Microbial communities acclimate to recurring changes in soil redox potential status.

TitleMicrobial communities acclimate to recurring changes in soil redox potential status.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2010
AuthorsDeangelis KM, Silver WL, Thompson AW, Firestone MK
JournalEnviron Microbiol
Volume12
Issue12
Pagination3137-49
Date Published2010 Dec
ISSN1462-2920
KeywordsAcclimatization, Archaea, Bacteria, Carbon Dioxide, DNA, Archaeal, DNA, Bacterial, Iron, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Oxidation-Reduction, RNA, Archaeal, RNA, Bacterial, Soil, Soil Microbiology, Trees
Abstract

Rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions can significantly stress organisms, particularly when fluctuations cross thresholds of normal physiological tolerance. Redox potential fluctuations are common in humid tropical soils, and microbial community acclimation or avoidance strategies for survival will in turn shape microbial community diversity and biogeochemistry. To assess the extent to which indigenous bacterial and archaeal communities are adapted to changing in redox potential, soils were incubated under static anoxic, static oxic or fluctuating redox potential conditions, and the standing (DNA-based) and active (RNA-based) communities and biogeochemistry were determined. Fluctuating redox potential conditions permitted simultaneous CO₂ respiration, methanogenesis, N₂O production and iron reduction. Exposure to static anaerobic conditions significantly changed community composition, while 4-day redox potential fluctuations did not. Using RNA:DNA ratios as a measure of activity, 285 taxa were more active under fluctuating than static conditions, compared with three taxa that were more active under static compared with fluctuating conditions. These data suggest an indigenous microbial community adapted to fluctuating redox potential.

DOI10.1111/j.1462-2920.2010.02286.x
Alternate JournalEnviron. Microbiol.
PubMed ID20629704