Spatial patterns of bacterial taxa in nature reflect ecological traits of deep branches of the 16S rRNA bacterial tree

0334052 - BC 2010 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Philippot, L. - Bru, D. - Saby, N.P.A. - Čuhel, Jiří - Arrouays, D. - Šimek, Miloslav - Hallin, S.
Spatial patterns of bacterial taxa in nature reflect ecological traits of deep branches of the 16S rRNA bacterial tree.
Environmental Microbiology. Roč. 11, č. 12 (2009), s. 3096-3104. ISSN 1462-2912. E-ISSN 1462-2920
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LC06066; GA AV ČR IAA600660605
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60660521
Keywords : spatial patterns * bacterial taxa * 16S rRNA bacterial tree
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour
Impact factor: 4.909, year: 2009

Whether bacterial display spatial patterns of distribution and at which level of taxonomic organization such patterns can be observed are central questions in microbial ecology. Here we investigated how the total and relative abundances of eight bacterial taxa at the phylum or class level were spatially distributed in a pasture by using quantitative PCR and geostatistical modelling. The distributions of the relative abundance of most taxa varied by a factor of 2.5-6.5 and displayed strong spatial patterns at the field scale. These spatial patterns were taxonspecific and correlated to soil properties, which indicated that members of a bacterial clade defined at high taxonomical levels shared specific ecological traits in the pasture. Ecologically meaningful assemblages of bacteria at the phylum or class level in the environment provides envidence that deep branching patterns of the 16S rRNA bacterial tree are actually mirrored in nature.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0178887