Thermal adaptation occurs in the respiration and growth of widely
distributed bacteria
Abstract
Microbial thermal adaptation will lead to a weakening of the positive
feedback between climate warming and soil respiration. The thermal
adaptations of microbial communities and fungal species has been widely
proven. However, studies on the thermal adaptation of bacterial species,
the most important decomposers in the soil, are still lacking. Here, we
isolated six species of widely distributed dominant bacteria and studied
the effects of constant warming and temperature fluctuations on those
species. The results showed that both scenarios caused a downregulation
of respiratory temperature sensitivity (Q10) of the bacterial species,
accompanied by an elevation of the minimum temperature (Tmin) required
for growth, suggesting that both scenarios caused thermal adaptation in
bacterial species. Fluctuating and increasing temperatures are
considered an important component of future warming. Therefore, the
inclusion of physiological responses of bacteria to these changes is
essential the prediction of global soil-atmosphere C feedbacks.