Analysis of nifH gene pool complexity in soil and litter at a Douglas fir forest site in the Oregon cascade mountain range.

ABSTRACT: Nitrogen-fixing microbial populations in a Douglas fir forest on the western slope of the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range were analyzed. The complexity of the nifH gene pool (nifH is the marker gene which encodes nitrogenase reductase) was assessed by performing nested PCR with bulk DNA extracted from plant litter and soil. The restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of PCR products obtained from litter were reproducibly different than the RFLPs of PCR products obtained from the underlying soil. The characteristic differences were found during the entire sampling period between May and September. RFLP analyses of cloned nifH PCR products also revealed characteristic patterns for each sample type. Among 42 nifH clones obtained from a forest litter library nine different RFLP pattern

SUBMITTER: Widmer F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC91035 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature