Community characteristics of methane-oxidizing bacteria in three types of alpine wetlands around Qinghai Lake

Abstract:

[Background] Methane-oxidizing bacteria play a role in maintaining the carbon balance of wetland ecosystems. Qinghai Lake alpine wetland has an important ecological status, while the methane-oxidizing bacteria in this area remain to be studied. [Objective] To explore the community characteristics and driving factors of methane-oxidizing bacteria in different types of alpine wetlands. [Methods] The methane-oxidizing bacteria in Xiaobo Lake swamp wetland, Bird Island lakeside wetland, and Wayanshan river source wetland were detected by high-throughput sequencing. [Results] The dominant phylum of methane-oxidizing bacteria in the three alpine wetlands was Proteobacteria. The alpha diversity of methane-oxidizing bacteria was different between Bird Island lakeside wetland and Wayanshan river source wetland (P<0.05), while it was similar between Xiaobo Lake swamp wetland and other two wetlands (P>0.05). The linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) revealed 40 differential microbial taxa between different types of alpine wetlands, and Wayanshan river source wetland had the most differential microbial taxa from the phylum to genus level. The redundant analysis showed that the main factors influencing the community structure of methane-oxidizing bacteria were soil temperature, soil moisture, and electrical conductivity. [Conclusion] The soil physical and chemical properties, methane-oxidizing bacterial diversity, and the relative abundance of several bacterial taxa (P<0.05) have differences among the three alpine wetlands around Qinghai Lake.