Microbial community composition in sediments resists perturbation by nutrient enrichment.

ABSTRACT: Functional redundancy in bacterial communities is expected to allow microbial assemblages to survive perturbation by allowing continuity in function despite compositional changes in communities. Recent evidence suggests, however, that microbial communities change both composition and function as a result of disturbance. We present evidence for a third response: resistance. We examined microbial community response to perturbation caused by nutrient enrichment in salt marsh sediments using deep pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA and functional gene microarrays targeting the nirS gene. Composition of the microbial community, as demonstrated by both genes, was unaffected by significant variations in external nutrient supply in our sampling locations, despite demonstrable and diverse nutrient-induced c

SUBMITTER: Bowen JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3160680 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature