Nematodes alter the taxonomic and functional profiles of benthic bacterial communities: A metatranscriptomic approach.
Mol Ecol
; 33(9): e17331, 2024 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38533629
ABSTRACT
Marine sediments cover 70% of the Earth's surface, and harbour diverse bacterial communities critical for marine biogeochemical processes, which affect climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Nematodes, the most abundant and species-rich metazoan organisms in marine sediments, in turn, affect benthic bacterial communities and bacterial-mediated ecological processes, but the underlying mechanisms by which they affect biogeochemical cycles remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate using a metatranscriptomic approach that nematodes alter the taxonomic and functional profiles of benthic bacterial communities. We found particularly strong stimulation of nitrogen-fixing and methane-oxidizing bacteria in the presence of nematodes, as well as increased functional activity associated with methane metabolism and degradation of various carbon compounds. This study provides empirical evidence that the presence of nematodes results in taxonomic and functional shifts in active bacterial communities, indicating that nematodes may play an important role in benthic ecosystem processes.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Bacteria
/
Ecosystem
/
Geologic Sediments
/
Nematoda
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Mol Ecol
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
/
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Belgium