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Acidobacteria can account for up to 50 to 80% of soil bacteria. The phylogenetic diversity of Acidobacteria and their abundance in soil is thought to be similar to that of the phylum Proteobacteria. This phylogenetic diversity and the wide distribution and abundance especially in soil habitats indicate an important role in biogeochemical processes and a high metabolic versatility of these bacteria. However, almost nothing is known about the functional role of Acidobacteria and the connection to land use.

Picture: The photo shows the microscopic image of bright green bacterial cells during a count.
Bacteria - cell counting

1. Acidobacteria are a dominant group of soil bacteria and relevant for ecosystem functions in soils.

2. The diversity and activity of Acidobacteria correlate with plant diversity. 3. land use is a factor influencing the functional diversity of Acidobacteria.

3. Land use influences the functional diversity of Acidobacteria.


In the present project, the functional relevance of diversity changes is to be investigated using a land use gradient as the main variable. The objectives are to record the composition, the key physiological functions and the identification of important functional groups of Acidobacteria.


Diversity changes and physiologically active phylotypes are investigated using so-called fingerprinting methods, DGGE and T-RFLP. To identify dominant populations, 16S rRNA clone libraries are created and corresponding clones are sequenced. To determine physiological properties, existing metagenome libraries will be used and representative representatives will be isolated using novel cultivation methods. By adding different 13C carbon sources and following the incorporation of these substrates by stable isotope probing of RNA, we aim to elucidate the functional role of some important phylotypes. Furthermore, we investigate the seasonal variation of Acidobacteria communities by cell counts, DGGE and T-RFLP analysis and sample all 57 VIPs  in April, June, August and October 2009.


Cell counts so far showed that the Schwäbische Alb exploratory has the most cells per g of soil, followed by Hainich-Dün and Schorfheide-Chorin. Cluster analyses of the acidobacterial communities recorded by DGGE and T-RFLP analyses showed that soil samples from an exploratory generally cluster together but are separated by the type of land use (forest/grassland). The uneven distribution and abundance of acidobacteria in forest and grassland thus leads to separate clusters. Especially the forest soils of the Schorfheide differ significantly from all other soils and form their own cluster. The occurrence of Acidobacteria is strongly pH-dependent; consequently, these results probably result from different pH values in forest (~ pH 5.0) and grassland (~ pH 6.5), whereby the forest soil in the Schorfheide-Chorin exploratory showed by far the lowest pH values (~ pH 3.5).

Picture: The diagram compares the bacterial abundance from four samples each from the Swabian Alb, Hainich-Dün and Schorfheide-Chorin exploratories in 12 columns using differently coloured and differently sized column segments.
Fig.1: Comparison of bacterial abundances from four samples each from the Schwäbische Alb (AEG2, AEG9, AEW1, AEW6), Hainich-Dün (HEG1, HEG8, HEW4, HEW10) and Schorfheide-Chorin (SEG2, SEG8, SEW2, SEW8) exploratories

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Wie findet man eine experimentelle Methode, mit der sich am besten die Bakteriengemeinschaft in verschiedensten Böden untersuchen und dann auch vergleichen lässt?
Wüst P. K., Nacke H., Kaiser K., Marhan S., Sikorski J., Kandeler E., Daniel R., Overmann J. (2016): Estimates of Soil Bacterial Ribosome Content and Diversity Are Significantly Affected by the Nucleic Acid Extraction Method Employed. Applied Environmental Microbiology 82:9, 2595-2607. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00019-16
More information:  doi.org
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Richter-Heitmann T. (2016): (Acido)bacterial diversity in space and time. Dissertation, University Bremen
More information:  elib.suub.uni-bremen.de
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Einflussfaktoren auf die Aktivität von Acidobakterien in deutschen Wald- und Grünlandböden
Foesel B.U., Nägele V., Näther A., Wüst P., Weinert J., Bonkowski M., Alt F., Oelmann Y., Polle A., Lohaus G., Fischer M., Friedrich M.W., Overmann J. (2014): Determinants of Acidobacteria activity inferred from the relative abundances of 16S rRNA transcripts in German grassland and forest soils. Environmental Microbiology 16 (3), 658–675. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12162
More information:  doi.org
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Näther A., Fösel B., Naegele V., Wüst P., Weinert J., Bonkowski M., Alt F., Oelmann Y., Polle A., Lohaus G., Fischer M., Schöning I., Nieschulze J., Pfeiffer S., Prati D., Renner S., Wells K., Kalko E.K.V., Linsenmair K.E., Schulze E.-D., Weisser W.W., Overmann J., Friedrich M. (2012): Environmental factors affect acidobacterial communities below the subgroup level in grassland and forest soils. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78, 7398-7406. doi: 10.1128/​AEM.01325-12
More information:  doi.org
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Näther A. (2011): Phylogenetische und funktionelle Diversität von Acidobacteria in Wald- und Grünlandböden unterschiedlicher Landnutzung. Dissertation, University Bremen
More information:  elib.suub.uni-bremen.de

Scientific assistants

Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich
Alumni
Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich
Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann
Project manager
Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann
Leibniz-Institut DSMZ - Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen
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