Niche specialization of terrestrial archaeal ammonia oxidizers

摘要: Soil pH is a major determinant of microbial ecosystem processes and potentially driver evolution, adaptation, diversity ammonia oxidizers, which control soil nitrification. Archaea are components communities contribute significantly to oxidation in some soils. To determine whether drives evolutionary adaptation community structure archaeal sequences amoA, key functional gene oxidation, were examined soils at global, regional, local scales. Globally distributed database clustered into 18 well-supported phylogenetic lineages that dominated specific ranges classified as acidic (pH <5), acido-neutral (5≤ <7), or alkalinophilic ≥7). patterns reproduced regional scales, amoA fragments amplified from DNA extracted 47 the United Kingdom 3.5–8.7), including pH-gradient formed by seven single site 4.5–7.5). High-throughput sequencing analysis identified an additional, previously undiscovered lineage revealed similar pH-associated distribution most evident for five abundant clusters. Archaeal abundance increased with pH, was only physicochemical characteristic measured influenced structure. These results suggest evolution based on adaptations niche specialization, resulting global have important consequences function nitrogen cycling.