Molecular and Metabolic Characterization of Cold-Tolerant
Alpine soils undergo dramatic temporal changes in their microclimatic properties, suggesting that the bacteria there encounter uncommon shifting selection gradients. Pseudomonads constitute important mem-bers of the alpine soil community. In order to characterize the alpine Pseudomonas community and...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2003
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.513.1921 http://amo.colorado.edu/meyer2004.pdf |
| Summary: | Alpine soils undergo dramatic temporal changes in their microclimatic properties, suggesting that the bacteria there encounter uncommon shifting selection gradients. Pseudomonads constitute important mem-bers of the alpine soil community. In order to characterize the alpine Pseudomonas community and to assess the impact of shifting selection on this community, we examined the ability of cold-tolerant Pseudomonas isolates to grow on a variety of carbon sources, and we determined their phylogenetic relationships based on 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing. We found a high prevalence of Pseudomonas in our soil samples, and isolates from these soils exhibited extensive metabolic diversity. In addition, our data revealed that many of our isolates form a unique cold-adapted clade, representatives of which are also found in the Swedish tundra and Antarctica. Our data also show a lack of concordance between the metabolic properties and 16S phylogeny, indicating that the metabolic diversity of these organisms cannot be predicted by phylogeny. High-alpine soil environments are characterized by dramatic seasonal shifts in physical and biochemical properties. Winter is characterized by intermittent snow cover and fluctuating subfreezing temperatures; summer has intense, desiccating sunshine punctuated by infrequent rains (8). Many organic |
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