Genomic insights into the microbiome of high elevation permafrost affected soils in the Changthang region of Ladakh

Abstract

The study explored the bacterial and archaeal community composition of the permafrost-affected soil in the Changthang region of Ladakh using the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene from two distinct sites i.e., Tsokar and Jukti on Illumina MiSeq platform. The results showed that soil is demonstrated by bacteria belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi and Verrucomicrobia. Statistical analysis of OTU abundance across the two soil layers from both sampling sites revealed a significant variation in the abundance between the soil layers. In addition, the RDA analysis further highlighted the influence of soil pH and OC on the microbial community structure. PICRUSt analysis predicted a total of 417 metabolic pathways among the four soil layers. The study also revealed a significant population of both aceticlastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens, including the genera Methanosaeta, Methanobacterium, Methanocellales, Methanospirillum and Methanococcus. Comparison of Ladakh microbiome with the microbiomes of different regions of the world was also carried out which showed that Ladakh microbiome is closely related to the QTP soil microbiome. Further, a hypothetical model was proposed which may serve as a guide to predict the effect of changes in the activity of microbial community due to global warming and its implication on local ecology. newline