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Title: PHYLOGENETIC DIVERSITY AND GROWTH DYNAMICS OF MESOPHILIC SOIL CRENARCHAEOTA IN ENRICHMENT CULTURE STUDIES

Author
item SIMON, HOLLY - UW MADISON
item JAHN, COURTNEY - UW MADISON
item SLIWINSKI, MAREK - UW MADISON
item Weimer, Paul
item GOODMAN, ROBERT - UW MADISON

Submitted to: Microbial Ecology International Symposium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2004
Publication Date: 8/22/2004
Citation: Simon, H., Jahn, C., Sliwinski, M., Weimer, P.J., Goodman, R. 2004. Phylogenetic diversity and growth dynamics of mesophilic soil crenarchaeota in enrichment culture studies[abstract]. Microbial Ecology International Symposium. p. 16.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Previous studies have established the widespread distribution of mesophilic members of the division Crenarchaeota (domain Archaea). Currently, the metabolic properties of these ubiquitous microorganisms are unknown, in part due to the fact that attempts to isolate and grow them in laboratory culture have not yet been successful. In earlier studies, we discovered an association of members of the Crenarchaeota with tomato roots (Simon et al., 2000, Environ. Microbiol. 2: 495-505), as well as an influence of multiple plant taxa on crenarchaeal diversity (Sliwinski and Goodman, 2004, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 1821-1826). In this work, we build on our earlier results by demonstrating that a specific clade of mesophilic crenarchaeotes is selected from soil by plant roots and in root extract enrichment culture. We additionally examined the diversity and growth of mesophilic soil crenarchaeotes in enrichment cultures provided with different substrates and oxygen regimes. PCR-single-strand-conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was used to generate diversity profiles in the cultures over time, and growth was measured with real-time quantitative PCR. Evidence for growth of crenarchaeotes under a variety of different conditions is presented. These results lay the foundation for linking phylogenetic diversity with metabolic properties of mesophilic crenarchaeotes from soil, and provide clues for their isolation and growth in pure culture.