Metagenomic communities inhabiting Phragmites australis litter

In this study, the intermittent lake is taken up as a model for changes in water availability and how they affect the functional microbial communities decomposing Phragmites australis litter. The original material (source material) was exposed to decomposition at a predominately wet site (wet; 45°43'38.30" N, 14°24'16,59" E) or dry site (dry; 45°43'38.29" N, 14°24'16,72" E) for a duration of 45 days.
The overall aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of different conditions due to fluctuating water levels on the decomposition of P. australis litter. To predict litter decomposition dynamics in intermittent lakes, it is critical to understand how the functional microbial communities (present in the decomposing leaves) change under different habitat conditions. First, we hypothesized that functional communities from fresh leaves would change due to the start of the decomposition processes. Second, we hypothesized that the response of communities in different habitats would differ relative to the submergence level, showing differences in the metabolic processes. Our last hypothesis was that changes at the level of functional genes would be more pronounced in bacterial than in fungal functional communities. To evaluate our hypotheses, we analyzed functional microbial communities in fresh P. australis leaves and leaves decomposing in either wet or dry habitats that are characterized by different flooding patterns.

在本研究中，间歇性湖泊被选作模型，用以探讨水资源的变动及其对分解羊茅属植物落叶的功能微生物群落所产生的影响。原始材料（原材料）在以湿润环境为主的地点（湿润；北纬45°43'38.30"，东经14°24'16.59"）或干燥环境（干燥；北纬45°43'38.29"，东经14°24'16.72"）中进行了为期45天的分解处理。本研究的总体目标在于评估不同条件，特别是水位波动所带来的不同影响，对羊茅属植物落叶分解的效应。为了预测间歇性湖泊中落叶分解动态，理解功能微生物群落（存在于分解的叶子里）在不同生境条件下的变化至关重要。首先，我们提出了一个假设，即新鲜叶片中的功能群落会因分解过程的启动而发生改变。其次，我们假设不同生境中的群落对浸没水平的响应将有所不同，表现出代谢过程的差异。我们的最后一个假设是，在功能基因水平上的变化在细菌功能群落中比在真菌功能群落中更为显著。为了验证我们的假设，我们分析了新鲜羊茅属叶片及在湿润或干燥生境中分解的叶片中的功能微生物群落，这些生境以其不同的洪水模式为特征。