Microbial community of distinct tundra types in Herschel Island (Canada). Microbial community of tundra

Recent warming changes the arctic vegetation, and deepens the Cryosols active layer, making organic C accessible for microbial transformations. We investigated bacterial and archaeal communities and their functioning in three distinct tundra types (hummocky tussock tundra (HT), upland tundra (UT), and wet polygonal tundra (WT)) located in Herschel Island, the Western Canadian Arctic. We quantified bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes and functional genes (mcrA gene of methanogens and nifH gene of diazotrophs) by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and assessed the community structure by Illumina tag sequencing. Our results showed that both soil horizon and tundra type had a significant effect on microbial community composition.