Total nitrogen influence bacterial community structure of active layer permafrost across summer and winter seasons in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

The permafrost in the polar regions is vital for maintaining the status quo of the earth’s climate by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The present study aims to investigate the seasonal variations and the influence of physicochemical parameters on the bacterial diversity and community structure of active layer permafrost (AL) around Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The AL soil samples were collected from four different geographical locations around Ny-Ålesund during the winter and summer seasons. The 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was carried out to investigate the diversity and distribution profiles of bacterial communities among the collected AL samples. Physico-chemical parameters including soil pH, moisture content, total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and trace metals concentrations were measured. Bacterial phyla, Proteobacteria (15.4%–26%) and Chloroflexi (9.6%–22.5%) were predominantly distributed across both seasons. In the winter samples, Verrucomicrobiota (14.12%–23.39%) phylum, consisting of genera Chthoniobacter and Opitutus were highly abundant (Lefse, p < 0.05), whereas in summer bacterial genera belonging to Gemmatimonadota (3.3%–13.74%) and Acidobacteriota (18.02%–28.52%) phyla were highly abundant. The bacterial richness and diversity index were not significantly different between the winter and summer seasons. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) has revealed a distinct grouping between two seasons (PERMANOVA, p < 0.05). Bacterial community structure was significantly varied between winter and summer seasons, whereas the physico-chemical variable, TN, influenced the community structure. About 37.8% of the total operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shared between seasons, whereas 25.4% and 36.8% of OTUs were unique to the summer and winter seasons. The present study revealed that the conditions prevailing during winter and summer has shaped bacterial community structure in AL samples albeit the stable diversity and most of the variation was explained by TN, indicating its critical role in oligotrophic permafrost.