Diversity and biogeography of the bacterial microbiome in glacier-fed streams
Ezzat, Leïla 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4317-6458; Peter, Hannes ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9021-3082; Bourquin, Massimo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4187-7485; Busi, Susheel Bhanu ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7559-3400; Michoud, Grégoire ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1071-9900; Fodelianakis, Stilianos; Kohler, Tyler J.; Lamy, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7881-0578; Geers, Aileen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9162-9423; Pramateftaki, Paraskevi; Baier, Florian; Marasco, Ramona ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4776-7519; Daffonchio, Daniele ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0947-925X; Deluigi, Nicola ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1524-8194; Wilmes, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6478-2924; Styllas, Michail ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4385-0008; Schön, Martina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6437-8366; Tolosano, Matteo; De Staercke, Vincent; Battin, Tom J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5361-2033.
2025
Diversity and biogeography of the bacterial microbiome in glacier-fed streams.
Nature, 637 (8046).
622 -630.
10.1038/s41586-024-08313-z
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Abstract/Summary
The rapid melting of mountain glaciers and the vanishing of their streams is emblematic of climate change1,2. Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are cold, oligotrophic and unstable ecosystems in which life is dominated by microbial biofilms2,3. However, current knowledge on the GFS microbiome is scarce4,5, precluding an understanding of its response to glacier shrinkage. Here, by leveraging metabarcoding and metagenomics, we provide a comprehensive survey of bacteria in the benthic microbiome across 152 GFSs draining the Earth’s major mountain ranges. We find that the GFS bacterial microbiome is taxonomically and functionally distinct from other cryospheric microbiomes. GFS bacteria are diverse, with more than half being specific to a given mountain range, some unique to single GFSs and a few cosmopolitan and abundant. We show how geographic isolation and environmental selection shape their biogeography, which is characterized by distinct compositional patterns between mountain ranges and hemispheres. Phylogenetic analyses furthermore uncovered microdiverse clades resulting from environmental selection, probably promoting functional resilience and contributing to GFS bacterial biodiversity and biogeography. Climate-induced glacier shrinkage puts this unique microbiome at risk. Our study provides a global reference for future climate-change microbiology studies on the vanishing GFS ecosystem.
| Item Type: | Publication - Article |
|---|---|
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | 10.1038/s41586-024-08313-z |
| UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas: | Environmental Pressures and Responses (2025-) |
| ISSN: | 0028-0836 |
| Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.: | Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link. |
| Additional Keywords: | microbial ecology, microbiome |
| NORA Subject Terms: | Ecology and Environment Biology and Microbiology |
| Related URLs: | |
| Date made live: | 07 Jan 2025 14:13 +0 (UTC) |
| URI: | https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538642 |
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