Chatzinotas, A; Schellenberger, S; Glaser, K; Kolb, S: Assimilation of Cellulose-Derived Carbon by Microeukaryotes in Oxic and Anoxic Slurries of an Aerated Soil, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 79(18), 5777-5781 (2013) | |
Abstract: Soil microeukaryotes may trophically benefit from plant biopolymers. However, carbon transfer from cellulose into soil microeukaryotes has not been demonstrated so far. Microeukaryotes assimilating cellulose-derived carbon in oxic and anoxic soil slurries were therefore examined by ribosomal RNA-based stable isotope probing. Bacteriovorous flagellates and ciliates, and likely mixotrophic algae and saprotrophic fungi incorporated carbon from supplemental [13Cu]cellulose under oxic conditions. A previous study in the same soil suggested that cellulolytic Bacteria assimilated 13C of supplemental cellulose. Thus, it can be assumed that ciliates, cercozoa, and chrysophytes assimilated carbon by grazing upon and utilizing metabolic products of Bacteria which hydrolysed cellulose in the soil slurries. |