| Title | Vertical distribution of bacterial community is associated with the degree of soil organic matter decomposition in the active layer of moist acidic tundra |
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| Author | Hye Min Kim1,2, Min Jin Lee3, Ji Young Jung1, Chung Yeon Hwang1, Mincheol Kim1, Hee-Myong Ro3, Jongsik Chun2, and Yoo Kyung Lee1* |
| Address | 1Korea Polar Research Institute, KIOST, Incheon 21990, Republic of Korea, 2School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea, 3Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea |
| Bibliography | Journal of Microbiology, 54(11),713-723, 2016, |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12275-016-6294-2 |
| Key Words | soil organic matter, bacterial community structure, soil pH, total phosphorus, depth profile |
| Abstract | The increasing temperature in Arctic tundra deepens the active layer, which is the upper layer of permafrost soil that experiences repeated thawing and freezing. The increasing of soil temperature and the deepening of active layer seem to affect soil microbial communities. Therefore, information on soil microbial communities at various soil depths is essential to understand their potential responses to climate change in the active layer soil. We investigated the community structure of soil bacteria in the active layer from moist acidic tundra in Council, Alaska. We also interpreted their relationship with some relevant soil physicochemical characteristics along soil depth with a fine scale (5 cm depth interval). The bacterial community structure was found to change along soil depth. The relative abundances of Acidobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Planctomycetes, and candidate phylum WPS-2 rapidly decreased with soil depth, while those of Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, and candidate AD3 rapidly increased. A structural shift was also found in the soil bacterial communities around 20 cm depth, where two organic (upper Oi and lower Oa) horizons are subdivided. The quality and the decomposition degree of organic matter might have influenced the bacterial community structure. Besides the organic matter quality, the vertical distribution of bacterial communities was also found to be related to soil pH and total phosphorus content. This study showed the vertical change of bacterial community in the active layer with a fine scale resolution and the possible influence of the quality of soil organic matter on shaping bacterial community structure. |