Differences in the genomic potential of soil bacterial and viral communities between urban greenspaces and natural arid soils

Urban green spaces provide essential ecosystem services are ever more important in arid cities. However, the design and management of these greenspaces often require physicochemical transformations whose effect in the balance of the arid urban ecosystems is normally not accounted for. In this project, we leverage metagenomic data from soil microbial communities of urban greenspaces and neighboring natural areas in a city from the arid Southwestern USA (Tucson, Arizona) to understand the differences in microbial (bacterial and viral) community structure and function in urban greenspaces compared to natural arid soils. We found bacterial and viral communities to be distinct between urban greenspace and natural arid soils, viral communities showing a starker differentiation. Urban greenspace bacteria were less versatile and showed higher genetic potential for the simple carbohydrate consumption and nitrogen reduction. Moreover, bacteria in urban greenspaces exhibit higher genetic potential for resistance to heavy metals, and certain clinical antibiotics. Our results suggest that the conversion of arid natural land to urban greenspaces determines the soil microbiome structure and functioning, and potentially its ability to adapt to the changing environment. IMPORTANCEUrban green spaces are critical for the sustainability of arid cities. Nevertheless, they require deep soil physicochemical transformations. Soil bacterial and viral communities are responsible for soil functioning and provision of some ecosystem services, but they are also highly influenced by changes in the soil environment. The significance of our research is in illustrating the structural and functional changes that microbial and viral communities undergo in urban soils of arid cities, and their potential impacts on urban greenspace soil processes.