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Functional restructuring of the global soil microbiome under multiple stressors

Ruirui Chen·Shuhong Luo·Youzhi Feng·Fernando T. Maestre·Tadeo Sáez-Sandino·Nicholas Gross·Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet·Victoria Ochoa·Beatriz Gózalo·Emilio Guirado·Miguel García-Gómez·Enrique Valencia·Sergio Asensio·Jaime Martínez-Valderrama·Betty J. Mendoza·Sebastian Abades·Fernando D. Alfaro·Matt Barrett·Miguel Berdugo·José Luis Blanco Pastor·Niels Blaum·Bazartseren Boldgiv·Matthew A. Bowker·Helena Castro·Haiyan Chu·Nick A. Cutler·Zhongmin Dai·Balázs Deák·Jorge Duran·Carlos Iván Espinosa·Alex Fajardo·Kunkun Fan·Ana Foronda·Lauchlan H. Fraser·Katja Geissler·Tina Grebenc·Elizabeth Gusmán-Montalván·Stephen C. Hart·Liana Kindermann·Melanie Köbel·Lauri Laanisto·Peter C. le Roux·Pierre Liancourt·Anja Linstädter·Michelle A. Louw·Petr Macek·Gillian Maggs-Kölling·Thulani P. Makhalanyane·Antonio J. Manzaneda·Eugene Marais·Daniel Montesinos·Juan P. Mora·Gerardo Moreno·Seth M. Munson·Miriam Muñoz-Rojas·Girish R. Nair·Sigrid Neuhauser·Alice Nunes·César Plaza·Yolanda Pueyo·Pedro J. Rey·Ana Rey·Asunción de los Ríos·Alexandra Rodríguez·Borja Rodriguez Lozano·Raul Roman·Jan C. Ruppert·Ayman Salah·Jay Singh·Heather L. Throop·Samantha K. Travers·Tina Unuk Nahberger·Munkhbat Uuganbayar·Orsolya Valkó·Lixin Wang·Mark A. Williams·Chao Xiong·Jianming Xu·Eli Zaady·Bin Ma·Brajesh K. Singh·Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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Abstract

Microbes, as the planet’s most abundant and diverse organisms, drive soil functions globally and are vulnerable to environmental stressors triggered by global change. Yet, knowledge regarding the impacts of multiple environmental stressors on their functional profiles as well as the consequences for soil functionality largely remains unknown. Here, we analyze two global-scale datasets including information on soil metagenomics and multiple environmental stressors. We find that across terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, up to 60% of all functional genes significantly shift when soil microbes experience the high-level of concurrent stressors. In this regard, the relative abundances of genes involved in microbial growth are negatively linked to the increasing number of stressors. Conversely, those genes linked to stress resistance and energy production exhibit positive responses. Taken together, our findings highlight a significant restructuring of global soil functional microbiomes in response to multiple environmental stressors. Consequently, such restructuring drives community-level shifts in matter and energy reallocations, thereby impacting the maintenance of soil functionality under the projected global change.

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Ruirui Chen, Shuhong Luo, Youzhi Feng, Fernando T. Maestre, Tadeo Sáez-Sandino, Nicholas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gózalo, Emilio Guirado, Miguel García-Gómez, Enrique Valencia, Sergio Asensio, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Betty J. Mendoza, Sebastian Abades, Fernando D. Alfaro, Matt Barrett, Miguel Berdugo, José Luis Blanco Pastor, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Helena Castro, Haiyan Chu, Nick A. Cutler, Zhongmin Dai, Balázs Deák, Jorge Duran, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Kunkun Fan, Ana Foronda, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Katja Geissler, Tina Grebenc, Elizabeth Gusmán-Montalván, Stephen C. Hart, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Köbel, Lauri Laanisto, Peter C. le Roux, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Michelle A. Louw, Petr Macek, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Eugene Marais, Daniel Montesinos, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Miriam Muñoz-Rojas, Girish R. Nair, Sigrid Neuhauser, Alice Nunes, César Plaza, Yolanda Pueyo, Pedro J. Rey, Ana Rey, Asunción de los Ríos, Alexandra Rodríguez, Borja Rodriguez Lozano, Raul Roman, Jan C. Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Jay Singh, Heather L. Throop, Samantha K. Travers, Tina Unuk Nahberger, Munkhbat Uuganbayar, Orsolya Valkó, Lixin Wang, Mark A. Williams, Chao Xiong, Jianming Xu, Eli Zaady, Bin Ma, Brajesh K. Singh, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo. 2026-05-19. Functional restructuring of the global soil microbiome under multiple stressors. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73231-9

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