title: Variations in soil culturable bacteria communities and biochemical characteristics in the Dongkemadi glacier forefield along a chronosequence.
abstract: The variations in the soil culturable bacterial communities and biochemical parameters of early successional soils from a receding glacier in the Tanggula Mountain were investigated. We examined low organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents and enzymatic activity, correlated with fewer bacterial groups and numbers in the glacier forefield soils. The soil pH values decreased, but the soil water content, organic C and total N significantly increased, along the chronosequence. The soil C/N ratio decreased in the early development soils and increased in the late development soils and it did not correlate with the soil age since deglaciation. The activities of soil urease, sucrase, protease, polyphenol oxidase, catalase, and dehydrogenase increased along the chronosequence. The numbers of culturable bacteria in the soils increased as cultured at 25°C while decreased at 4°C from younger soils to older soils. Total numbers of culturable bacteria in the soils cultured at 25°C were significantly positively correlated to the soil total N, organic C, and soil water content, as well as the activities of soil urease, sucrase, dehydrogenase, catalase, and polyphenol oxidase. We have obtained 224 isolates from the glacier forefield soils. The isolates were clustered into 28 groups by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). Among them, 27 groups and 25 groups were obtained from the soils at 25°C and at 4°C incubation temperatures, respectively. These groups are affiliated with 18 genera that belong to six taxa, viz, Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Alphaproteobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria. The dominant taxa were Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes in all the samples. The abundance and the diversity of the genera isolated at 25°C incubation temperature were greater than that at 4°C.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, People's Republic of China. liugx@lzb.ac.cn
authors.forename: Guang-Xiu
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiukun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Manxiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shi-Weng
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D058491:Bacterial Load; D058448:Biota; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004798:Enzymes / Q000032:analysis; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D046448:Ice Cover; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004798:Enzymes; D012987:Soil; D014867:Water; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen