Open AccessA cidobacteria dominate the active bacterial communities of A rctic tundra with widely divergent winter‐time snow accumulation and soil temperatures
Author(s) -
Männistö Minna K.,
Kurhela Emilia,
Tiirola Marja,
Häggblom Max M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6941.12035
Subject(s) - acidobacteria , tundra , biology , ecology , verrucomicrobia , library , ecosystem , arctic , proteobacteria , 16s ribosomal rna , genetics , bacteria
The timing and extent of snow cover is a major controller of soil temperature and hence winter‐time microbial activity and plant diversity in A rctic tundra ecosystems. To understand how snow dynamics shape the bacterial communities, we analyzed the bacterial community composition of windswept and snow‐accumulating shrub‐dominated tundra heaths of northern F inland using DNA ‐ and RNA ‐based 16 S r RNA gene community fingerprinting (terminal restriction fragment polymorphism) and clone library analysis. Members of the A cidobacteria and P roteobacteria dominated the bacterial communities of both windswept and snow‐accumulating habitats with the most abundant phylotypes corresponding to subdivision ( SD ) 1 and 2 A cidobacteria in both the DNA ‐ and RNA ‐derived community profiles. However, different phylotypes within A cidobacteria were found to dominate at different sampling dates and in the DNA ‐ vs. RNA ‐based community profiles. The results suggest that different species within SD 1 and SD 2 A cidobacteria respond to environmental conditions differently and highlight the wide functional diversity of these organisms even within the SD level. The acidic tundra soils dominated by ericoid shrubs appear to select for diverse stress‐tolerant A cidobacteria that are able to compete in the nutrient poor, phenolic‐rich soils. Overall, these communities seem stable and relatively insensitive to the predicted changes in the winter‐time snow cover.