This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lipson, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, S. K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lipson, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, S. K.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Lipson, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, S. K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2004, p. 2867-2879, Vol. 70, No. 5
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.5.2867-2879.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Seasonal Changes in an Alpine Soil Bacterial Community in the Colorado Rocky Mountains

David A. Lipson1* and Steven K. Schmidt2

Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-4614,1 Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-03342

Received 10 July 2003/ Accepted 2 January 2004

The period when the snowpack melts in late spring is a dynamic time for alpine ecosystems. The large winter microbial community begins to turn over rapidly, releasing nutrients to plants. Past studies have shown that the soil microbial community in alpine dry meadows of the Colorado Rocky Mountains changes in biomass, function, broad-level structure, and fungal diversity between winter and early summer. However, little specific information exists on the diversity of the alpine bacterial community or how it changes during this ecologically important period. We constructed clone libraries of 16S ribosomal DNA from alpine soil collected in winter, spring, and summer. We also cultivated bacteria from the alpine soil and measured the seasonal abundance of selected cultured isolates in hybridization experiments. The uncultured bacterial communities changed between seasons in diversity and abundance within taxa. The Acidobacterium division was most abundant in the spring. The winter community had the highest proportion of Actinobacteria and members of the Cytophaga/Flexibacter/Bacteroides (CFB) division. The summer community had the highest proportion of the Verrucomicrobium division and of ß-Proteobacteria. As a whole, {alpha}-Proteobacteria were equally abundant in all seasons, although seasonal changes may have occurred within this group. A number of sequences from currently uncultivated divisions were found, including two novel candidate divisions. The cultured isolates belonged to the {alpha}-, ß-, and {gamma}-Proteobacteria, the Actinobacteria, and the CFB groups. The only uncultured sequences that were closely related to the isolates were from winter and spring libraries. Hybridization experiments showed that actinobacterial and ß-proteobacterial isolates were most abundant during winter, while the {alpha}- and {gamma}-proteobacterial isolates tested did not vary significantly. While the cultures and clone libraries produced generally distinct groups of organisms, the two approaches gave consistent accounts of seasonal changes in microbial diversity.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614. Phone: (619) 594-4460. Fax: (619) 594-5676. E-mail: dlipson{at}sciences.sdsu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2004, p. 2867-2879, Vol. 70, No. 5
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.5.2867-2879.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Davis, J. P., Youssef, N. H., Elshahed, M. S. (2009). Assessment of the Diversity, Abundance, and Ecological Distribution of Members of Candidate Division SR1 Reveals a High Level of Phylogenetic Diversity but Limited Morphotypic Diversity. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 4139-4148 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Elshahed, M. S., Youssef, N. H., Spain, A. M., Sheik, C., Najar, F. Z., Sukharnikov, L. O., Roe, B. A., Davis, J. P., Schloss, P. D., Bailey, V. L., Krumholz, L. R. (2008). Novelty and Uniqueness Patterns of Rare Members of the Soil Biosphere. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5422-5428 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bremer, C., Braker, G., Matthies, D., Reuter, A., Engels, C., Conrad, R. (2007). Impact of Plant Functional Group, Plant Species, and Sampling Time on the Composition of nirK-Type Denitrifier Communities in Soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6876-6884 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zul, D., Denzel, S., Kotz, A., Overmann, J. (2007). Effects of Plant Biomass, Plant Diversity, and Water Content on Bacterial Communities in Soil Lysimeters: Implications for the Determinants of Bacterial Diversity. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6916-6929 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eichorst, S. A., Breznak, J. A., Schmidt, T. M. (2007). Isolation and Characterization of Soil Bacteria That Define Terriglobus gen. nov., in the Phylum Acidobacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2708-2717 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Schloss, P. D., Handelsman, J. (2006). Introducing TreeClimber, a Test To Compare Microbial Community Structures. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 2379-2384 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Janssen, P. H. (2006). Identifying the Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Libraries of 16S rRNA and 16S rRNA Genes.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 1719-1728 [Full Text]  
  • Sait, M., Davis, K. E. R., Janssen, P. H. (2006). Effect of pH on Isolation and Distribution of Members of Subdivision 1 of the Phylum Acidobacteria Occurring in Soil.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 1852-1857 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hullar, M. A. J., Kaplan, L. A., Stahl, D. A. (2006). Recurring Seasonal Dynamics of Microbial Communities in Stream Habitats. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 713-722 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fierer, N., Jackson, J. A., Vilgalys, R., Jackson, R. B. (2005). Assessment of Soil Microbial Community Structure by Use of Taxon-Specific Quantitative PCR Assays. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 4117-4120 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»