Abstract
Oxidative decomposition of plant litter is a central control on carbon storage and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Although this process is commonly assumed to be greatest under oxic conditions, recent findings highlight redox-sensitive metals and enzymes as potent, but poorly understood, mediators. Using controlled soil reactors, we show that stimulating microbial production of reactive manganese(III) at oxic–anoxic interfaces simultaneously increased the expression of diverse litter-decomposing enzymes; together, these metal and enzyme catalysts acted synergistically to accelerate litter decomposition. This 29% increase in decomposition was best predicted by multi-fold increases in the expression of putative Mn(III)-forming and litter-degrading enzymes at the interface, rather than by patterns in strictly oxic or anoxic zones. These results provide evidence to the growing body of research challenging the assumption that oxidative decomposition is maximized under fully oxic conditions. Instead, they reveal a tight interplay among oxygen supply, reactive metal regeneration, and enzyme activity that renders oxic–anoxic interfaces hotspots of litter decomposition in soils.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The authors would like to thank Canadian Light Source beamline scientists Yongfeng Hu and Mohsen Shakouri for their assistance and support at the soft X-ray micro-characterization beamline at the Canadian Light Source (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada).
Funding
This research was funded by the NSF Geobiology & Low-temperature Geochemistry program (Award No. EAR-1852754 to Marco Keiluweit and Kristen M. DeAngelis) and the Simons Foundation (Award No. LS-Project-01248024 to Marco Keiluweit). Open access funding provided by University of Lausanne.
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Chin, N.A., Domeignoz-Horta, L.A., Liu, X.J.A. et al. Synergy between reactive manganese species and enzymes drives litter decomposition hotspots.
Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75920-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75920-x
Source: Ecology - nature.com
