title: Environmental factors affect Acidobacterial communities below the subgroup level in grassland and forest soils.
abstract: In soil, Acidobacteria constitute on average 20% of all bacteria, are highly diverse, and are physiologically active in situ. However, their individual functions and interactions with higher taxa in soil are still unknown. Here, potential effects of land use, soil properties, plant diversity, and soil nanofauna on acidobacterial community composition were studied by cultivation-independent methods in grassland and forest soils from three different regions in Germany. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries representing all studied soils revealed that grassland soils were dominated by subgroup Gp6 and forest soils by subgroup Gp1 Acidobacteria. The analysis of a large number of sites (n = 57) by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting methods (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism [T-RFLP] and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) showed that Acidobacteria diversities differed between grassland and forest soils but also among the three different regions. Edaphic properties, such as pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, phosphorus, nitrate, ammonium, soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil respiration, had an impact on community composition as assessed by fingerprinting. However, interrelations with environmental parameters among subgroup terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) differed significantly, e.g., different Gp1 T-RFs correlated positively or negatively with nitrogen content. Novel significant correlations of Acidobacteria subpopulations (i.e., individual populations within subgroups) with soil nanofauna and vascular plant diversity were revealed only by analysis of clone sequences. Thus, for detecting novel interrelations of environmental parameters with Acidobacteria, individual populations within subgroups have to be considered.
authors.affiliation: Abt. Mikrobielle Ökophysiologie, Biologie/Chemie, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naether
authors.forename: Bärbel U
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Foesel
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Naegele
authors.forename: Pia K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Wüst
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weinert
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonkowski
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alt
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oelmann
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polle
authors.forename: Gertrud
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lohaus
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gockel
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hemp
authors.forename: Elisabeth K V
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kalko
authors.forename: Karl Eduard
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Linsenmair
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Swen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schöning
authors.forename: Wolfgang W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Weisser
authors.forename: Konstans
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Overmann
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Friedrich
mesh_terms: D061271:Acidobacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058448:Biota; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D005858:Germany; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D054892:Metagenome; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012987:Soil; D010758:Phosphorus; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen