Earthworms can redistribute soil microbiota, and thus might affect the profile of virulence factor genes (VFGs) which are carried by pathogens in soils. Nevertheless, the knowledge of VFG profile in the earthworm guts and its interaction with earthworm gut microbiome is still lacking. Herein, we characterized earthworm gut and soil microbiome and VFG profiles in natural and agricultural ecosystems at a national scale using metagenomics. VFG profiles in the earthworm guts significantly differed from those in the surrounding soils, which was mainly driven by variations of bacterial communities. Furthermore, the total abundance of different types of VFGs in the earthworm guts was about 20-fold lower than that in the soils due to the dramatic decline (also by approximately 20-fold) of VFG-carrying bacterial pathogens in the earthworm guts. Additionally, five VFGs related to nutritional/metabolic factors and stress survival were identified as keystones merely in the microbe–VFG network in the earthworm guts, implying their pivotal roles in facilitating pathogen colonization in earthworm gut microhabitats. These findings suggest the potential roles of earthworms in reducing risks related to the presence of VFGs in soils, providing novel insights into earthworm-based bioremediation of VFG contamination in terrestrial ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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揭示蚯蚓在减轻陆地生态系统毒力因子基因存在方面的潜在作用


蚯蚓可以重新分配土壤微生物群，从而可能影响土壤中病原体携带的毒力因子基因（VFG）的分布。然而，对蚯蚓肠道中 VFG 谱及其与蚯蚓肠道微生物群相互作用的了解仍然缺乏。在此，我们利用宏基因组学对全国范围内的自然和农业生态系统中的蚯蚓肠道和土壤微生物组以及 VFG 特征进行了表征。蚯蚓肠道中的 VFG 特征与周围土壤中的 VFG 特征显着不同，这主要是由细菌群落的变化驱动的。此外，由于蚯蚓肠道中携带VFG的细菌病原体急剧减少（也减少了约20倍），蚯蚓肠道中不同类型VFG的总丰度比土壤中低约20倍。此外，与营养/代谢因素和应激生存相关的 5 个 VFG 被确定为仅在蚯蚓肠道微生物 - VFG 网络中的基石，这意味着它们在促进病原体在蚯蚓肠道微生境中定植方面发挥着关键作用。这些发现表明蚯蚓在降低土壤中 VFG 相关风险方面的潜在作用，为基于蚯蚓的陆地生态系统中 VFG 污染的生物修复提供了新的见解。