Researchers studied how microbes in soil affect the breakdown of carbon. They looked at soil samples from different parts of Australia and found that certain genes in the microbes were linked to the activity of enzymes that break down carbon. Even after considering other factors like the type of microbes present and the soil's pH, the relationship between genes and enzyme activity remained strong. The researchers discovered that the abundance of specific genes in the soil microbes could predict how well enzymes break down carbon. This suggests that focusing on these genes could help improve predictions about how carbon moves through soil.