Biogeography and niche differentiation of Bathyarchaeia in paddy soils
across eastern China
Abstract
Bathyarchaeia (formerly Bathyarchaeota) is a group of highly abundant
archaeal communities that play important roles in global biogeochemical
cycling. The presence of Bathyarchaeia in arable soils is relatively
limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the spatial
distributions and diversity of Bathyarchaeia in paddy soils across
eastern China, which is a major rice production region. The relative
abundance of Bathyarchaeia among total archaea ranged from 3% to 68%,
and Bathy-6 was the dominant subgroup. Bathyarchaeia showed higher
migration ability and wider niche. Soil pH and C/N ratio were identified
as key factors influencing the Bathyarchaeia composition, whereas C/N
ratio and mean annual temperature influenced the relative abundance of
Bathyarchaeia. Network analysis showed that specific Bathyarchaeia taxa
occupied keystone positions in the archaeal community and co-occurred
with some methanogenic and ammonia-oxidizing archaea. This study
provides important insights into the biogeography and niche
differentiation of Bathyarchaeia in agroecosystems.