Predicted Bacterial Metabolic Landscapes of the Sumaco Volcano: A Picrust2 Analysis of 16S rRNA Data from Amazonian Ecuador

TL;DR

This paper explores how bacterial metabolism varies with elevation and sulfur levels in the soil of Sumaco volcano in Ecuador's Amazon region.

Contribution

The study uses PICRUSt2 to predict bacterial metabolic functions from 16S rRNA data in a unique Amazonian volcanic environment.

Findings

High-altitude soils show predicted enrichment in anaerobic metabolism and carbon source degradation.

High-sulfur soils are linked to pathways for complex organic compound degradation and nitrogen metabolism.

Low-sulfur soils predict higher glycerol degradation potential.

Abstract

The Sumaco volcano in Ecuador, which has a distinct geological origin from the Andes and is located in the Amazon basin, offers an opportunity to study untouched microbiomes. We explored comparative patterns of abundance from predicted functional profiling in soil samples collected along the elevation and sulfur gradients on its slopes. Using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding, we inferred metagenome functional profiles, contrasting sample groups by altitude or soil sulfur concentration. We inferred that high-altitude communities may have higher predicted abundance for anaerobic metabolism (crotonate fermentation), coenzyme B12 synthesis, and degradation of diverse carbon sources (sugars and octane). High-sulfur soils were associated with an inferred enrichment of pathways for degrading complex organic compounds and nitrogen metabolism, reflecting adaptation to unique geochemical conditions. In contrast, low-sulfur soils are consistent with a higher predicted abundance of glycerol degradation. Within the limitation imposed by the potential weak associations of the applied predicted functional profiling to actual gene content, we propose that the inferred metabolic changes represent different ecological strategies for resource acquisition, energy generation, and stress tolerance, and they are optimized for varying conditions in this unique volcanic ecosystem. Our findings highlight how environmental gradients shape soil microbiome functional diversity and offer insights into microbial adaptation in Sumaco’s exceptional geochemistry within the Amazon. Further efforts linking functional predictions back to specific taxa will offer a complete ecological perspective of the microbiome exploration in the Sumaco volcano.

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