Characterization of benthic microbial community structure by high-resolution gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters
Fatty acids are a widely studied group of lipids of sufficient taxonomic diversity to be useful in defining microbial community structure. The gas-liquid chromatographic analyses are both reproducible and highly sensitive, and the recovery of fatty acids is quantitative. The analyses can be automated, and the diagnostic technique of mass spectral fragmentation analysis can be readily applied. Reciprocal mixtures of bacteria and fungi, when extracted and analyzed, showed progressive changes of distinctive fatty acid methyl esters derived from the lipids. By manipulating the environment of an estuarine detrital microbial community with antibiotics and culture conditions, it was possible to produce a community greatly enriched in eucaryotic fungi, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopic morphology. The fatty acid methyl C/sub 18/ dienoic and the C/sub 18/ and C/sub 20/ polyenoic esters. Manipulation of the detrital microbiota that increased the procaryotic population resulted in an absence of large structures typical of fungal mycelia or diatoms, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy, and a significantly larger proportion of anteiso and isobranched C/sub 15/ fatty acid esters, C/sub 17/ cyclopropane fatty acid esters, and the cisvaccenic isomer of the C/sub 18/ monoenoic fatty acid esters. As determined by these techniques, a marine settling community showed greater differences in bacterial as contrasted to microeucaryotic populations when compared with the microbial communities of benthic cores.
- Research Organization:
- Florida State Univ., Tallahassee
- DOE Contract Number:
- 31-109-38-4502
- OSTI ID:
- 5060539
- Journal Information:
- Appl. Environ. Microbiol.; (United States), Vol. 39:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BENTHOS
POPULATION DYNAMICS
CARBOXYLIC ACID ESTERS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIOCHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
DETRITUS
FUNGI
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
ECOSYSTEMS
ESTERS
KINETICS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
REACTION KINETICS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
520100* - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (-1989)
550200 - Biochemistry
550700 - Microbiology