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Biocontained Carcass Composting for Control of Infectious Disease Outbreak in Livestock
Published on: May 6, 2010
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Temporal dynamics in microbial soil communities at anthrax carcass sites.
Karoline Valseth1,2, Camilla L Nesbø1,3, W Ryan Easterday1
1Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, The Kristine Bonnevie Building, UiO, campus Blindern, Blindern, Oslo, Norway.
BMC Microbiology
|September 28, 2017
Summary
This study tracked Bacillus anthracis in soil after zebra carcasses decomposed, revealing soil microbes shift, with plant-beneficial bacteria increasing near carcasses. This aids understanding of anthrax ecology and carcass site vegetation.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Ecology
- Soil Science
Background:
- Anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis, affects herbivores globally.
- B. anthracis cycles between dormant spores in soil and vegetative cells in hosts.
- This study examines soil microbial shifts post-zebra carcass decomposition in Namibia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate temporal microbial soil community changes following anthrax carcass decomposition.
- To monitor B. anthracis population dynamics (vegetative cells and spores) in soil.
- To understand the ecological impact of B. anthracis and associated microbes on soil.
Main Methods:
- Cultivation, quantitative PCR (qPCR), and shotgun metagenomic sequencing were used.
- Temporal soil sampling was conducted after the deposition of two plains zebra carcasses.
- Combined approaches were employed to overcome DNA recovery limitations from spores.
Main Results:
- DNA-based methods alone are insufficient for spore-forming bacteria abundance estimation.
- B. anthracis population peaked early, then declined as cells sporulated or died.
- Soil communities shifted from typical semi-arid taxa to Bacillales and Pseudomonadales, including plant growth-promoting species.
Conclusions:
- Combining cultivation with DNA-based methods provides a more complete ecological picture of spore-forming pathogens.
- Carcass sites exhibit increased vegetation due to nutrients and proliferation of plant-beneficial microbes.
- Future anthrax transmission may be indirectly influenced by plant-beneficial bacteria at carcass sites.
Keywords:
Bacillus anthracisMetabolismMetagenomicsMicrobial diversitySemi-aridShotgun sequencingSporulationTaphonomyTime-series analysisMore Related Videos
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