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Temperature sensitivity of bacterial growth in a hot desert soil with large temperature fluctuations

van Gestel, Natasja C. ; Reischke, Stephanie LU and Bååth, Erland LU (2013) In Soil Biology & Biochemistry 65. p.180-185
Abstract
Hot desert ecosystems are characterized by high soil temperatures with large fluctuations annually and diurnally. Thus, one could hypothesize that not only the microbial community would be adapted to high temperatures, but also have a large temperature range conducive for growth. We determined the temperature sensitivity of the soil bacterial community from the Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, using leucine incorporation as a proxy for bacterial growth. Soil samples were taken during early spring and mid-summer from the surface (0-5 cm) and deeper (15-20 cm) soil layers. Mean winter soil temperature preceding the spring samples was 15 degrees C and in summer 36 degrees C at both depths, but with larger amplitude in... (More)
Hot desert ecosystems are characterized by high soil temperatures with large fluctuations annually and diurnally. Thus, one could hypothesize that not only the microbial community would be adapted to high temperatures, but also have a large temperature range conducive for growth. We determined the temperature sensitivity of the soil bacterial community from the Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, using leucine incorporation as a proxy for bacterial growth. Soil samples were taken during early spring and mid-summer from the surface (0-5 cm) and deeper (15-20 cm) soil layers. Mean winter soil temperature preceding the spring samples was 15 degrees C and in summer 36 degrees C at both depths, but with larger amplitude in the top soil than deeper down. T-min was significantly lower in the top 0-5 cm than at 15-20 cm, -1.2 and 0.0 degrees C, respectively. T-opt also was higher in the top soil than deeper down, 42.9 and 41.4 degrees C, respectively, resulting in a larger temperature range for growth (T-opt - T-min) in the top soil reflecting the larger temperature fluctuations in this layer. There were no significant differences in cardinal temperatures for bacterial growth in soils sampled in early spring and mid-summer despite large seasonal differences in temperatures, showing that long periods of colder temperatures was less important than periods of high temperatures as selection pressure for temperature sensitivity. Comparing with earlier results from Antarctic soils (Rinnan et al., 2009), which in contrast represent an extremely low temperature environment, we suggest that the range of temperature cardinal temperatures for soil bacterial communities globally varies from around -15 to 0 degrees C for T-min and 25 to 45 degrees C for T-opt. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Temperature sensitivity, Bacterial growth, Desert, Leucine, incorporation, Temperature fluctuations, Community adaptation
in
Soil Biology & Biochemistry
volume
65
pages
180 - 185
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000323686800022
  • scopus:84879435573
ISSN
0038-0717
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.05.016
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
276c36a6-448b-459b-8e20-5fed0cd5d722 (old id 4062692)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:18:56
date last changed
2022-01-27 18:29:55
@article{276c36a6-448b-459b-8e20-5fed0cd5d722,
  abstract     = {{Hot desert ecosystems are characterized by high soil temperatures with large fluctuations annually and diurnally. Thus, one could hypothesize that not only the microbial community would be adapted to high temperatures, but also have a large temperature range conducive for growth. We determined the temperature sensitivity of the soil bacterial community from the Chihuahuan Desert, Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, using leucine incorporation as a proxy for bacterial growth. Soil samples were taken during early spring and mid-summer from the surface (0-5 cm) and deeper (15-20 cm) soil layers. Mean winter soil temperature preceding the spring samples was 15 degrees C and in summer 36 degrees C at both depths, but with larger amplitude in the top soil than deeper down. T-min was significantly lower in the top 0-5 cm than at 15-20 cm, -1.2 and 0.0 degrees C, respectively. T-opt also was higher in the top soil than deeper down, 42.9 and 41.4 degrees C, respectively, resulting in a larger temperature range for growth (T-opt - T-min) in the top soil reflecting the larger temperature fluctuations in this layer. There were no significant differences in cardinal temperatures for bacterial growth in soils sampled in early spring and mid-summer despite large seasonal differences in temperatures, showing that long periods of colder temperatures was less important than periods of high temperatures as selection pressure for temperature sensitivity. Comparing with earlier results from Antarctic soils (Rinnan et al., 2009), which in contrast represent an extremely low temperature environment, we suggest that the range of temperature cardinal temperatures for soil bacterial communities globally varies from around -15 to 0 degrees C for T-min and 25 to 45 degrees C for T-opt. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{van Gestel, Natasja C. and Reischke, Stephanie and Bååth, Erland}},
  issn         = {{0038-0717}},
  keywords     = {{Temperature sensitivity; Bacterial growth; Desert; Leucine; incorporation; Temperature fluctuations; Community adaptation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{180--185}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Soil Biology & Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{Temperature sensitivity of bacterial growth in a hot desert soil with large temperature fluctuations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.05.016}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.05.016}},
  volume       = {{65}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}