Work

Artificial Soils Reveal Individual Factor Controls on Microbial Processes

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Understanding environmental controls on soil microbes is difficult because many abiotic parameters vary simultaneously and uncontrollably when different natural soils are compared, preventing mechanistic determination of any individual soil parameter's effect on microbial behaviors. We describe how soil texture, mineralogy, pH, and organic matter content can be varied individually within artificial soils to study their effects on soil microbes. Using microbial biosensors that report by producing a rare indicator gas, we identify soil properties that control microbial growth and attenuate the bioavailability of a diffusible chemical used to control community-level behaviors. We find that artificial soils differentially affect signal bioavailability and the growth of Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) microbes. These artificial soils are useful for studying the mechanisms that underlie soil controls on microbial fitness, signaling, and gene transfer.

Source: mSystems

DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00301-22

Authors: Ilenne Del Valle, Xiaodong Gao, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, Jonathan J. Silberg, Caroline A. Masiello

Institutions: Rice University, University of California, Merced

Language: English

Topic: Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,500