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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Casey Hubert
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© 2016 International Society for Microbial Ecology All rights reserved. Temperature has a fundamental impact on the metabolic rates of microorganisms and strongly influences microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling in the environment. In this study, we examined the catabolic temperature response of natural communities of sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) in polar, temperate and tropical marine sediments. In short-term sediment incubation experiments with 35S-sulfate, we demonstrated how the cardinal temperatures for sulfate reduction correlate with mean annual sediment temperatures, indicating specific thermal adaptations of the dominant SRM in each of the investigated ecosystems. The community structure of putative SRM in the sediments, as revealed by pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons and phylogenetic assignment to known SRM taxa, consistently correlated with in situ temperatures, but not with sediment organic carbon concentrations or C:N ratios of organic matter. Additionally, several species-level SRM phylotypes of the class Deltaproteobacteria tended to co-occur at sites with similar mean annual temperatures, regardless of geographic distance. The observed temperature adaptations of SRM imply that environmental temperature is a major controlling variable for physiological selection and ecological and evolutionary differentiation of microbial communities.
Author(s): Robador A, Muller AL, Sawicka JE, Berry D, Hubert CRJ, Loy A, Jorgensen BB, Bruchert V
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: ISME Journal
Year: 2016
Volume: 10
Issue: 4
Pages: 796-809
Print publication date: 01/04/2016
Online publication date: 11/09/2015
Acceptance date: 25/07/2015
ISSN (print): 1751-7362
ISSN (electronic): 1751-7370
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2015.157
DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2015.157
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