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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2009, p. 3127-3136, Vol. 75, No. 10
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02806-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Lake Trophic Status and Rooted Macrophytes on Community Composition and Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Prokaryotes in Freshwater Sediments{triangledown}

Martina Herrmann,1* Aaron M. Saunders,2 and Andreas Schramm1

Department of Biological Sciences, Microbiology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, Building 1540, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark,1 Department of Chemistry and Water Technology, Danish Technological Institute, Kongsvang Allé 29, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark2

Received 10 December 2008/ Accepted 16 March 2009

Communities of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in freshwater sediments and those in association with the root system of the macrophyte species Littorella uniflora, Juncus bulbosus, and Myriophyllum alterniflorum were compared for seven oligotrophic to mesotrophic softwater lakes and acidic heathland pools. Archaeal and bacterial ammonia monooxygenase alpha-subunit (amoA) gene diversity increased from oligotrophic to mesotrophic sites; the number of detected operational taxonomic units was positively correlated to ammonia availability and pH and negatively correlated to sediment C/N ratios. AOA communities could be grouped according to lake trophic status and pH; plant species-specific communities were not detected, and no grouping was apparent for AOB communities. Relative abundance, determined by quantitative PCR targeting amoA, was always low for AOB (<0.05% of all prokaryotes) and slightly higher for AOA in unvegetated sediment and AOA in association with M. alterniflorum (0.01 to 2%), while AOA accounted for up to 5% in the rhizospheres of L. uniflora and J. bulbosus. These results indicate that (i) AOA are at least as numerous as AOB in freshwater sediments, (ii) aquatic macrophytes with substantial release of oxygen and organic carbon into their rhizospheres, like L. uniflora and J. bulbosus, increase AOA abundance; and (iii) AOA community composition is generally determined by lake trophy, not by plant species-specific interactions.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Microbiology, Schneiderberg 50, D-30167 Hannover, Germany. Phone: 49 (0)511 762-3819. Fax: 49 (0)511 762-5287. E-mail: Martina.Herrmann{at}ifmb.uni-hannover.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 March 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2009, p. 3127-3136, Vol. 75, No. 10
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02806-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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