Microbial diversity and soil physiochemical characteristic of higher altitude

Abstract

Altitude is the major factor affecting both biodiversity and soil physiochemical properties of soil ecosystems. In order to understand the effect of altitude on soil physiochemical properties and bacterial diversity across the Himalayan cold desert, high altitude Gangotri soil ecosystem was studied and compared with the moderate altitude Kandakhal soil. Soil physiochemical analysis showed that altitude was positively correlated with soil pH, organic matter and total nitrogen content. However soil mineral nutrients and soil phosphorus were negatively correlated to the altitude. RT-PCR based analysis revealed the decreased bacterial and diazotrophic abundance at high altitude. Metagenomic study showed that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were dominant bacteria phyla at high altitude soil while Bacteroidetes and Fermicutes were found dominant at low altitude. High ratio of Gram-negative to Gram positive bacteria at Gangotri suggests the selective proliferation of Gram negative bacteria at high altitude with decrease in Gram positive bacteria. Moreover, Alphaproteobacteria was found more abundant at high altitude while the opposite was true for Betaproteobacteria. Abundance of Cytophaga, Flavobacterium and Bacteroides (CFB) were also found comparatively high at high altitude. Presence of many taxonomically unclassified sequences in Gangotri soil indicates the presence of novel bacterial diversity at high altitude. Further, isolation of bacteria through indigenously designed diffusion chamber revealed the existence of bacteria which has been documented in unculturable study of WIH (Western Indian Himalaya) but never been cultivated from WIH. Nevertheless, diverse functional free-living psychrotrophic diazotrophs were isolated only from the high altitude Gangotri soil. Molecular characterization revealed them as Arthrobacter humicola, Brevibacillus invocatus, Pseudomonas mandelii and Pseudomonas helmanticensis. Thus, this study documented the bacterial and psychrophilic diazotrophic diversity at high altitude and is an effort for exploration of low temperature bacteria in agricultural productivity with the target for sustainable hill agriculture.

Succession of the Gut Microbiome in the Tibetan Population of Minjiang River Basin

“…The flora distribution of the Tibetan population was distinguished from LLD, AGP, and S314 datasets. Bacterial diversity increased with altitude, in agreement with previous results ( Kumar et al, 2019 ). Zhang et al (2015) studied the gut microbiome of 314 healthy young people from seven ethnic groups in nine provinces of China and identified nine core genera with Phascolarctobacterium, Roseburia, Bacteroides, Blautia, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, Subdoligranulum, Ruminococcus , and Coprococcus .…”

Succession of the Gut Microbiome in the Tibetan Population of Minjiang River Basin

“…The flora distribution of the Tibetan population was distinguished from LLD, AGP, and S314 datasets. Bacterial diversity increased with altitude, in agreement with previous results ( Kumar et al, 2019 ). Zhang et al (2015) studied the gut microbiome of 314 healthy young people from seven ethnic groups in nine provinces of China and identified nine core genera with Phascolarctobacterium, Roseburia, Bacteroides, Blautia, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, Subdoligranulum, Ruminococcus , and Coprococcus .…”

Impact assessment of cold-adapted Pseudomonas jesenii MP1 and Pseudomonas palleroniana N26 on Phaseolus vulgaris yield and soil health

“…The metagenome analysis showed the dominance of phylum Proteobacteria at Harsil while phylum Actinobacteria at Chakrata. These results are in agreement with the previous studies that showed that higher altitude soils are dominated by proteobacteria, actinobacteria, and acidobacteria (Lugtenberg and Kamilova, 2009;Dai et al, 2018;Kumar et al, 2019). In addition, it has been observed that MP1 treatment altered the microbial diversity with an increment in Firmicutes percentage over uninoculated control at both locations.…”

Contrasting Responses of Multispatial Soil Fungal Communities of Thuja sutchuenensis Franch., an Extremely Endangered Conifer in Southwestern China

“…N associated with OM is not readily mineralized due to low temperatures; thus, relatively high TN of the soil at high altitude could result from high OM, which is similar to previous findings ( 41 ). A previous study found that TP was lower in Gangotri (3,415 m) than Kandakhal (1,532 m) due to the low-temperature-induced decrease in P mineralization ( 42 ), which was similar to our findings that high-altitude soils (2,119 m and 1,658 m) harbored lower TP and AP contents. In addition, it is well documented that AMF, such as Glomeromycota, are essential in the P cycles of the ground ( 43 ).…”

Succession of the Gut Microbiome in the Tibetan Population of Minjiang River Basin

“…The flora distribution of the Tibetan population was distinguished from LLD, AGP, and S314 datasets. Bacterial diversity increased with altitude, in agreement with previous results ( Kumar et al, 2019 ). Zhang et al (2015) studied the gut microbiome of 314 healthy young people from seven ethnic groups in nine provinces of China and identified nine core genera with Phascolarctobacterium, Roseburia, Bacteroides, Blautia, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, Subdoligranulum, Ruminococcus , and Coprococcus .…”

Impact assessment of cold-adapted Pseudomonas jesenii MP1 and Pseudomonas palleroniana N26 on Phaseolus vulgaris yield and soil health

“…The metagenome analysis showed the dominance of phylum Proteobacteria at Harsil while phylum Actinobacteria at Chakrata. These results are in agreement with the previous studies that showed that higher altitude soils are dominated by proteobacteria, actinobacteria, and acidobacteria (Lugtenberg and Kamilova, 2009;Dai et al, 2018;Kumar et al, 2019). In addition, it has been observed that MP1 treatment altered the microbial diversity with an increment in Firmicutes percentage over uninoculated control at both locations.…”

Contrasting Responses of Multispatial Soil Fungal Communities of Thuja sutchuenensis Franch., an Extremely Endangered Conifer in Southwestern China

“…N associated with OM is not readily mineralized due to low temperatures; thus, relatively high TN of the soil at high altitude could result from high OM, which is similar to previous findings ( 41 ). A previous study found that TP was lower in Gangotri (3,415 m) than Kandakhal (1,532 m) due to the low-temperature-induced decrease in P mineralization ( 42 ), which was similar to our findings that high-altitude soils (2,119 m and 1,658 m) harbored lower TP and AP contents. In addition, it is well documented that AMF, such as Glomeromycota, are essential in the P cycles of the ground ( 43 ).…”

Succession of the Gut Microbiome in the Tibetan Population of Minjiang River Basin

“…The flora distribution of the Tibetan population was distinguished from LLD, AGP, and S314 datasets. Bacterial diversity increased with altitude, in agreement with previous results ( Kumar et al, 2019 ). Zhang et al (2015) studied the gut microbiome of 314 healthy young people from seven ethnic groups in nine provinces of China and identified nine core genera with Phascolarctobacterium, Roseburia, Bacteroides, Blautia, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, Subdoligranulum, Ruminococcus , and Coprococcus .…”

Impact assessment of cold-adapted Pseudomonas jesenii MP1 and Pseudomonas palleroniana N26 on Phaseolus vulgaris yield and soil health

“…The metagenome analysis showed the dominance of phylum Proteobacteria at Harsil while phylum Actinobacteria at Chakrata. These results are in agreement with the previous studies that showed that higher altitude soils are dominated by proteobacteria, actinobacteria, and acidobacteria (Lugtenberg and Kamilova, 2009;Dai et al, 2018;Kumar et al, 2019). In addition, it has been observed that MP1 treatment altered the microbial diversity with an increment in Firmicutes percentage over uninoculated control at both locations.…”

Contrasting Responses of Multispatial Soil Fungal Communities of Thuja sutchuenensis Franch., an Extremely Endangered Conifer in Southwestern China

“…N associated with OM is not readily mineralized due to low temperatures; thus, relatively high TN of the soil at high altitude could result from high OM, which is similar to previous findings ( 41 ). A previous study found that TP was lower in Gangotri (3,415 m) than Kandakhal (1,532 m) due to the low-temperature-induced decrease in P mineralization ( 42 ), which was similar to our findings that high-altitude soils (2,119 m and 1,658 m) harbored lower TP and AP contents. In addition, it is well documented that AMF, such as Glomeromycota, are essential in the P cycles of the ground ( 43 ).…”