AUTHOR=Ren Min , Zhang Zhufeng , Wang Xuelian , Zhou Zhiwei , Chen Dong , Zeng Hui , Zhao Shumiao , Chen Lingling , Hu Yuanliang , Zhang Changyi , Liang Yunxiang , She Qunxin , Zhang Yi , Peng Nan TITLE=Diversity and Contributions to Nitrogen Cycling and Carbon Fixation of Soil Salinity Shaped Microbial Communities in Tarim Basin JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00431 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.00431 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
Arid and semi-arid regions comprise nearly one-fifth of the earth's terrestrial surface. However, the diversities and functions of their soil microbial communities are not well understood, despite microbial ecological importance in driving biogeochemical cycling. Here, we analyzed the geochemistry and microbial communities of the desert soils from Tarim Basin, northwestern China. Our geochemical data indicated half of these soils are saline. Metagenomic analysis showed that bacterial phylotypes (89.72% on average) dominated the community, with relatively small proportions of Archaea (7.36%) and Eukaryota (2.21%). Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Euryarchaeota were most abundant based on metagenomic data, whereas genes attributed to Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Euryarchaeota, and Thaumarchaeota most actively transcribed. The most abundant phylotypes (