{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,20]],"date-time":"2026-07-20T18:35:08Z","timestamp":1784572508700,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,7]],"date-time":"2024-03-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1709769600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study explores the indirect impact of climate change driven by gentoo\u2019s penguin colonization pressure on the microbial communities of moss banks formed by Tall moss turf subformation in central maritime Antarctica.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Microbial communities and chemical composition of the differently affected moss banks (Unaffected, Impacted and Desolated) located on Galindez Island and \u0421ape Tuxen on the mainland of Kyiv Peninsula were analyzed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The native microbiota of the moss banks\u2019 peat was analyzed for the first time, revealing a predominant presence of Acidobacteria (32.2 \u00b1 14.4%), followed by Actinobacteria (15.1 \u00b1 4.0%) and Alphaproteobacteria (9.7 \u00b1 4.1%). Penguin colonization and subsequent desolation of moss banks resulted in an increase in peat pH (from 4.7 \u00b1 0.05 to 7.2 \u00b1 0.6) and elevated concentrations of soluble nitrogen (from 1.8 \u00b1 0.4 to 46.9 \u00b1 2.1 DIN, mg\/kg) and soluble phosphorus compounds (from 3.6 \u00b1 2.6 to 20.0 \u00b1 1.8 DIP, mg\/kg). The contrasting composition of peat and penguin feces led to the elimination of the initial peat microbiota, with an increase in Betaproteobacteria (from 1.3 \u00b1 0.8% to 30.5 \u00b1 23%) and Bacteroidota (from 5.5 \u00b1 3.7% to 19.0 \u00b1 3.7%) proportional to the intensity of penguins\u2019 impact, accompanied by a decrease in community diversity. Microbial taxa associated with birds\u2019 guts, such as <jats:italic>Gottschalkia<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Tissierella<\/jats:italic>, emerged in Impacted and Desolated moss banks, along with bacteria likely benefiting from eutrophication. The changes in the functional capacity of the penguin-affected peat microbial communities were also detected. The nitrogen-cycling genes that regulate the conversion of urea into ammonia, nitrite oxide, and nitrate oxide (<jats:italic>ureC<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>amoA<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>nirS<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>nosZ<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>nxrB<\/jats:italic>) had elevated copy numbers in the affected peat. Desolated peat samples exhibit the highest nitrogen-cycle gene numbers, significantly differing from Unaffected peat (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The expansion of gentoo penguins induced by climate change led to the replacement of acidophilic microbiomes associated with moss banks, shaping a new microbial community influenced by penguin guano\u2019s chemical and microbial composition.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2024.1362975","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,7]],"date-time":"2024-03-07T05:05:09Z","timestamp":1709787909000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["From acidophilic to ornithogenic: microbial community dynamics in moss banks altered by gentoo penguins"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Yevheniia","family":"Prekrasna-Kviatkovska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ivan","family":"Parnikoza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Yerkhova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olesia","family":"Stelmakh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mariia","family":"Pavlovska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Dzyndra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oleksandr","family":"Yarovyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evgen","family":"Dykyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1139\/W08-126","article-title":"Bacterial diversity associated with ornithogenic soil of the Ross Sea region, Antarctica","volume":"55","author":"Aislabie","year":"2009","journal-title":"Can. 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