How do anaerobic and aerobic conditions affect the biofilm formation and decay of Pinus needles?
The purpose of this experiment is to determine how the microbial community of Pinus needle biofilms are altered by varying oxygen conditions over 6 months. We exposed Pinus needles to anaerobic and aerobic condition in laboratory conditions with pond water and montmorillonite sediment in an incubator at 30C. We also exposed Pinus needles to an aquarium environment where the needles were either placed on top of the montmorillonite sediment or completely submerged to simulate an anaerobic environment. We collected needles in triplicate and extracted the DNA after 3, 6, and 9 months. Only 16S rRNA was assessed.