The physicochemical and biological gradients of soil and vegetative succession along the Franz Josef chrono sequence in New Zealand were used to test whether bacterial communities show patterns of change associated with long-term ecosystem development. Pyrosequencing was conducted on soil-derived 16S rRNA genes at nine stages of ecosystem progression and retrogression, ranging in age from 60 to...

Large populations of bacteria live on leaf surfaces and these phyllosphere bacteria can have important effects on plant health. However, we currently have a limited understanding of bacterial diversity on tree leaves and the inter- and intra-specific variability in phyllosphere community structure. We used a barcoded pyrosequencing technique to characterize the bacterial communities from leaves...

The microbial-mediated anaerobic digestion (AD) process represents an efficient biological process for the treatment of organic waste along with biogas harvest. Currently, the key factors structuring bacterial communities and the potential core and unique bacterial populations in manure anaerobic digesters are not completely elucidated yet. In this study, we collected sludge samples from 20 ful...

Seabed sediments of commercial ports are often characterized by high pollution levels. Differences in number and distribution of bacteria in such areas can be related to distribution of pollutants in the port and to sediment conditions. In this study, the bacterial communities of five sites from Leghorn Harbor seabed were characterized, and the main bacterial groups were identified. T-RFLP was ...

Tree leaf-associated microbiota have been studied in natural ecosystems but less so in urban settings, where anthropogenic pressures on trees could impact microbial communities and modify their interaction with their hosts. Additionally, trees act as vectors spreading bacterial cells in the air in urban environments due to the density of microbial cells on aerial plant surfaces. Characterizing ...

The severe environmental stresses of the Arctic may have promoted unique soil bacterial communities compared with those found in lower latitude environments. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the biogeography of soil bacterial communities in the Arctic using a high resolution bar-coded pyrosequencing technique. We also compared arctic soils with soils from a wide range of more temper...

Our knowledge of the rhizosphere bacterial communities in deep soils and the role of Eucalyptus and Acacia on the structure of these communities remains very limited. In this study, we targeted the bacterial community along a depth profile (0 to 800 cm) and compared community structure in monospecific or mixed plantations of Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus grandis. We applied quantitative PCR (qP...

Most of our time is spent indoors where we are exposed to a wide array of different microorganisms living on surfaces and in the air of our homes. Despite their ubiquity and abundance, we have a limited understanding of the microbial diversity found within homes and how the composition and diversity of microbial communities change across different locations within the home. Here we examined the...

BACKGROUND Marine microbial communities have been essential contributors to global biomass, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity since the early history of Earth, but so far their community distribution patterns remain unknown in most marine ecosystems. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The synthesis of 9.6 million bacterial V6-rRNA amplicons for 509 samples that span the global ocean's surface to...

Microbial oceanography is undergoing a dramatic revolution thanks to the rapid development of novel techniques that allow the examination of microbial diversity and functions via molecular methods, including genomic and metagenomic analyses. During the past decade, studies have revealed previously unknown and surprisingly diverse bacterial communities in marine waters. These studies have radica...