Functional genes of the methane biogeochemical cycle in forest and pastures areas in Amazon

• Grant number: 15/23758-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): February 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Tsai Siu Mui
• Grantee: Jéssica Adriele Mandro
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50320-4 - Dimensions US-BIOTA - São Paulo: collaborative research: integrating dimensions of microbial biodiversity across land use change in tropical forests, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The Amazon Basin is covered by the largest existing rainforest, in which approximately 15% of its original cover was replaced by areas for supply the growing demand for food, in a process that changes the physical, chemical, and biological soil characteristics. The soil diversity is mainly composed of microorganisms of domains Archaea and Bacteria, required for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems for their role in nutrient cycling and biogeochemical cycles. However, the anthropic use of soil has the potential to alter the microbiota structure and function and, consequently, these processes. Among them, the flow of methane (CH4), the second most important greenhouse gas, from the soil to the atmosphere presents high importance because it is directly related to the attributes of soil microbial community. Its flow is mainly controlled by methanogens, methane-producing archaea; and methanotrophic, bacteria that consume the same gas, which differ according to their unique ecological and biochemical characteristics. In this context, the quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), which allows the calculation of the initial quantity of genes of interest in environmental samples, can be used to detect, quantify and temporally monitor the communities of methanogenic organisms, through the analysis of mcrA gene, and methanotrophic, through the analysis of pmoA and mmoX genes. The objective of the research project is to determine the land-use effect on the abundance of Archaea and Bacteria communities, with emphasis on functional genes related to the biogeochemical cycling of methane in the forest, secondary forest, and pasture areas in the state of Pará, in the eastern Amazon.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VENTURINI, ANDRESSA MONTEIRO; NAKAMURA, FERNANDA MANCINI; GONTIJO, JULIA BRANDAO; DA FRANCA, ALINE GIOVANA; YOSHIURA, CAIO AUGUSTO; MANDRO, JESSICA ADRIELE; TSAI, SIU MUI. Robust DNA protocols for tropical soils. HELIYON, v. 6, n. 5, MAY 2020. (15/12282-6, 15/08564-6, 15/13546-7, 18/14974-0, 14/50320-4, 15/23758-1)