitation individually and in combination affect soil phosphorus-cycling genes and bioavailable phosphorus pools in alpine meadow soils using metagenomic analysis. Warming increased bioavailable phosphorus by 13%, increased precipitation by 20%, whilst decreased precipitation reduced it by 5.3%, with changes driven primarily by altered microbial communities and gene expression.

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