TY - JOUR

T1 - Microbiomes in suspended soils of vascular epiphytes differ from terrestrial soil microbiomes and from each other

AU - Eskov, Alen K.

AU - Zverev, Alexei O.

AU - Abakumov, Evgeny V.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5/11

Y1 - 2021/5/11

N2 - Microbial biodiversity parameters for tropical rainforests remain poorly understood. Whilst the soil microbiome accounts up to 95% of the total diversity of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems, the microbiome of suspended soils formed by vascular epiphytes remains completely unexplored. Samples of ground and suspended soils were collected in Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam. DNA extraction and sequencing were performed, and libraries of 16s rDNA gene sequences were analyzed. Alpha diversity indices of the microorganisms were the highest in the forest ground soil. In general, the microbiological diversity of all the soil types was found to be similar at the phylum level. Taxonomic composition of the bacterial communities in the suspended soils of plants from the same species are not closer than the taxonomic compositions of the communities in the suspended soils of different plant species. However, the beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the movement of mineral elements in terrestrial versus suspended soils. Our data showed that the suspended soils associated with vascular epiphytes were a depository of unique microbiological biodiversity. A contributing factor was the presence of large amounts of organic matter in the suspended soils—deposits collected by the epiphytes—which would have been degraded by termites if it had reached the ground. Further, the nutrient content of the suspended soils was prime for soil respiration activity and taxonomic microbial community biodiversity.

AB - Microbial biodiversity parameters for tropical rainforests remain poorly understood. Whilst the soil microbiome accounts up to 95% of the total diversity of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems, the microbiome of suspended soils formed by vascular epiphytes remains completely unexplored. Samples of ground and suspended soils were collected in Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam. DNA extraction and sequencing were performed, and libraries of 16s rDNA gene sequences were analyzed. Alpha diversity indices of the microorganisms were the highest in the forest ground soil. In general, the microbiological diversity of all the soil types was found to be similar at the phylum level. Taxonomic composition of the bacterial communities in the suspended soils of plants from the same species are not closer than the taxonomic compositions of the communities in the suspended soils of different plant species. However, the beta diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the movement of mineral elements in terrestrial versus suspended soils. Our data showed that the suspended soils associated with vascular epiphytes were a depository of unique microbiological biodiversity. A contributing factor was the presence of large amounts of organic matter in the suspended soils—deposits collected by the epiphytes—which would have been degraded by termites if it had reached the ground. Further, the nutrient content of the suspended soils was prime for soil respiration activity and taxonomic microbial community biodiversity.

KW - Epiphytes

KW - Metagenomic analysis

KW - Microbiome

KW - Suspended soils

KW - Trophic relations

KW - Vietnam

KW - trophic relations

KW - CANOPY

KW - VIETNAM

KW - ASSEMBLAGES

KW - microbiome

KW - metagenomic analysis

KW - BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

KW - COLLEMBOLA

KW - MONTANE CLOUD FOREST

KW - BIOMASS

KW - TIEN NATIONAL-PARK

KW - NITROGEN

KW - DIVERSITY

KW - epiphytes

KW - suspended soils

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105479671&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/086a7854-c5a2-3031-97c7-403bc6c56388/

U2 - 10.3390/microorganisms9051033

DO - 10.3390/microorganisms9051033

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85105479671

VL - 9

JO - Microorganisms

JF - Microorganisms

SN - 2076-2607

IS - 5

M1 - 1033

ER -