High specificity but contrasting biodiversity of <i>Sphagnum</i>-associated bacterial and plant communities in bog ecosystems independent of the geographical region

Opelt, Katja; Berg, Christian; Schönmann, Susan; Eberl, Leo; Berg, Gabriele

doi:10.1038/ismej.2007.58

Cited by 91 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…This finding suggests that the Methylobacterium communities were more similar in samples from the same plant species than in samples from different plant species. Such a finding is in agreement with the findings of other studies of general bacterial diversity in which the total bacterial community of the plant phyllosphere was analyzed by cultivation-independent methods, and specific microbial communities were observed on different plant species in all these studies (34,46,61). In one of the studies the dominant subpopulations (the genera Burkholderia and Serratia) were analyzed in detail.…”

Section: Mesophilicum A47supporting

confidence: 79%

“…In one of the studies the dominant subpopulations (the genera Burkholderia and Serratia) were analyzed in detail. Again, plant species-specific colonization patterns were observed; they were even similar for plants taken from different sampling sites (46). Furthermore, plant species-dependent differences in the total microbial community and in subpopulations have been observed in the rhizosphere (9,10,53).…”

Section: Mesophilicum A47mentioning

confidence: 66%

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Cultivation-Independent Characterization of Methylobacterium Populations in the Plant Phyllosphere by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis

Knief

Francès

Cantet

et al. 2008

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Bacteria of the genus Methylobacterium are widespread in the environment, but their ecological role in ecosystems, such as the plant phyllosphere, is not very well understood. To gain better insight into the distribution of different Methylobacterium species in diverse ecosystems, a rapid and specific cultivationindependent method for detection of these organisms and analysis of their community structure is needed. Therefore, 16S rRNA gene-targeted primers specific for this genus were designed and evaluated. These primers were used in PCR in combination with a reverse primer that binds to the tRNA Ala gene, which is located upstream of the 23S rRNA gene in the 16S-23S intergenic spacer (IGS). PCR products that were of different lengths were obtained due to the length heterogeneity of the IGS of different Methylobacterium species. This length variation allowed generation of fingerprints of Methylobacterium communities in environmental samples by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. The Methylobacterium communities on leaves of different plant species in a natural field were compared using this method. The new method allows rapid comparisons of Methylobacterium communities and is thus a useful tool to study Methylobacterium communities in different ecosystems.Bacteria of the genus Methylobacterium are facultative methylotrophs capable of growth on one-carbon compounds, such as methanol, methylamine, formaldehyde, and formate (16). The members of this genus of Alphaproteobacteria are ubiquitous in nature. They have been detected in soil, dust, freshwater, lake sediments, and the air and on plants (16). They have also been found in association with humans (2), and some members of this genus have increasingly been reported to be a cause of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients (22). The genus Methylobacterium currently comprises 28 described species (28, 60). Several new species have been described during the last few years, including species from environments that have been analyzed for several decades, such as the plant phyllosphere (23,27,28,38,58). This suggests that the diversity of Methylobacterium is still not fully known. The high diversity of species in the genus Methylobacterium and their broad distribution in nature raises questions of whether different species are adapted to certain environments and whether they play similar ecological roles in different environments. To address these questions, a better understanding of the distribution of Methylobacterium strains between and within different ecosystems and analysis of Methylobacterium community compositions and dynamics in natural habitats are necessary.One of the major habitats of Methylobacterium is represented by plants. Members of this genus have been detected by cultivation-dependent methods (8,12,39,45,59) and, to a lesser extent, by cultivation-independent methods (3,24,25,47,48) as epiphytic and endophytic colonizers of the plant phyllosphere, as intracellular colonizers of the buds of Scots pine (47), and as root-nod...

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Section: Mesophilicum A47supporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Mesophilicum A47mentioning

confidence: 66%

Cultivation-Independent Characterization of Methylobacterium Populations in the Plant Phyllosphere by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis

Knief

Francès

Cantet

et al. 2008

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…The cultivable fraction of the microbial phyllosphere community varies in both composition and size as a function of diverse factors, such as time, space, plant species or leaf age (Kinkel, 1997;Lindow and Brandl, 2003;Leveau, 2006). An impact of plant species, site and time on the composition of phyllosphere communities, in particular endophytic communities, has also been reported in different cultivation-independent studies (Yang et al, 2001;Opelt et al, 2007;Whipps et al, 2008;van Overbeek and van Elsas, 2008;Redford and Fierer, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Site and plant species are important determinants of the Methylobacterium community composition in the plant phyllosphere

et al. 2010

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The plant phyllosphere constitutes a habitat for numerous microorganisms; among them are members of the genus Methylobacterium. Owing to the ubiquitous occurrence of methylobacteria on plant leaves, they represent a suitable target for studying plant colonization patterns. The influence of the factor site, host plant species, time and the presence of other phyllosphere bacteria on Methylobacterium community composition and population size were evaluated in this study. Leaf samples were collected from Arabidopsis thaliana or Medicago truncatula plants and from the surrounding plant species at several sites. The abundance of cultivable Methylobacterium clearly correlated with the abundance of other phyllosphere bacteria, suggesting that methylobacteria constitute a considerable and rather stable fraction of the phyllosphere microbiota under varying environmental conditions. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) was applied to characterize the Methylobacterium community composition and showed the presence of similar communities on A. thaliana plants at most sites in 2 consecutive years of sampling. A substantial part of the observed variation in the community composition was explained by site and plant species, especially in the case of the plants collected at the Arabidopsis sites (50%). The dominating ARISA peaks that were detected on A. thaliana plants were found on other plant species grown at the same site, whereas some different peaks were detected on A. thaliana plants from other sites. This indicates that site-specific factors had a stronger impact on the Methylobacterium community composition than did plant-specific factors and that the Methylobacterium-plant association is not highly host plant species specific.

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“…Sphagnum mosses and their microbial associates have been demonstrated to be specific throughout the moss's life cycle, with a higher microbial diversity observed in Sphagnum species from more eutrophic habitats (Opelt et al 2007;Bragina et al 2011Bragina et al , 2014. The mosses consume carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) produced during decomposition in lower peat layers, while epi-and endophytic microorganisms of Sphagnum contribute additional CO 2 by converting methane (CH 4 ) to CO 2 (Raghoebarsing et al 2005;Kip et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of nitrogen fertilization on diazotrophic activity of microorganisms associated with Sphagnum magellanicum

et al. 2016

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Background and aims In pristine ombrotrophic Sphagnum-dominated peatland ecosystems nitrogen (N) is often a limiting nutrient, which is replenished by biological N 2 fixation and atmospheric N deposition. It is, however, unclear which impact long-term N deposition has on microbial N 2 fixing activity and diazotrophic diversity, and whether phosphorus (P) modulates the response. Therefore, we studied the impact of increased N deposition and N depletion on microbial N 2 fixation and diazotrophic diversity associated with the peat moss Sphagnum magellanicum, and their interaction with P availability. Methods Nitrogenase activities of S. magellanicumassociated microorganisms were determined by acetylene reduction assays (ARA) and 15 N 2 tracer methods on mosses from two geographically distinct locations with different N deposition histories, high or low N deposition, and in samples depleted in N (grown 3 years in the greenhouse) versus recent field samples. The short-term response to increased N deposition was tested for mosses differing in N and P fertilization histories. In addition, diversity of diazotrophic microorganisms was assessed by nifH gene amplicon sequencing of N-depleted mosses. Results We showed distinct and persistent differences in diazotrophic communities and their activities associated with S. magellanicum from sites with high versus low N deposition. Initially, diazotrophic activity was six times higher for the low N site. During incubation and repeated ARA, however, this activity strongly decreased, while it remained stable for the high N site. Activity for the high N site could not be increased by long-term experimental N deprivation. Short-term, experimental N application had an inhibitory effect on N 2 fixation for both sites, which was not observed in mosses with high indirect P availability. Conclusions We conclude that although N deposition negatively affects N 2 fixation as also shown in previous studies, long-term effects of N deprivation on the diazotrophic activity and community are more complex. Furthermore, our results indicated that P availability might be an important factor in modulating the response of Sphagnum-associated diazotrophs to N deposition.

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High specificity but contrasting biodiversity of Sphagnum-associated bacterial and plant communities in bog ecosystems independent of the geographical region

Cited by 91 publications

References 41 publications

Cultivation-Independent Characterization of Methylobacterium Populations in the Plant Phyllosphere by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis

Cultivation-Independent Characterization of Methylobacterium Populations in the Plant Phyllosphere by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis

Site and plant species are important determinants of the Methylobacterium community composition in the plant phyllosphere

Effects of nitrogen fertilization on diazotrophic activity of microorganisms associated with Sphagnum magellanicum

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