This study was conducted to determine dynamics of bacterial communities during decomposition and to find out whether the occurrence of bacterial communities was affected by soil and residue types. It was hypothesized that there would be a shift in bacterial community structure during decomposition. Also, distinct microbial communities in different two soils associated with two residues would result in colonization by different microbial taxa. The first hypothesis was based on expected changes in the composition of decomposing residues. The second hypothesis was based on the fact that soil microbial diversity is soil-specific and immense with numerous different functionally redundant but phylogeneticaly different microbial types. Residues with different chemical properties were also expected to affect bacterial community composition, however, its impact would be lesser compared to soil. A 2 x 2 x 4 factorial experiment was conducted consisting of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and rice (Oryza sativa) straw; 2 soil types (Sharkey and Marietta series); and 4 incubation periods (3, 23, 48 and 110 days). Clone libraries of the bacterial communities were constructed from the detritusphere (residues and adhering soil). Non-metric multidimensional scaling of the detritusphere communities showed distinct separation of the communities at day 3 which coincided with high levels of cellulase enzyme activity and reduction of soluble carbon. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Availability of labile carbon appeared to be important in driving bacterial community succession at early stage of colonization. During the later stages of decomposition (day 23-110), bacterial communities were segregated into two groups according to soil type. Although important, this segregation was relatively small compared to the community-level similarities observed between the soils and residues. For example, 16 of the 22 most abundant OTU's, dominated by a-,b- and style='fontamily:Symbol'>g- Proteobacteria, Bacilli and Shingobacteria, were shared among all soil and residue treatments indicating that residue decomposition is carried out by few key-player taxa. These results run counter to our hypothesis and suggest that decomposition process may be mediated by certain domineering bacterial taxa which occur at the later stage of decomposition. Further research is needed to determine whether key functional ecosystem processes are dominated by only a few taxa despite taxonomically hyper-diverse soils.

Anchialine blue holes found in the interior of the Bahama Islands have distinct fresh and salt water layers, with vertical mixing, and dysoxic to anoxic conditions below the halocline. Scientific cave diving exploration and microbiological investigations of Cherokee Road Extension Blue Hole on Abaco Island have provided detailed information about the water chemistry of the vertically stratified water column. Hydrologic parameters measured suggest that circulation of seawater is occurring deep within the platform. Dense microbial assemblages which occurred as mats on the cave walls below the halocline were investigated through construction of 16S rRNA clone libraries, finding representatives across several bacterial lineages including Chlorobium and OP8. In many blue holes, microbial metabolism of organic matter in the presence of seawater sulfate leads to anoxic and sulfidic conditions at or below halocline. Sunlight penetrating this sulfidic layer allows for in situ primary production to be dominated by bacterial anoxygenic phototrophs. Although water column chemistry and molecular genetic diversity of microbial mats in Cherokee Road Extension Blue Hole were investigated in this study, the full scope of the biogeochemistry of inland blue holes throughout the Bahamas Archipelago is complex and poorly understood. However, these microbial communities are clearly influenced by several factors including solar insolation, terrestrial and marine inputs of oxygen, carbon, and nutrients, water residence times, depth to the halo/chemocline, and cave passage geometry. The biogeochemistry of inland blue holes throughout the Bahamas is so distinctive which makes Abaco Island and the rest of the archipelago valuable as natural experiments, repositories of microbial diversity, and analogs for stratified and sulfidic oceans present early in Earth's history.

A Terra Preta Antropogênica (TPA) tem essa denominação porque é encontrada em sítios arqueológicos, onde viveram grupos pré-históricos e é considerada um dos solos mais férteis do mundo. Nela é encontrada grande quantidade de material deixado por grupos indígenas como fragmentos cerâmicos, artefatos líticos, e especialmente carvão pirogênico. Estudos realizados com o carvão pirogênico verificaram que ele aumenta a capacidade de trocas catiônicas nesses solos. Por meio de microscopia de fluorencência, foi observada a presença de microrganismos habitando esse carvão, no entanto, não se sabe quais seriam. Devido à falta de informações sobre a diversidade bacteriana nessas estruturas, este trabalho estudou a diversidade bacteriana em amostras de carvão pirogênico de solos TPA coletadas nos sítios Lagoa Balbina (Amazônia Central- Amazonas) e Mina I (Amazônia Oriental - Pará), através de técnicas moleculares independentes de cultivo. O estudo visou também comparar essa diversidade com a encontrada no solo de onde carvão foi isolado. As estruturas de carvão foram separadas fisicamente dos solos e seu DNA genômico total extraído e usado como molde em reação de PCR utilizando oligonucleotídeos do gene 16S rRNA para o Domínio Bacteria. O produto da PCR foi clonado em vetor e os clones foram sequenciados e comparados com o banco de dados de 16S rRNA do RDPX. Com a construção das bibliotecas de clones do gene 16S rRNA a partir das amostras de carvão pirogênico observou-se que existe maior número de bactérias desconhecidas no carvão pirogênico do que no solo onde ele foi isolado. Acidobacteria foi o filo predominante nas bibliotecas de carvão pirogênico das duas localidades de estudo, assim como na biblioteca do solo do sítio Mina I. Já na biblioteca do solo do sítio Lagoa Balbina houve predominância do filo Firmicutes. Por meio do método de rarefação foi possível constatar uma menor riqueza de UTOs nas comunidades bacterianas presentes nas estruturas de carvão pirogênico quando comparado à riqueza de UTOs das comunidades bacterianas cujo habitat é o solo. Mas quando se compara a riqueza de UTOs entre as estruturas de carvão isoladas das duas localidades, observa-se que a riqueza é maior no sítio Mina I. Os valores obtidos com os índices de diversidade revelaram menor diversidade de UTOs nas bibliotecas obtidas para o carvão pirogênico das duas regiões estudadas se comparado dos valores para as bibliotecas obtidas do solo da mesma região. Os valores obtidos com os métodos não paramétricos revelaram maior riqueza de UTOs para as bibliotecas do carvão do sítio Mina I e solo TPA do sítio Balbina. A análise da PCA revelou que as bibliotecas do sítio Balbina mostraram-se altamente similares. Em adição, a análise com S-Libshuff, verificou que todas as bibliotecas comparadas são significativamente diferentes quanto à composição das comunidades bacterianas. O carvão pirogênico não é uma estrutura inerte, pois é capaz de ser habitado por diferentes bactérias e a sua estrutura da comunidade bacteriana é diferente daquela de onde ele foi segregado / Anthropogenic Dark Earth (ADE) has this denomination because it is found at archeological sites, where prehistoric groups lived, and it is considered one of the most fertile soils of the world. In this soil a great amount of material left by indigenous groups was found as ceramic fragments, lithic workmanships, and especially pyrogenic black carbon. Studies accomplished with the pyrogenic black carbon verified that it increases the capacity of cationic changes in soils. Through fluorescence microscopy, the presence of microorganisms was observed inhabiting that black carbon, however, this community is still unknown,due to the lack of information about the bacterial diversity in those structures.This work studied the bacterial diversity in samples of pyrogenic black carbon of ADE soils, collected at the sites Lagoa Balbina (Central Amazon) and Mina I (Oriental Amazon), through molecular techniques independent of cultivation. The study also sought to compare that diversity with the one of the soil where black carbon was isolated. The structures of black carbon were separate physically from the soils and total genomic DNA was extracted and used as template in a PCR reaction, using primers of the 16S rRNA gene for the Bacteria Domain. The PCR product was used for construction of clone libraries and the clones were sequenced and compared with the 16S rRNA of RDPX database. The 16S rRNA gene clone libraries from the samples of pyrogenic black carbon, it shown that is a larger number of unknown bacteria in the black carbon than in the soil where it was isolated. Acidobacteria was the predominant phylum in the pyrogenic black carbon libraries from the both studied places, as well as in the soil library from Mina I site. However in the library Lagoa Balbina site there was predominance of the phylum Firmicutes. Through the rarefaction method it was possible to verify a smaller richness of OTUs in the bacterial communities presents in the pyrogenic black carbon structures when compared to the OTUs richness of the bacterial soil communities.But, when the OTUs richness is compared among the isolated structures of pyrogenic black carbon of the two places, it is observed that the richness is higher in the Mina I site. The values from diversity indexes revealed smaller diversity of OTUs in the pyrogenic black carbon libraries when compared with the soil libraries for the two studied areas. The obtained values with the nonparametric methods revealed larger OTUs richness in the black carbon library of Mina I site and in the ADE soil library of the Balbina site. The PCA analysis showed that the libraries of the site Balbina site were highly similar. In addition, the analysis with S-Libshuff verified that all of the compared libraries were significantly different in bacterial communities composition. The pyrogenic black carbon is not an inert structure, once it is capable of being inhabited by different bacteria, and its bacterial community structure is different from that one where is was segregated

A Terra Preta Antropogênica (TPA) tem essa denominação porque é encontrada em sítios arqueológicos, onde viveram grupos pré-históricos e é considerada um dos solos mais férteis do mundo. Nela é encontrada grande quantidade de material deixado por grupos indígenas como fragmentos cerâmicos, artefatos líticos, e especialmente carvão pirogênico. Estudos realizados com o carvão pirogênico verificaram que ele aumenta a capacidade de trocas catiônicas nesses solos. Por meio de microscopia de fluorencência, foi observada a presença de microrganismos habitando esse carvão, no entanto, não se sabe quais seriam. Devido à falta de informações sobre a diversidade bacteriana nessas estruturas, este trabalho estudou a diversidade bacteriana em amostras de carvão pirogênico de solos TPA coletadas nos sítios Lagoa Balbina (Amazônia Central- Amazonas) e Mina I (Amazônia Oriental - Pará), através de técnicas moleculares independentes de cultivo. O estudo visou também comparar essa diversidade com a encontrada no solo de onde carvão foi isolado. As estruturas de carvão foram separadas fisicamente dos solos e seu DNA genômico total extraído e usado como molde em reação de PCR utilizando oligonucleotídeos do gene 16S rRNA para o Domínio Bacteria. O produto da PCR foi clonado em vetor e os clones foram sequenciados e comparados com o banco de dados de 16S rRNA do RDPX. Com a construção das bibliotecas de clones do gene 16S rRNA a partir das amostras de carvão pirogênico observou-se que existe maior número de bactérias desconhecidas no carvão pirogênico do que no solo onde ele foi isolado. Acidobacteria foi o filo predominante nas bibliotecas de carvão pirogênico das duas localidades de estudo, assim como na biblioteca do solo do sítio Mina I. Já na biblioteca do solo do sítio Lagoa Balbina houve predominância do filo Firmicutes. Por meio do método de rarefação foi possível constatar uma menor riqueza de UTOs nas comunidades bacterianas presentes nas estruturas de carvão pirogênico quando comparado à riqueza de UTOs das comunidades bacterianas cujo habitat é o solo. Mas quando se compara a riqueza de UTOs entre as estruturas de carvão isoladas das duas localidades, observa-se que a riqueza é maior no sítio Mina I. Os valores obtidos com os índices de diversidade revelaram menor diversidade de UTOs nas bibliotecas obtidas para o carvão pirogênico das duas regiões estudadas se comparado dos valores para as bibliotecas obtidas do solo da mesma região. Os valores obtidos com os métodos não paramétricos revelaram maior riqueza de UTOs para as bibliotecas do carvão do sítio Mina I e solo TPA do sítio Balbina. A análise da PCA revelou que as bibliotecas do sítio Balbina mostraram-se altamente similares. Em adição, a análise com S-Libshuff, verificou que todas as bibliotecas comparadas são significativamente diferentes quanto à composição das comunidades bacterianas. O carvão pirogênico não é uma estrutura inerte, pois é capaz de ser habitado por diferentes bactérias e a sua estrutura da comunidade bacteriana é diferente daquela de onde ele foi segregado / Anthropogenic Dark Earth (ADE) has this denomination because it is found at archeological sites, where prehistoric groups lived, and it is considered one of the most fertile soils of the world. In this soil a great amount of material left by indigenous groups was found as ceramic fragments, lithic workmanships, and especially pyrogenic black carbon. Studies accomplished with the pyrogenic black carbon verified that it increases the capacity of cationic changes in soils. Through fluorescence microscopy, the presence of microorganisms was observed inhabiting that black carbon, however, this community is still unknown,due to the lack of information about the bacterial diversity in those structures.This work studied the bacterial diversity in samples of pyrogenic black carbon of ADE soils, collected at the sites Lagoa Balbina (Central Amazon) and Mina I (Oriental Amazon), through molecular techniques independent of cultivation. The study also sought to compare that diversity with the one of the soil where black carbon was isolated. The structures of black carbon were separate physically from the soils and total genomic DNA was extracted and used as template in a PCR reaction, using primers of the 16S rRNA gene for the Bacteria Domain. The PCR product was used for construction of clone libraries and the clones were sequenced and compared with the 16S rRNA of RDPX database. The 16S rRNA gene clone libraries from the samples of pyrogenic black carbon, it shown that is a larger number of unknown bacteria in the black carbon than in the soil where it was isolated. Acidobacteria was the predominant phylum in the pyrogenic black carbon libraries from the both studied places, as well as in the soil library from Mina I site. However in the library Lagoa Balbina site there was predominance of the phylum Firmicutes. Through the rarefaction method it was possible to verify a smaller richness of OTUs in the bacterial communities presents in the pyrogenic black carbon structures when compared to the OTUs richness of the bacterial soil communities.But, when the OTUs richness is compared among the isolated structures of pyrogenic black carbon of the two places, it is observed that the richness is higher in the Mina I site. The values from diversity indexes revealed smaller diversity of OTUs in the pyrogenic black carbon libraries when compared with the soil libraries for the two studied areas. The obtained values with the nonparametric methods revealed larger OTUs richness in the black carbon library of Mina I site and in the ADE soil library of the Balbina site. The PCA analysis showed that the libraries of the site Balbina site were highly similar. In addition, the analysis with S-Libshuff verified that all of the compared libraries were significantly different in bacterial communities composition. The pyrogenic black carbon is not an inert structure, once it is capable of being inhabited by different bacteria, and its bacterial community structure is different from that one where is was segregated