DNA sequences reveal traits of soil microorganisms
A novel workflow developed by GRADCATCH post doc Jonathan Donhauser allows for the inference of multiple phenotypic bacterial traits from environmental 16S rRNA gene sequences and for the modeling of their relationships with environmental factors.
Microbial traits are key to understanding ecosystem functions, yet trait data are often scattered, inconsistent, and hard to reuse. Jonathan Donhauser developed the R package MicEnvMod which enables modelling of trait – environment relationships, combining the strengths of different model types and integrating an approach to evaluate the models' predictive performance in a single framework.
The approach can complement metagenomic studies and improve trait-based biogeochemical models, leading to better predictions of soil carbon feedback under future climate scenarios. Overall, our approach enables robust inference of ecologically interpretable traits combined with environmental modelling allowing to harness traits as bioindicators of soil ecosystem functioning.
Link to scientific paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102817
Contact Professor Anders Priemé, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, aprieme@bio.ku.dk for more information.