Connecting Meta-omics with Nutrient Cycle Modeling Using FTICR Mass Spectrometry
EMSL Project ID
49740
Abstract
Tropical ecosystems are among the most complex ecosystems on Earth and they play important roles in the uptake of carbon from the atmosphere. Meanwhile, microbial-mediated soil respiration annually contributes billions of tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Nutrient availability, particularly phosphorus (P), is a major constraint for plant growth and microbial respiration in tropical environments. So explicitly considering nutrient limitations in organic matter decomposition in tropical soils is critical for predicting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and for ecosystem modeling. To date, complex interactions between microbial dynamics and soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition has not yet been explicitly represented in current ecosystem models, leading to large uncertainty in predicting climate feedbacks. In our current projects, multiple sites in Panama (Gigante Fertilization Experiment) and in Puerto Rico (El Verde research station, and Bisley and Icacos watersheds) were investigated to discover linkages across soil nutrient status, microbial enzyme activities, microbial metagenomics and metaproteomics, and GHG emissions. Using a unique application of metagenomics analyses, enzymatic functions for decomposition of soil organic C, N and P were systematically identified and quantified. These functions were used to develop a new dynamic enzyme production and allocation scheme in response to nutrient availability in the existing Microbial ENzyme Decomposition (MEND) model (Wang et al. 2013, 2014, 2015). The new Continuum MEND (CMEND) model is now directly using metagenomic information to inform the continuum of decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), beginning with the degradation of from large polymers and continuing on to bioavailable molecules, which is a novel accomplishment. However, CMEND requires the chemical components of the CNP pools to properly connect the enzyme functions to their target substrates.The aim of this Rapid Access Proposal is to identify the molecular composition of soil organic matter (SOM) in our existing samples using the most advanced electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR MS). The molecular composition data can then be translated into multiple SOM pools, connecting the enzyme functions and decomposition pathways directly within the CMEND model.
Project Details
Project type
Limited Scope
Start Date
2017-06-05
End Date
2017-08-05
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Related Publications
Yao Q, Z Li, Y Song, J Wright, X Guo, SG Tringe, MM Tfaily, L Pasa Tolic, T Hazen, B Turner, MA Mayes, and C Pan. 2018. "Community Proteogenomics Reveals the Systemic Impact of Phosphorus Availability on Microbial Functions in Tropical Soil." Nature Ecology and Evolution 2:499-509. doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0463-5