N-228. Diversity and Quantification of Candidate Division SR1 in Various Anaerobic Environments
Candidate division SR1 has mainly been detected in several anaerobic, predominantly sulfur rich environments, such as: Zodletone Springs (S.W. Oklahoma), hydrothermal vents, and sulfur river sediment (Parker Cave, KY). With the exception of 16S rRNA gene sequences, little is known regarding abundance, and global ecological distribution of members of this division. In this study, we surveyed and quantified members of SR1 in a variety of anaerobic, sulfur-rich (Zodletone Springs), anaerobic (fresh water pond sediment, bovine rumen and feces, and secondary treatment of a waste water treatment plant), and aerobic habitats (tall grass prairie soil). A primer pair, of a group specific primer and a universal primer, was used to selectively amplify SR1 sequences. Candidate division SR1 was detected in all anaerobic environments regardless of sulfur content, with the exception of the waste water treatment plant. Detailed phylogenetic analysis showed that SR1 has the highest diversity in Zodletone Springs (27 OTUs in 158 clones) and the lowest diversity in bovine rumen (2 OTUs in 33 clones). In addition, multiple novel SR1 lineages were detected in Zodletone Springs. We developed a quantitative PCR approach for quantifying members of SR1 in various environments. Surprisingly, the environments with the lowest phylogenetic diversity had the highest abundance, with 7.96 x 10+4 copies/g of sediment in Zodletone Springs sediment compared with 4.20 x 10+6 copies/g sediment in fresh water pond sediment and 1.24 x 10+6 copies/g of sediment in bovine rumen. This work significantly increases the number of SR1 16S rRNA gene sequences available in public databases, confirms the presence of SR1 in most anaerobic habitats regardless of sulfur content, and provides a quantitative assessment of the division in multiple ecosystems.
243/N. Soil Microbiology - Other
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