No abstract

It is well documented that the microbes found in soil are key drivers of various environmental processes such as nutrient cycling, soil formation and production of key enzymes and metabolites. There is a possibility of infinite number of microbes being buried in the layers of soil that formed over timescales of hundreds and thousands of years. However, there are few studies till date which correlate the depth and physicochemical properties of soil with the microbial population inhabiting that soil. In this study, an investigation of eleven samples along a 100 cm vertical section of soil from Lam Pokhari Lake, Eastern Himalayas, India was done by Sanger sequencing and Field emission scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS). Further, the distribution of culturable bacteria and fungi was studied. Bacteria belonging to four different phyla- Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Beta-proteobacteria and Gamma-proteobacteria were present in the soil samples as inferred from 16s rDNA gene sequencing. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequencing revealed the presence of fungi belonging to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Lastly, the particle size was obtained and the homogeneity of the samples was assessed by FESEM and imaging. EDS was used for obtaining the composition of seventeen elements in the soil samples. The weight percentage of oxygen and silicon was the highest in all the samples. Each sample showed a characteristic microbial distribution, particle size and elemental profile, which validated the use of a multidisciplinary approach to study soil samples.