Microbial diversity and community structure in Fynbos soil
ETIENNE SLABBERT
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorRAPHAEL Y. KONGOR
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorKAREN J. ESLER
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorKARIN JACOBS
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorETIENNE SLABBERT
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorRAPHAEL Y. KONGOR
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorKAREN J. ESLER
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorKARIN JACOBS
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7600, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The Fynbos biome in South Africa is renowned for its high plant diversity and the conservation of this area is particularly important for the region. This is especially true in the case of endangered vegetation types on the lowlands such as Sand Fynbos, of which only small fragments remain. The question is thus whether the diversity of the above-ground flora is mirrored in the below-ground microbial communities. In order to determine the relationship of the above- and below-ground communities, the soil community composition of both fungal and bacterial groups in Sand Fynbos was characterized over space and time. A molecular approach was used based on the isolation of total soil genomic DNA and automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis of bacterial and fungal communities. Soil from four different sites was compared to resolve the microbial diversity of eubacterial and fungal groups on a local (alpha diversity) scale as well as a landscape scale (beta diversity). The community structures from different sites were compared and found to exhibit strong spatial patterns which remained stable over time. The plant community data were compared with the fungal and the bacterial communities. We concluded that the microbial communities in the Sand Fynbos are highly diverse and closely linked to the above-ground floral communities.
Supporting Information
Fig. S1 Agarose gel electrophoreses total extracted DNA from Riverlands on Feb 2007. Lanes 1 and 14: Hyper Ladder I, Lanes 2–5: Riverlands plot1A–D, Lanes 6–9: Riverlands plot A–D, Lane 10–13: Riverlands plot A–D PCR amplification.
Figs S2 and S3 Agarose gel electrophoreses of PCR amplification of total extracted DNA from Riverlands on Feb 2007 with fungal specific primer set ITS5 (FAM) and ITS4 and bacterial specific primer set ITSF (FAM) and ITSR. Lanes 1 and 14: Hyper Ladder I, Lanes 2–5: Riverlands plot1A–D, Lanes 6–9: Riverlands plot A–D, Lanes 10–13: Riverlands plot A–D PCR amplification.
Fig. S4 The number of bacterial and fungal OTU’s detected in each plot during February, April, June and September 2007.
Fig. S5 Comparative Shannon–Weaver diversity between fungi and bacteria for February, April, June and September 2007.
Fig. S6 The accumulation curves of bacterial operational taxonomic units for June 2007.
Fig. S7 The accumulation curves of fungal operational taxonomic units.
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