Diversity-triggered deterministic bacterial assembly constrains community functions

Weibing Xun,Wei Li,Nan Zhang,Wu Xiong,Ruifu Zhang,Qirong Shen,Yunpeng Liu,Yi Ren,Youzhi Miao,Zhihui Xu

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11787-5

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that microbial α-diversity (local species richness) may have positive effects on ecosystem function. However, less attention has been paid to β-diversity (the variation among local microbial assemblages). Here we studied the impact of microbial α-diversity on stochastic/deterministic microbial community assembly processes, which are related to β-diversity, and the consequences for community function. Bacterial communities differing in α-diversity were generated and their structures and potential community functional traits were inferred from DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic null modeling analysis suggests that stochastic assembly processes are dominant in high-diversity communities. However, in low-diversity communities, deterministic assembly processes are dominant, associating with the reduction of specialized functions that are correlated with specific bacterial taxa. Overall, we suggest that the low-diversity-induced deterministic community assembly processes may constrain community functions, highlighting the potential roles of specialized functions in community assembly and in generating and sustaining the function of soil ecosystems.

Highlights

IntroductionA growing body of evidence suggests that microbial α-diversity (local species richness) may have positive effects on ecosystem function
A growing body of evidence suggests that microbial α-diversity may have positive effects on ecosystem function
The enriched bacterial groups related to high dilution levels were significantly (P-value < 0.001, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)) over-represented in the phyla/class of Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, whereas the depleted bacterial groups were mostly affiliated with Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Nitrospira, and Deltaproteobacteria

Summary

Introduction

A growing body of evidence suggests that microbial α-diversity (local species richness) may have positive effects on ecosystem function. We studied the impact of microbial α-diversity on stochastic/deterministic microbial community assembly processes, which are related to β-diversity, and the consequences for community function. We suggest that the low-diversity-induced deterministic community assembly processes may constrain community functions, highlighting the potential roles of specialized functions in community assembly and in generating and sustaining the function of soil ecosystems. An extensive body of theoretical, experimental, and observational studies across different types of ecosystems confirm that high level of local diversity is important for generating and sustaining ecosystem functions and services[4,5,6]. We present the results of taxonomic features and potential community functional traits of the re-assembled bacterial communities from DNA sequencing and find that the reduced specialized functions dominate the deterministic community assembly processes, laying a foundation for deciphering the linkages between biodiversity and community functions

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