TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of bacterial community structure on a weathered pegmatitic granite
AU - Gleeson, Deirdre B.
AU - Kennedy, Nabla M.
AU - Clipson, Nicholas
AU - Melville, Karrie
AU - Gadd, Geoffrey M.
AU - McDermott, Frank P.
N1 - This work was supported by the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) under the Embark Initiative and by an Enterprise Ireland Basic Research Grant. Karrie Melville gratefully acknowledges receipt of a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) postgraduate research studentship.
PY - 2006/5
Y1 - 2006/5
N2 - This study exploited the contrasting major element chemistry of a pegmatitic granite to investigate mineralogical influences on bacterial community structure. Intact crystals of variably weathered muscovite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, and quartz were extracted, together with whole-rock granite. Environmental scanning electron microscopy revealed a diversity of bacterial structures, with rods and cocci clearly visible on surfaces of all mineral types. Bacterial automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis was used to generate a ribotype profile for each mineral. A randomization test revealed that community fingerprints differed between different mineral types, whereas canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that mineral chemistry affected individual bacterial ribotypes. CCA also revealed that Al, Si, and Ca had a significant impact on bacterial community structure within the system, which contrasts with the finding within fungal communities that although Al and Si also had a significant impact, K rather than Ca was important. The bacterial populations associated with different minerals were different. Members of each of these populations were found almost exclusively on a single mineral type, as was previously reported for fungal populations. These results show that bacterial community structure was driven by the chemical composition of minerals, indicating selective pressure by individual chemical elements on bacterial populations in situ.
AB - This study exploited the contrasting major element chemistry of a pegmatitic granite to investigate mineralogical influences on bacterial community structure. Intact crystals of variably weathered muscovite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, and quartz were extracted, together with whole-rock granite. Environmental scanning electron microscopy revealed a diversity of bacterial structures, with rods and cocci clearly visible on surfaces of all mineral types. Bacterial automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis was used to generate a ribotype profile for each mineral. A randomization test revealed that community fingerprints differed between different mineral types, whereas canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that mineral chemistry affected individual bacterial ribotypes. CCA also revealed that Al, Si, and Ca had a significant impact on bacterial community structure within the system, which contrasts with the finding within fungal communities that although Al and Si also had a significant impact, K rather than Ca was important. The bacterial populations associated with different minerals were different. Members of each of these populations were found almost exclusively on a single mineral type, as was previously reported for fungal populations. These results show that bacterial community structure was driven by the chemical composition of minerals, indicating selective pressure by individual chemical elements on bacterial populations in situ.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33745486531&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00248-006-9052-x
DO - 10.1007/s00248-006-9052-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 16649062
AN - SCOPUS:33745486531
SN - 0095-3628
VL - 51
SP - 526
EP - 534
JO - Microbial Ecology
JF - Microbial Ecology
IS - 4
ER -