Microbial diversity determines the invasion of soil by a bacterial pathogen.

ABSTRACT: Natural ecosystems show variable resistance to invasion by alien species, and this resistance can relate to the species diversity in the system. In soil, microorganisms are key components that determine life support functions, but the functional redundancy in the microbiota of most soils has long been thought to overwhelm microbial diversity-function relationships. We here show an inverse relationship between soil microbial diversity and survival of the invading species Escherichia coli O157:H7, assessed by using the marked derivative strain T. The invader's fate in soil was determined in the presence of (i) differentially constructed culturable bacterial communities, and (ii) microbial communities established using a dilution-to-extinction approach. Both approaches revealed a negative cor

SUBMITTER: van Elsas JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3268289 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature