OPENAIRE OpenAire u:cris Permanent Hosting, Archiving and Indexing of Digital Resources and Assets DOAJ Crossref Europe PubMed Central PubMed Central Nature Communications Open Access 2024-04-17 Abstract<p>Microbial activity in drylands tends to be confined to rare and short periods of rain. Rapid growth should be key to the maintenance of ecosystem processes in such narrow activity windows, if desiccation and rehydration cause widespread cell death due to osmotic stress. Here, simulating rain with 2H2O followed by single-cell NanoSIMS, we show that biocrust microbial communities in the Negev Desert are characterized by limited productivity, with median replication times of 6 to 19 days and restricted number of days allowing growth. Genome-resolved metatranscriptomics reveals that nearly all microbial populations resuscitate within minutes after simulated rain, independent of taxonomy, and invest their activity into repair and energy generation. Together, our data reveal a community that makes optimal use of short activity phases by fast and universal resuscitation enabling the maintenance of key ecosystem functions. We conclude that desert biocrust communities are highly adapted to surviving rapid changes in soil moisture and solute concentrations, resulting in high persistence that balances limited productivity.</p 0301 basic medicine 2. Zero hunger 106022 Mikrobiologie 0303 health sciences 105904 Environmental research Science Microbiota Rain Q 15. Life on land microbial ecology Article Microbial ecology Soil 03 medical and health sciences Soil microbiology 106026 Ökosystemforschung 106022 Microbiology Desert Climate 106026 Ecosystem research 105904 Umweltforschung Ecosystem Soil Microbiology Imminger, Stefanie, Meier, Dimitri V., Schintlmeister, Arno, Legin, Anton, Schnecker, Jörg, Richter, Andreas, Gillor, Osnat, Eichorst, Stephanie A., Woebken, Dagmar, 2024-04-17 journalpaper Abstract<p>Microbial activity in drylands tends to be confined to rare and short periods of rain. Rapid growth should be key to the maintenance of ecosystem processes in such narrow activity windows, if desiccation and rehydration cause widespread cell death due to osmotic stress. Here, simulating rain with 2H2O followed by single-cell NanoSIMS, we show that biocrust microbial communities in the Negev Desert are characterized by limited productivity, with median replication times of 6 to 19 days and restricted number of days allowing growth. Genome-resolved metatranscriptomics reveals that nearly all microbial populations resuscitate within minutes after simulated rain, independent of taxonomy, and invest their activity into repair and energy generation. Together, our data reveal a community that makes optimal use of short activity phases by fast and universal resuscitation enabling the maintenance of key ecosystem functions. We conclude that desert biocrust communities are highly adapted to surviving rapid changes in soil moisture and solute concentrations, resulting in high persistence that balances limited productivity.</p Survival and rapid resuscitation permit limited productivity in desert microbial communities 10.1038/s41467-024-46920-6 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46920-6 636928