Spatial evolution strategies of bacteria in a continental glacier alluvial valley

Bacteria are an essential component of glacier-fed aquatic ecosystems, and play a dominant role in driving elemental cycling in hydrosphere and pedosphere. However, observations of microbiota and studies of microbiome evolution from alluvial valley of mountain glaciers are extremely scarce under the cold and arid environments. Here, we analyzed the effects of major physicochemical parameters related to soil on the bacterial communities in an alluvial valley of the Laohugou Glacier No. 12 glacial meltwaters on a spatial-scale from perspective of core, other, and unique microbiome, and explored their evolutionary characteristics. The spatial distribution patterns and potential evolution strategies of bacteria along the glacial alluvial valley were revealed. The different characteristics of core, other, and unique taxa highlighted the conservation and adaptation difference of bacterial evolution.