Survival of bacterial DNA and culturable bacteria in archived soils from the Rothamsted Broadbalk experiment

Dried soil samples from many sources have been stored in archives world-wide over the years, but there has been little research on their value for studying microbial populations. Samples collected since 1843 from the Broadbalk field experiment on crop nutrition at Rothamsted have been used to document changes in the structure and composition of soils as agricultural practices evolve, also offering an invaluable record of environmental changes from the pre- to post-industrial era in the UK. To date, the microbial communities of these soils have not been studied, in part due to the well-documented drop in bacterial culturability in dried soils. However, modern molecular methods based on PCR amplification of DNA extracted directly from soil do not require bacterial cells to be viable or intact and may allow investigations into the legacy of bacteria that were present at the time of sample collection.

In a preliminary study, to establish if dried soils can provide a historical record of bacterial communities, samples from the Broadbalk soil archive dating back to 1868 were investigated and plots treated with either farmyard manure (FYM) or inorganic fertilizer (NPK) were compared. As anticipated, the processes of air-drying and milling greatly reduced bacterial viability whilst DNA yields declined less and may be preserved by desiccation. A higher proportion of culturable bacteria survived the archiving process in the FYM soil, possibly protected by the increased soil organic matter. The majority of surviving bacteria were firmicutes, whether collected in 2003 or in 1914, but a wide range of genera was detected in DNA extracted from the samples using PCR and DGGE of 16S rRNA genes. Analysis of DGGE band profiles indicated that the two plots maintained divergent populations. Sequence analysis of bands excised from DGGE gels, from a sample collected in 1914, revealed DNA from - and β-proteobacteria as well as firmicutes. PCR using primers specific for ammonia oxidizing bacteria showed similar band profiles across the two treatments in recently collected samples, however older samples from the NPK plot showed greater divergence. Primers specific for the genus Pseudomonas were designed and used in real-time quantitative PCR to indicate that archived soil collected in 1868 contained 10-fold less pseudomonad DNA than fresh soil, representing around 10⁵ genomes g⁻¹ soil. Prior to milling, dramatically less pseudomonad DNA was extracted from recently collected air-dried soil from the NPK compared to the FYM plot; otherwise, the two plots followed similar trends. Overall bacterial abundance, diversity and survival during the archiving process differed in the two soils, possibly due to differences in clay and soil organic matter content. Nevertheless, the results demonstrate that air-dried soils can protect microbial DNA for more than 150 years and offer an invaluable resource for future research.     

The influence of soil properties on the structure of bacterial and fungal communities across land-use types

Land-use change can have significant impacts on soil conditions and microbial communities are likely to respond to these changes. However, such responses are poorly characterized as few studies have examined how specific changes in edaphic characteristics do, or do not, influence the composition of soil bacterial and fungal communities across land-use types. Soil samples were collected from four replicated (n = 3) land-use types (hardwood and pine forests, cultivated and livestock pasture lands) in the southeastern US to assess the effects of land-use change on microbial community structure and distribution. We used quantitative PCR to estimate bacterial–fungal ratios and clone libraries targeting small-subunit rRNA genes to independently characterize the bacterial and fungal communities. Although some soil properties (soil texture and nutrient status) did significantly differ across land-use types, other edaphic factors (e.g., pH) did not vary consistently with land-use. Bacterial–fungal ratios were not significantly different across the land-uses and distinct land-use types did not necessarily harbor distinct soil fungal or bacterial communities. Rather, the composition of bacterial and fungal communities was most strongly correlated with specific soil properties. Soil pH was the best predictor of bacterial community composition across this landscape while fungal community composition was most closely associated with changes in soil nutrient status. Together these results suggest that specific changes in edaphic properties, not necessarily land-use type itself, may best predict shifts in microbial community composition across a given landscape. In addition, our results demonstrate the utility of using sequence-based approaches to concurrently analyze bacterial and fungal communities as such analyses provide detailed phylogenetic information on individual communities and permit the robust assessment of the biogeographical patterns exhibited by soil microbial communities.     

高产水稻土细菌多样性的培养法与非培养法比较研究

利用细菌的通用引物扩增江西余江县高产水稻土红壤细菌总DNA和平板培养细菌混合总DNA的16S rDNA基因片段,在此基础上分别建立两种16S rDNA文库(文库a和文库b)。从两个文库中各随机挑选100个克隆,扩增出阳性克隆中的插入片段后选用HhaⅠ和RsaⅠ两种四碱基酶进行ARDRA(amplified rDNA restriction analysis)分析。统计比较分析发现,文库a的Shannon-Wienner指数、Simpson指数、丰富度、均一度分别为4.432、0.987、18.885和0.973,均高于文库b中相应的多样性参数(分别为2.271、0.758、5.736和0.501),即平板培养方法所展现的细菌群落结构多样性低于土壤中原始的多样性。结果表明,传统培养方法存在着很大的局限性,必须结合新的分子生物学技术手段才能更全面完善地认识土壤微生物群落结构多样性,以期充分利用其中丰富的微生物资源。     

Land-use history has a stronger impact on soil microbial community composition than aboveground vegetation and soil properties

The response of soil microbial communities following changes in land-use is governed by multiple factors. The objectives of this study were to investigate (i) whether soil microbial communities track the changes in aboveground vegetation during succession; and (ii) whether microbial communities return to their native state over time. Two successional gradients with different vegetation were studied at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan. The first gradient comprised a conventionally tilled cropland (CT), mid-succession forest (SF) abandoned from cultivation prior to 1951, and native deciduous forest (DF). The second gradient comprised the CT cropland, early-succession grassland (ES) restored in 1989, and long-term mowed grassland (MG). With succession, the total microbial PLFAs and soil microbial biomass C consistently increased in both gradients. While bacterial rRNA gene diversity remained unchanged, the abundance and composition of many bacterial phyla changed significantly. Moreover, microbial communities in the relatively pristine DF and MG soils were very similar despite major differences in soil properties and vegetation. After >50 years of succession, and despite different vegetation, microbial communities in SF were more similar to those in mature DF than in CT. In contrast, even after 17 years of succession, microbial communities in ES were more similar to CT than endpoint MG despite very different vegetation between CT and ES. This result suggested a lasting impact of cultivation history on the soil microbial community. With conversion of deciduous to conifer forest (CF), there was a significant change in multiple soil properties that correlated with changes in microbial biomass, rRNA gene diversity and community composition. In conclusion, history of land-use was a stronger determinant of the composition of microbial communities than vegetation and soil properties. Further, microbial communities in disturbed soils apparently return to their native state with time.     

Plot-scale manipulations of organic matter inputs to soils correlate with shifts in microbial community composition in a lowland tropical rain forest

Little is known about the organisms responsible for decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems, or how variations in their relative abundance may influence soil carbon (C) cycling. Here, we altered organic matter in situ by manipulating both litter and throughfall inputs to tropical rain forest soils, and then used qPCR and error-corrected bar-coded pyrosequencing to investigate how the resulting changes in soil chemical properties affected microbial community structure. The plot-scale manipulations drove significant changes in microbial community composition: Acidobacteria were present in greater relative abundance in litter removal plots than in double-litter plots, while Alphaproteobacteria were found in higher relative abundance in double-litter and throughfall reduction plots than in control or litter removal plots. In addition, the bacterial:archaeal ratio was higher in double-litter than no-litter plots. The relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were positively correlated with microbial biomass C and nitrogen (N), and soil N and C pools, while acidobacterial relative abundance was negatively correlated with these same factors. Bacterial:archaeal ratios were positively correlated with soil moisture, total soil C and N, extractable ammonium pools, and soil C:N ratios. Additionally, bacterial:archaeal ratios were positively related to the relative abundance of Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, and negatively correlated to the relative abundance of Nitrospira and Acidobacteria. Together, our results support the copiotrophic/oligotrophic model of soil heterotrophic microbes suggested by Fierer et al. (2007).     

参考鸡IL—2的制备及理化特性研究

采用健康鸡脾脏Ｔ淋巴细胞体外诱生粗制参考鸡白细胞介素２（ＩＬ—２），并进行５０％和８０％饱和度硫酸铵盐析，以去除大部分致分裂原伴刀豆蛋白Ａ（ＣｏｎＡ）和小牛血清蛋白．继用ＳｅｐｈａｄｅｘＧ１００凝胶过滤柱色谱，可得到两个ＩＬ—２活性峰．第１活性峰组分分子量（ＭＷ）２６．ｇＫＤ、等电点（ＰＩ）５．８５，为二聚体形式存在的高活性ＩＬ—２．第２活性峰组分ＭＷ１２．１ＫＤ，ＰＩ６．２５，为单体形式存在的低活性ＩＬ—２．经此法制备的高活性参考鸡ＩＬ—２使用过程中活性稳定，是可靠的ＩＬ—２检测参考系统．     

纤维素分解菌的筛选及鉴定

从自然界中筛选分离获得具有高效分解纤维素功能的一组混合菌株,经分离纯化得3个菌株D1、D2和D3,利用16S rDNA测序鉴定,这些菌株分别是克雷伯氏菌、假单胞菌和嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌,比较各单个菌株及其相互混合的羧甲基纤维素(CMC)酶相对活性、以及它们对滤纸和香蕉杆的分解效果,发现各单一菌株对纤维素类物质均有一定的降解效果,但混合菌群效果最好,其CMC酶相对活性为0．93cm／d,说明多种微生物的协同作用有助于纤维素类物质分解。     

普通荞麦染色体的原位PCR技术研究

[目的]探索一种适合荞麦的简单易行的染色体原位PCR技术。[方法]采用16S套式引物、4．5S套式引物与psbA引物,以栽培甜荞为材料,进行染色体原位PCR、原位套式PCR与多次原位PCR试验。[结果]高温干燥可以起到与包埋类似的作用;染色体的原位套式PCR效果比原位PCR明显,多次原位PCR次数为5-6效果较佳。16S引物和4．5S引物均显示了4对信号,但位置不同;而psbA引物是单拷贝的,仅显示出1对信号。根据这些信号的位置差异可以区分普通荞麦的5对染色体。[结论]所使用的荞麦染色体原位PCR技术简单易行。     

玉米o2、o16和wx基因不同组合类型近等基因系品质分析

为评价o2、o16和wx基因不同组合类型近等基因系的品质,以玉米o2、o16和wx基因不同组合类型近等基因系BC 6 F 4家系及其轮回亲本为试材,利用近红外分析仪和氨基酸全自动分析仪对籽粒油分、淀粉、蛋白质和氨基酸含量进行分析。结果表明,与轮回亲本CML 539相比,o2o16wx-NIL、o2o16-NIL、o2wx-NIL和o2-NIL籽粒油分含量分别提高了11.37%、8.86%、17.53%和11.95%。o2wx-NIL和o2-NIL籽粒淀粉含量分别降低了0.71%和1.00%。o16wx-NIL和wx-NIL蛋白质含量分别提高了9.91%和10.22%,o2wx-NIL、o16wx-NIL和o16-NIL蛋白质含量分别降低了6.03%、6.05%和5.87%。o2o16wx-NIL,o2o16-NIL,o2wx-NIL,o16wx-NIL,o2-NIL、wx-NIL和o16-NIL氨基酸含量均发生不同程度变化,其中,Lys分别增加了111.22%、109.53%、91.22%、34.40%、79.93%、29.69%和70.11%。可见,o2、o16和wx基因不同组合类型近等基因系是品质基因遗传研究和育种应用的重要材料。     

鸡白细胞介素2的克隆及其序列分析

旨在从分子生物学角度进一步研究鸡免疫刺激因子白细胞介素2(IL-2),探究IL-2蛋白结构。根据GenBank发表的IL-2序列设计引物扩增IL-2基因,将其克隆到p GM-T载体后进行鉴定,鉴定正确的pT-IL-2重组质粒,然后对其进行序列分析。应用生物信息学软件对IL-2序列进行跨膜区、磷酸化位点、氨基酸序列、开放阅读框进行分析和IL-2蛋白的三级结构进行预测。核苷酸序列测定结果表明:IL-2基因片段为430 bp,编码143个氨基酸。生物信息学分析结果表明:本实验获得的IL-2基因编码的蛋白质中含有1个丝氨酸和3个苏氨酸,这可能成为蛋白激酶磷酸化的位点。IL-2蛋白可能在5~28位含有跨膜区。其蛋白二级、三级结构预测结果显示其属于亲水性蛋白,多为α-螺旋、β-转角和N端无规卷曲结构。该结果为IL-2的分子生物学探究奠定了基础。