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Seasonal Variation of Hypolithic Microbiomes in the Gobi Desert

Seasonal Variation of Hypolithic Microbiomes in the Gobi Desert

  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Understanding how microbial communities adapt to environmental stresses is critical for interpreting ecological patterns and microbial diversity. In the case of the Gobi Desert, little is known on the environmental factors that explain hypolithic colonization under quartz stones. By analyzing nine hypolithic communities across an arid gradient and the effects of the season of the year in the Hexi Corridor of this desert, we found a significant decrease in hypolithic colonization rates (from 47.24 to 15.73%) with the increasing drought gradient and found two distinct communities in Hot and Cold samples, which survived or proliferated after a hot or a cold period. While Cold communities showed a greater species diversity and a predominance of Cyanobacteria, Hot communities showed a predominance of members of the Proteobacteria and the Firmicutes. In comparison, Cold communities also possessed stronger functions in the photosynthesis and carbon metabolism. Based on the findings of this study, we proposed that the hypolithic communities of the Hexi Corridor of the Gobi Desert might follow a seasonal developmental cycle in which temperature play an important role. Thus after a critical thermal threshold is crossed, heterotrophic microorganisms predominate in the hot period, while Cyanobacteria predominate in the cold period.

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Data Availability

The DNA sequences have been deposited in the NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database under the BioProject ID PRJNA763772.

Code Availability

All codes for analysis can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.

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Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870479); the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFE0121100); the Scientific Project of Gansu Province, China (20YF3WA007, 20JR5RA548); and the CAS “Light of West China” Program.

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Author notes

  1. Ming-Hui Wu and Ting Li these author contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Extreme Environmental Microbial Resources and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Ming-Hui Wu, Gao-Sen Zhang, Tuo Chen, Bing-Lin Zhang, Xiu-Kun Wu, Guang-Xiu Liu & Wei Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Ming-Hui Wu, Tuo Chen & Bing-Lin Zhang

  3. School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China

    Ting Li

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ming-Hui Wu

  5. National Research Center for Conservation of Ancient Wall Paintings and Earthen Sites, Department of Conservation Research, Dunhuang Academy, Dunhuang, Gansu, 736200, China

    Fa-Si Wu

  6. Research Station of Gobi Desert Ecology and Environment in Dunhuang of Gansu Province, Dunhuang, Gansu, 736200, China

    Ke-Cun Zhang

Authors
  1. Ming-Hui Wu
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  2. Ting Li
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  4. Fa-Si Wu
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  5. Tuo Chen
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  7. Xiu-Kun Wu
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  8. Guang-Xiu Liu
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  9. Ke-Cun Zhang
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  10. Wei Zhang
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Contributions

Ming-Hui Wu: methodology, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft. Ting Li: methodology, writing—review and editing. Gao-Sen Zhang: conceptualization; investigation; writing, review and editing; funding acquisition. Fa-Si Wu: investigation. Tuo Chen: supervision, funding acquisition. Bing-Lin Zhang: investigation, methodology, funding acquisition. Xiu-Kun Wu: investigation, methodology. Guang-Xiu Liu: supervision, funding acquisition. Ke-Cun Zhang: methodology. Zhang Wei: supervision, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Wei Zhang.

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Wu, MH., Li, T., Zhang, GS. et al. Seasonal Variation of Hypolithic Microbiomes in the Gobi Desert. Microb Ecol 85, 1382–1395 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-02043-3

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