Northern peatland microbial communities exhibit resistance to warming and acquire electron acceptors from soil organic matter

Katherine Duchesneau, Borja Aldeguer-Riquelme, Caitlin Petro, Ghiwa Makke, Madison Green, Malak Tfaily, Rachel Wilson, Spencer W. Roth, Eric R. Johnston, Laurel A. Kluber, Christopher W. Schadt, Jesse B. Trejo, Stephen J. Callister, Samuel O. Purvine, Jeffrey P. Chanton, Paul J. Hanson, Susannah Tringe, Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, Tijana Glavina del Rio, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis and Joel E. Kostka ()
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Katherine Duchesneau: Georgia Institute of Technology
Borja Aldeguer-Riquelme: Georgia Institute of Technology
Caitlin Petro: Georgia Institute of Technology
Ghiwa Makke: University of Arizona
Madison Green: Georgia Institute of Technology
Malak Tfaily: University of Arizona
Rachel Wilson: Florida State University
Spencer W. Roth: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Eric R. Johnston: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Laurel A. Kluber: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Christopher W. Schadt: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Jesse B. Trejo: US Department of Energy
Stephen J. Callister: US Department of Energy
Samuel O. Purvine: US Department of Energy
Jeffrey P. Chanton: Florida State University
Paul J. Hanson: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Susannah Tringe: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Tijana Glavina del Rio: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis: Georgia Institute of Technology
Joel E. Kostka: Georgia Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract The response of microbial communities that regulate belowground carbon turnover to climate change drivers in peatlands is poorly understood. Here, we leverage a whole ecosystem warming experiment to elucidate the key processes of terminal carbon decomposition and community responses to temperature rise. Our dataset of 697 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) represents the microbial community from the surface (10 cm) to 2 m deep into the peat column, with only 3.7% of genomes overlapping with other well-studied peatlands. Community composition has yet to show a significant response to warming after 3 years, suggesting that metabolically diverse soil microbial communities are resistant to climate change. Surprisingly, abundant and active methanogens in the genus Candidatus Methanoflorens, Methanobacterium, and Methanoregula show the potential for both acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. Nonetheless, the predominant pathways for anaerobic carbon decomposition include sulfate/sulfite reduction, denitrification, and acetogenesis, rather than methanogenesis based on gene abundances. Multi-omics data suggest that organic matter cleavage provides terminal electron acceptors, which together with methanogen metabolic flexibility, may explain peat microbiome composition resistance to warming.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61664-7

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