Plasmid Transfer between Spatially Separated Donor and Recipient Bacteria in Earthworm-Containing Soil Microcosms.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology
L L DaaneM J Sadowsky

Abstract

Most gene transfer studies have been performed with relatively homogeneous soil systems in the absence of soil macrobiota, including invertebrates. In this study we examined the influence of earthworm activity (burrowing, casting, and feeding) on transfer of plasmid pJP4 between spatially separated donor (Alcaligenes eutrophus) and recipient (Pseudomonas fluorescens) bacteria in nonsterile soil columns. A model system was designed such that the activity of earthworms would act to mediate cell contact and gene transfer. Three different earthworm species (Aporrectodea trapezoides, Lumbricus rubellus, and Lumbricus terrestris), representing each of the major ecological categories (endogeic, epigeic, and anecic), were evaluated. Inoculated soil microcosms, with and without added earthworms, were analyzed for donor, recipient, and transconjugant bacteria at 5-cm-depth intervals by using selective plating techniques. Transconjugants were confirmed by colony hybridization with a mer gene probe. The presence of earthworms significantly increased dispersal of the donor and recipient strains. In situ gene transfer of plasmid pJP4 from A. eutrophus to P. fluorescens was detected only in earthworm-containing microcosms, at a frequency of (...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 6, 2000·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·A M HohnstockE L Madsen
May 1, 2003·FEMS Microbiology Ecology·Cristina LagidoJim I Prosser
Sep 3, 2005·Nature Reviews. Microbiology·Søren J SørensenStefan Wuertz
May 29, 1999·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·L L Daane, M M Häggblom
Feb 17, 1998·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·H MarcinekM Gauer
Jun 25, 2015·Microbiology Spectrum·Ana SeguraJuan Luis Ramos

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