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Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
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Disturbed subsurface microbial communities follow equivalent trajectories despite different structural starting

Kim M Handley1, Kelly C Wrighton, Christopher S Miller

  • 1Earth & Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.

Environmental Microbiology
|March 29, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Microbial communities subjected to organic carbon disturbance showed predictable succession patterns. Founding community composition did not influence the trajectory of microbial community shifts following a carbon source switch.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Environmental Microbiology

Background:

  • Microbial community structure influences ecosystem response to disturbances.
  • Niche and neutral processes are key theories explaining community assembly.
  • Understanding these dynamics is crucial for bioremediation strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To experimentally investigate niche versus neutral processes and founding community effects on microbial succession.
  • To examine microbial community responses to organic carbon disturbance and subsequent shifts in electron donors.

Main Methods:

  • Subsurface sediment was incubated in flow-through columns with acetate amendment.
  • Biogeochemical states (iron and sulfate reduction) were monitored.
  • Carbon source was switched from acetate to lactate at different stages of biogeochemical activity.
  • Microbial community structure was analyzed using lineage abundance data.

Main Results:

  • Acetate amendment initially drove iron reduction, enriching specific bacterial lineages.
  • Subsequent sulfate reduction favored different microbial groups.
  • Switching to lactate resulted in comparable community trajectories regardless of the initial founding community.
  • Specific lineages like Desulfotomaculum and Bacteroidetes decreased, while Clostridiales and Psychrosinus increased.

Conclusions:

  • Founding community composition did not significantly impact microbial succession following a carbon source perturbation.
  • Neutral processes appear less influential than niche-based dynamics in this specific disturbance context.
  • Microbial communities exhibited convergence towards similar structures after a carbon source switch, indicating predictable ecological trajectories.