Phospholipid fatty acid composition of microbiota in the percolating water from a rice paddy microcosm

The microbiota in the percolating water from the plow layer soil in paddy fields was studied based on the composition of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) in a pot experiment. The mean concentrations of PLFAs in the percolating water were 17±5 and 11±4 µg L^-1 in the planted and non-planted pots, respectively. The dominant PLFAs in the percolating water were 16: 0, 16: 1ω7c, 18: 1ω7, 18: 1ω9, il5: 0, and ail5: 0 PLFAs in both the planted and non-planted pots. The dominance percentage of 18: 3ω6c and 17: 1ω8 PLFAs increased at the late stage of rice growth in the planted pots. The percolating water from the planted pots contained in a higher percentage of straight mono-unsaturated PLFAs and a lower percentage of branched-chain PLFAs than that from the non-planted pots. Considerable differences in the PLFA composition in the percolating water were observed between the planted and non-planted treatments and with the duration of the growth period. Principal component analysis indicated that the microbiota in the percolating water was derived from the microbiota in the floodwater and in the plow layer soil. Cluster analysis showed that the similarity of the PLFA composition in the percolating water to the PLFA composition in the plow layer soil was higher than that in the floodwater. The stress factor that was estimated from the trans/cis ratio of 16: 1ω7 PLFA was 0.08±0.04 and 0.14±0.05 in the percolating water from the planted and non-planted pots, respectively, which indicated that the degree of stress on the microbiota in the percolating water from the planted pots was low in a similar way to the degree of stress on the microbiota in the floodwater, while the degree in the percolating water from the non-planted pots was similar to that in the plow layer soil, respectively.