Metagenomic Characterization of Soil Microbial Communities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (Puerto Rico) and Implications for Nitrogen Cycling
Smruthi Karthikeyan, Luis H. Orellana, Eric R. Johnston, Janet K. Hatt, Frank E. Löffler, Héctor L. Ayala-del-Rı́o, Grizelle González, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Abstract
O emissions, two greenhouse gases that are critical for the climate. The microbial communities of rainforest soils that directly or indirectly, through affecting plant growth, contribute to these fluxes remain poorly described by cultured-independent methods. To close this knowledge gap, the present study applied shotgun metagenomics to samples selected from three distinct life zones within the Puerto Rico rainforest. The results advance our understanding of microbial community diversity in rainforest soils and should facilitate future studies of natural or manipulated perturbations of these critical ecosystems.