Hydrogen-oxidising bacteria in hot desert soils

It is debated how the diverse bacterial communities inhabiting hot desert soils maintain energy and carbon needs. It has traditionally been thought that most bacteria persist by using organic carbon synthesised by photoautotrophs following transient hydration events. However, recent studies focused on Antarctic soils revealed some bacteria use atmospheric trace gases such as hydrogen (H2) to conserve energy and fix carbon independently of photosynthesis. In this work, we investigated whether atmospheric H2 oxidation occurs in hot desert soils and compared this process to photosynthesis. To do so, we profiled the distribution, expression and activities of hydrogenases and photosystems in topsoils collected from the South Australian desert over a simulated hydration-desiccation cycle. This BioProject contains the raw metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data analysed in this study.