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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2003, p. 6676-6687, Vol. 69, No. 11
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.11.6676-6687.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Dynamics of Bacterial and Fungal Communities on Decaying Salt Marsh Grass{dagger}

Alison Buchan,1 Steven Y. Newell,2 Melissa Butler,1 Erin J. Biers,1 James T. Hollibaugh,1,{dagger} and Mary Ann Moran1*

Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3636,1 University of Georgia Marine Institute, Sapelo Island, Georgia 313272

Received 13 June 2003/ Accepted 14 August 2003

Both bacteria and fungi play critical roles in decomposition processes in many natural environments, yet only rarely have they been studied as an integrated microbial community. Here we describe the bacterial and fungal assemblages associated with two decomposition stages of Spartina alterniflora detritus in a productive southeastern U.S. salt marsh. 16S rRNA genes and 18S-to-28S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were used to target the bacterial and ascomycete fungal communities, respectively, based on DNA sequence analysis of isolates and environmental clones and by using community fingerprinting based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Seven major bacterial taxa (six affiliated with the {alpha}-Proteobacteria and one with the Cytophagales) and four major fungal taxa were identified over five sample dates spanning 13 months. Fungal terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) were informative at the species level; however, bacterial T-RFs frequently comprised a number of related genera. Amplicon abundances indicated that the salt marsh saprophyte communities have little-to-moderate variability spatially or with decomposition stage, but considerable variability temporally. However, the temporal variability could not be readily explained by either successional shifts or simple relationships with environmental factors. Significant correlations in abundance (both positive and negative) were found among dominant fungal and bacterial taxa that possibly indicate ecological interactions between decomposer organisms. Most associations involved one of four microbial taxa: two groups of bacteria affiliated with the {alpha}-Proteobacteria and two ascomycete fungi (Phaeosphaeria spartinicola and environmental isolate 4clt).

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3636. Phone: (706) 542-6481. Fax: (706) 542-5888. E-mail: mmoran{at}uga.edu.

{dagger} This is contribution no. 922 of the University of Georgia Marine Institute.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2003, p. 6676-6687, Vol. 69, No. 11
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.11.6676-6687.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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