[en] The rapid melting of mountain glaciers and the vanishing of their streams is emblematic of climate change1,2. Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are cold, oligotrophic and unstable ecosystems in which life is dominated by microbial biofilms2,3. However, current knowledge on the GFS microbiome is scarce4,5, precluding an understanding of its response to glacier shrinkage. Here, by leveraging metabarcoding and metagenomics, we provide a comprehensive survey of bacteria in the benthic microbiome across 152 GFSs draining the Earth's major mountain ranges. We find that the GFS bacterial microbiome is taxonomically and functionally distinct from other cryospheric microbiomes. GFS bacteria are diverse, with more than half being specific to a given mountain range, some unique to single GFSs and a few cosmopolitan and abundant. We show how geographic isolation and environmental selection shape their biogeography, which is characterized by distinct compositional patterns between mountain ranges and hemispheres. Phylogenetic analyses furthermore uncovered microdiverse clades resulting from environmental selection, probably promoting functional resilience and contributing to GFS bacterial biodiversity and biogeography. Climate-induced glacier shrinkage puts this unique microbiome at risk. Our study provides a global reference for future climate-change microbiology studies on the vanishing GFS ecosystem.
Disciplines :
Microbiology
Author, co-author :
Ezzat, Leïla ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland. leila.ezzat@gmail.com ; MARBEC, University of Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRD, Montpellier, France. leila.ezzat@gmail.com
Peter, Hannes ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Bourquin, Massimo ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
BUSI, Susheel Bhanu ; University of Luxembourg > Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine > Systems Ecology > Team Paul WILMES
Michoud, Grégoire ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Fodelianakis, Stilianos; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Kohler, Tyler J; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland ; Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
Lamy, Thomas ; MARBEC, University of Montpellier, CNRS, IFREMER, IRD, Montpellier, France
Geers, Aileen ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Pramateftaki, Paraskevi; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Baier, Florian; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Marasco, Ramona ; Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Daffonchio, Daniele ; Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Deluigi, Nicola ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
WILMES, Paul ; University of Luxembourg > Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) > Systems Ecology
Styllas, Michail ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland ; Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris, France
Schön, Martina ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Tolosano, Matteo; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
De Staercke, Vincent; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland
Battin, Tom J ; River Ecosystems Laboratory, Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Center, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion, Switzerland. tom.battin@epfl.ch
H2020 - 863664 - ExpoBiome - Deciphering the impact of exposures from the gut microbiome-derived molecular complex in human health and disease
Funders :
SNSF - Swiss National Science Foundation European Union
Funding number :
CRSII5_180241
Funding text :
The Vanishing Glaciers project is supported by The NOMIS Foundation, to T.J.B. We thank A. McIntosh and L. Morris in New Zealand, J. Abermann and T. Juul-Pedersen in Greenland, O. Solomina and T. Kuderina Maratovna in Russia, V. Crespo-P\u00E9rez and P. Andino Guarderas in Ecuador, J. Yde and S. Leth J\u00F8rgensen in Norway, S. Sharma and P. Joshi in Nepal, N. Shaidyldaeva-Myktybekovna and R. Kenzhebaev in Kyrgyzstan, J. Nattabi Kigongo, R. Nalwanga and C. Masembe in Uganda, M. Gonzal\u00E9z and J. Luis Rodriguez in Chile and C. Kuhle and P. Tomco in Alaska for various logistical support; see https://www.glacierstreams.ch for all institutions involved in the logistics of the expeditions. We particularly acknowledge help from the porters and guides in Nepal, Uganda and Kyrgyzstan. We also acknowledge E. Oppliger for laboratory support and the Bioscience Core Laboratory at King Abdullah University and Technology (KAUST) for DNA sequencing. T.J.K. was supported by Charles University project no. PRIMUS/22/SCI/001. D.D. acknowledges financial support from KAUST through the baseline research fund. S.B.B. was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation grant no. CRSII5_180241 to T.J.B., and by the European Research Council under the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 863664) to P.W.
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