Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Complex Communities (complex + community)
Selected AbstractsRaman-FISH: combining stable-isotope Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization for the single cell analysis of identity and functionENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 8 2007Wei E. Huang Summary We have coupled fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with Raman microscopy for simultaneous cultivation-independent identification and determination of 13C incorporation into microbial cells. Highly resolved Raman confocal spectra were generated for individual cells which were grown in minimal medium where the ratio of 13C to 12C content of the sole carbon source was incrementally varied. Cells which were 13C-labelled through anabolic incorporation of the isotope exhibited key red-shifted spectral peaks, the calculated ,red shift ratio' (RSR) being highly correlated with the 13C-content of the cells. Subsequently, Raman instrumentation and FISH protocols were optimized to allow combined epifluorescence and Raman imaging of Fluos, Cy3 and Cy5-labelled microbial populations at the single cell level. Cellular 13C-content determinations exhibited good congruence between fresh cells and FISH hybridized cells indicating that spectral peaks, including phenylalanine resonance, which were used to determine 13C-labelling, were preserved during fixation and hybridization. In order to demonstrate the suitability of this technology for structure,function analyses in complex microbial communities, Raman-FISH was deployed to show the importance of Pseudomonas populations during naphthalene degradation in groundwater microcosms. Raman-FISH extends and complements current technologies such as FISH-microautoradiography and stable isotope probing in that it can be applied at the resolution of single cells in complex communities, is quantitative if suitable calibrations are performed, can be used with stable isotopes and has analysis times of typically 1 min per cell. [source] Spatial characterization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal molecular diversity at the submetre scale in a temperate grasslandFEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Daniel L. Mummey Abstract Although arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form spatially complex communities in terrestrial ecosystems, the scales at which this diversity manifests itself is poorly understood. This information is critical to the understanding of the role of AMF in plant community composition. We examined small-scale (submetre) variability of AMF community composition (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting) and abundance (extraradical hyphal lengths) in two 1 m2 plots situated in a native grassland ecosystem of western Montana. Extraradical AMF hyphal lengths varied greatly between samples (14,89 m g soil,1) and exhibited spatial structure at scales <30 cm. The composition of AMF communities was also found to exhibit significant spatial autocorrelation, with correlogram analyses suggesting patchiness at scales <50 cm. Supportive of overall AMF community composition analyses, individual AMF ribotypes corresponding to specific phylogenetic groups exhibited distinct spatial autocorrelation. Our results demonstrate that AMF diversity and abundance can be spatially structured at scales of <1 m. Such small-scale heterogeneity in the soil suggests that establishing seedlings may be exposed to very different, location dependent AMF communities. Our results also have direct implications for representative sampling of AMF communities in the field. [source] Taxonomic sufficiency in two case studies: where does it work better?MARINE ECOLOGY, Issue 2009Tiziano Bacci Abstract In marine macrobenthos studies the identification of organisms at species level is the best entry to ecological and biological information about the animals. An accurate identification requires excellent conservation of the organisms, reliable fauna description, experts and lengthy work in the laboratory. The aim of this work is to test taxonomic sufficiency (TS) in two deliberately selected different case studies to understand whether and how the taxonomic complexity of a benthic assemblage influences the results of TS and where it works better. The first benthic settlement was collected in an area characterized by homogeneous depth and grain size composition (case study A) around an off-shore gas platform, while the second one was collected along a coast-wide transect in an area with human pressure limited to fishing activities (case study B). Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis was used to assess differences in the taxonomic structure of benthic assemblages and to test TS on the two different datasets. TS seems to work in both sites, from species to higher taxonomic levels, and the family taxonomic level appears the best compromise for taxonomic resolution when an accurate identification is not achievable. The application of TS does not indicate a significant difference between the two datasets and appears therefore to be a valid instrument to analyse and describe the structure of benthic settlements in the case of taxonomically complex communities. [source] Structural alterations in a type IV pilus subunit protein result in concurrent defects in multicellular behaviour and adherence to host tissueMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2001Hae-Sun Moon Park The ability of bacteria to establish complex communities on surfaces is believed to require both bacterial,substratum and bacterial,bacterial interactions, and type IV pili appear to play a critical but incompletely defined role in both these processes. Using the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, spontaneous mutants defective in bacterial self-aggregative behaviour but quantitatively unaltered in pilus fibre expression were isolated by a unique selective scheme. The mutants, carrying single amino acid substitutions within the conserved amino-terminal domain of the pilus fibre subunit, were reduced in the ability to adhere to a human epithelial cell line. Co-expression of the altered alleles in the context of a wild-type pilE gene confirmed that they were dominant negative with respect to aggregation and human cell adherence. Strains expressing two copies of the altered alleles produced twice as much purifiable pili but retained the aggregative and adherence defects. Finally, the defects in aggregative behaviour and adherence of each of the mutants were suppressed by a loss-of-function mutation in the twitching motility gene pilT. The correlations between self-aggregation and the net capacity of the microbial population to adhere efficiently demonstrates the potential significance of bacterial cell,cell interactions to colonization. [source] Inducible defences and the paradox of enrichmentOIKOS, Issue 3 2004Matthijs Vos In order to evaluate the effects of inducible defences on community stability and persistence, we analyzed models of bitrophic and tritrophic food chains that incorporate consumer-induced polymorphisms. These models predict that intra-specific heterogeneity in defence levels resolves the paradox of enrichment for a range of top-down effects that affect consumer death rates and for all possible levels of primary productivity. We show analytically that this stability can be understood in terms of differences in handling times on the different prey types. Our predictions still hold when defences also affect consumer attack rates. The predicted stability occurs in both bitrophic and tritrophic food chains. Inducible defences may promote population persistence in tritrophic food chains. Here the minimum densities of cycling populations remain bound away from zero, thus decreasing the risk of population extinctions. However, the reverse can be true for the equivalent bitrophic predator,prey model. This shows that theoretical extrapolations from simple to complex communities should be made with caution. Our results show that inducible defences are among the ecological factors that promote stability in multitrophic communities. [source] Microbial community diversity associated with the intestinal mucosa of farmed rainbow trout (Oncoryhnchus mykiss Walbaum)AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 9 2009Daniel L Merrifield Abstract Bacterial communities from the intestinal tract of rainbow trout were investigated to assess transient and resident microbial communities using both culture-based and culture-independent techniques. Viable counts attached to the intestinal mucosa were in the range of log 4.77,5.38 and log 6.67,6.79 CFU g,1 in the intestinal contents. Pseudomonas spp. and Enterobacteriaceae constituted nearly 80% of the allochthonous population but <60% of the autochthonous populations. This coincided with an elevated mucosal level of a group of Gram-positive rods from ,2% in the digesta to 25,35% on the mucosa. This group was identified by 16S rRNA as Arthrobacter aurescens and Janibacter spp. HTCC2649. Analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis banding patterns showed complex communities in all intestinal regions. Similarity coefficients showed that mucosal communities were ,70% similar to digesta communities and yet due to the presence of bands found uniquely either in the digesta or on the mucosa, the communities are distinctly different. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed mucosal bacterial populations and highlighted a possible localized colonization between mucosal folds. The study highlights the complexity of resident microbial communities that have not been fully explored in previous rainbow trout studies; this is especially true with probiotic/prebiotic investigations. [source] Policing a complex community; political influence on policing and its impact on local and central accountabilityJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Robin Fletcher Abstract During the 1970s a series of events irrevocably changed the way in which policing was carried out in England and Wales. This paper describes how the police became politicized as it enforced government policies that resulted in violent police/public confrontation. It then explores how the Metropolitan Police Service began a process of re-engagement with the highly complex society of London, by community-focused policing models. The theoretical and practical difficulties of community policing are discussed in relation to legislation that required greater community involvement in policing. A theme of accountability is generated throughout the paper showing how political extremism challenged a bi-partite system of police governance, unique to the Metropolitan Police in the context of the UK, by demanding local accountability. This resulted in conflicting legislation that promotes both localized and centralized forms of accountability. The paper concludes with a speculative theory of how policing may develop in London as a department of a local government. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||