Soil microbial communities in forest-to-pasture conversion: a multi-omics approach

Abstract

In previous research, developed under FAPESP project 2015/13546-7, we observed that forest and pasture soils have different potentials for methane sequestration and emission, enhanced by soil moisture. These findings reinforce the need for a deeper understanding of the environmental parameters that modulate the microbial methane cycle in tropical soils. However, little is still known about the taxonomic and functional profile of the microorganisms that respond to the most important drivers of methane flux in soils: moisture and temperature. Therefore, in this internship proposal, I propose using a multi-omics approach (amplicon sequencing, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics) to characterize the microbial communities that respond to changes in land use, moisture and temperature in soils of the Tapajós National Forest, in the State of Pará, in the Eastern Amazon. This objective will be achieved through (1) bioinformatic and statistical analysis of previously gathered metagenomic and metatranscriptomic datasets, and (2) a microcosm experiment to determine the effect of drought, flood and increased temperature on the abundance, taxonomic and functional profile of the microbial communities in soils undergoing forest-to-pasture conversion. This proposal is a collaboration between the Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Oregon (USA), under the joint supervision of Prof. Dr. Siu Mui Tsai and Prof. Dr. Brendan J. M. Bohannan.