Kavli Affiliate: Robert Edwards
| Authors: Joel E Brame, Craig Liddicoat, Catherine A Abbott, Robert A Edwards, Jake M Robinson, Nicolas E Gauthier and Martin F Breed
| Summary:
Butyrate-producing bacteria are found in many ecosystems and organisms, including humans, and are vital to ecosystem functionality and human health. These bacteria ferment organic matter, producing the short-chain fatty acid butyrate. Despite their importance, their global biogeography is poorly studied. Here we developed new normalised butyrate production capacity (BPC) indices derived from global metagenomic (n=16,176) and Australia-wide soil 16S rRNA (n=1,331) data to geographically detail their environmental associations. We show that the highest BPC scores were in anoxic and fermentative environments. Among land types, higher BPC scores were in soils from seasonally productive sandy zones, temperate rural residential areas, and pastures and croplands. Geographical and climatic variables, and the presence of humans, were the primary drivers of BPC score variation. These new biogeographical insights could be integrated into microbially-focussed health and environmental policies to better harness the contributions of butyrate-producing bacteria to ecosystem functionality and human health.