Bacterial Communities Inside and Surrounding Soil Iron-Manganese Nodules

Abstract

Bacterial community structures of a Fe-Mn nodule sample and its surrounding soil were investigated using PCR, amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis, cloning and sequencing methods. Result showed that phylogenetically diverse bacteria were present in the nodule and soil samples, and Acidobacteria- and Proteobacteria-affiliated bacteria dominated in both samples. However, Firmicutes were only found in the nodules, while the soil had much more Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia than the nodules. Many clones retrieved in this study closely resembled the clones previously obtained from environments with high metal contents. These findings may shed light on the biological formation of Mn oxides in soil environment.

Keywords:

• Soil Fe-Mn nodule
• bacterial community
• 16S rRNA gene clone library
• ARDRA
• biogenic Mn oxidization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (40571082, 50621804) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2005CB121104).

Notes

¹The unpublished reference was cited from NCBI GenBank database.

¹The unpublished reference was cited from NCBI GenBank database.