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 Hullar, M. A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Stahl, D. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hullar, M. A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Stahl, D. A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Hullar, M. A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Stahl, D. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2006, p. 713-722, Vol. 72, No. 1
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.1.713-722.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Recurring Seasonal Dynamics of Microbial Communities in Stream Habitats

Meredith A. J. Hullar,1,3 Louis A. Kaplan,2 and David A. Stahl1*

Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98112,1 Stroud Water Research Center, Avondale, Pennsylvania,2 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 981093

Received 30 June 2005/ Accepted 26 October 2005

Recurring seasonal patterns of microbial distribution and abundance in three third-order temperate streams within the southeast Pennsylvania Piedmont were observed over 4 years. Populations associated with streambed sediments and rocks (epilithon) were identified using terminal restriction length polymorphism (tRFLP) and sequencing of 16S rRNA genes selectively amplified with primers for the bacterial domain. Analyses of the relative magnitudes of tRFLP peak areas by using nonmetric multidimensional scaling resolved clear seasonal trends in epilithic and sediment populations. Oscillations between two dominant groups of epilithic genotypes, explaining 86% of the seasonal variation in the data set, were correlated with temperature and dissolved organic carbon. Sequences affiliated with epilithic phototrophs (cyanobacteria and diatom chloroplasts), a Rhodoferax sp., and a Bacillus species clustered in the summer, whereas sequences most closely related to "Betaproteobacteria" (putative Burkholderia sp.), and a putative cyanobacterium clustered in the fall/spring. The sediment genotypes also clustered into two groups, and these explained 85% of seasonal variation but correlated only with temperature. A summer tRFLP pattern was characterized by prevalence of "Betaproteobacteria," "Gammaproteobacteria," and a Bacillus sp., whereas the winter/spring pattern was characterized by phylotypes most closely related to "Firmicutes," "Gammaproteobacteria," and "Nitrospirae." A close association between these headwater streams and their watersheds was suggested by the recovery of sequences related to microbial populations provisionally attributed to not only freshwaters but also terrestrial habitats.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98112. Phone: (206) 685-3464. Fax: (206) 685-9185. E-mail: DASTAHL{at}u.washington.edu

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2006, p. 713-722, Vol. 72, No. 1
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.1.713-722.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Li, F., Hullar, M. A. J., Schwarz, Y., Lampe, J. W. (2009). Human Gut Bacterial Communities Are Altered by Addition of Cruciferous Vegetables to a Controlled Fruit- and Vegetable-Free Diet. J. Nutr. 139: 1685-1691 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Findlay, R. H., Yeates, C., Hullar, M. A. J., Stahl, D. A., Kaplan, L. A. (2008). Biome-Level Biogeography of Streambed Microbiota. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3014-3021 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beier, S., Witzel, K.-P., Marxsen, J. (2008). Bacterial Community Composition in Central European Running Waters Examined by Temperature Gradient Gel Electrophoresis and Sequence Analysis of 16S rRNA Genes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 188-199 [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»