Microarray analysis of bacterial diversity and distribution in aggregates from a desert agricultural soil

• DOI: 10.1007/s00374-008-0291-5
• Publication Date: 2008-05-06T15:48:21Z
• Authors: Jong-Shik Kim; Robert S. Dungan; David Crowley
• Keywords: Acidobacteria

Previous research has shown that soil structure can influence the distribution of bacteria in aggregates and, thereby, influence microbiological processes and diversity at small spatial scales. Here, we studied the microbial community structure of inner and outer fractions of microaggregates of a desert agricultural soil from the Imperial Valley of Southern California. To study the distribution of soil bacteria, 1,536 clones were identified using phylogenetic taxon probes to classify arrays of 16S rRNA genes. Among the predominant taxonomic groups were the α-Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Acidobacteria. When compared across all phyla, the taxonomic compositions and distributions of bacterial taxa associated with the inner and outer fractions were nearly identical. Our results suggest that the ephemeral nature of soil aggregates in desert agricultural soils may reduce differences in the spatial distribution of bacterial populations as compared to that which occur in soils with more stable aggregates.