Contrasting edaphic and land-use signatures of microbial phosphorus mobilisation and accumulation genes.

Soil microbial P-cycling gene distributions vary with land use and environmental factors, with mineralization and solubilisation genes showing land-use-related differences across Australian soils.

• Why it matters: Understanding how microbial P transformation strategies differ across landscapes is crucial for managing soil fertility and ecosystem productivity, especially in P-impoverished regions.
• What they did: The study analyzed 268 soil metagenomes and 1,077 MAGs from natural, pasture, and cropland systems in Australia, focusing on the distribution and abundance of P-cycling genes.
• The result: Soil properties, especially pH and organic carbon, better predicted P-cycling gene abundance than climate, with higher gene abundance predicted in wetter southwestern and coastal eastern regions.