Characterization of growing bacterial populations in McMurdo Dry Valley soils through stable isotope probing with 18O-water

Egbert Schwartz, David J. Van Horn, Heather N. Buelow, Jordan G. Okie, Michael N. Gooseff, John E. Barrett, Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Soil microbial communities of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica (MDV) contain representatives from at least fourteen bacterial phyla. However, given low rates of microbial activity, it is unclear whether this richness represents functioning rather than dormant members of the community. We used stable isotope probing (SIP) with 18O-water to determine if microbial populations grow in MDV soils. Changes in the microbial community were characterized in soils amended with H218O and H218O-organic matter. Sequencing the 16S rRNA genes of the heavy and light fractions of the bacterial community DNA shows that DNA of microbial populations was labeled with 18O-water, indicating these micro-organisms grew in the MDV soils. Significant differences existed in the community composition of the heavy and light fractions of the H218O and H218O-organic matter amended samples (Anosim P < 0.05 of weighted Unifrac distance). Control samples and the light DNA fraction of the H218O amended samples were dominated by representatives of the phyla Deinococcus-Thermus, Proteobacteria, Planctomyces, Gemmatimonadetes, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria, whereas Proteobacteria were more prevalent in the heavy DNA fractions from the H218O-water and the H218O-water-organic matter treatments. Our results indicate that SIP with H218O can be used to distinguish active bacterial populations even in this low organic matter environment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)415-425
Number of pages11
JournalFEMS Microbiology Ecology
Volume89
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2014

Keywords

  • McMurdo Dry Valley
  • Soil bacterial diversity
  • Stable isotope probing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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