Microhabitat accessibility determines peptide substrate degradation by soil microbial community

Abstract

The role microbes have in the environment is highly influenced by the characteristics of their habitat. Here, we show that a complex habitat enhances the enzymatic activity of a soil microbial inoculum. This might occur due to a reduced competition in complex habitats, which allows a more diverse community to coexist and explore a wider variety of metabolic strategies. The different rates of enzymatic activity in different levels of complexity suggest emergent properties of microbial communities in complex microhabitats which could have important implication for microbial processes, such as soil carbon storage and nutrient cycling.