%A Pepe-Ranney,Charles %A Campbell,Ashley N. %A Koechli,Chantal N. %A Berthrong,Sean %A Buckley,Daniel H. %D 2016 %J Frontiers in Microbiology %C %F %G English %K stable isotope probing,Carbon Cycle,decomposition,Verrucomicrobia,Cellulose,Soil,trophic,DNA-SIP %Q %R 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00703 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2016-May-12 %9 Original Research %+ Dr Daniel H. Buckley,School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University,Ithaca, NY, USA,dbuckley@cornell.edu %# %! High resolution stable isotope probing %* %< %T Unearthing the Ecology of Soil Microorganisms Using a High Resolution DNA-SIP Approach to Explore Cellulose and Xylose Metabolism in Soil %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00703 %V 7 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 1664-302X %X We explored microbial contributions to decomposition using a sophisticated approach to DNA Stable Isotope Probing (SIP). Our experiment evaluated the dynamics and ecological characteristics of functionally defined microbial groups that metabolize labile and structural C in soils. We added to soil a complex amendment representing plant derived organic matter substituted with either 13C-xylose or 13C-cellulose to represent labile and structural C pools derived from abundant components of plant biomass. We found evidence for 13C-incorporation into DNA from 13C-xylose and 13C-cellulose in 49 and 63 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), respectively. The types of microorganisms that assimilated 13C in the 13C-xylose treatment changed over time being predominantly Firmicutes at day 1 followed by Bacteroidetes at day 3 and then Actinobacteria at day 7. These 13C-labeling dynamics suggest labile C traveled through different trophic levels. In contrast, microorganisms generally metabolized cellulose-C after 14 days and did not change to the same extent in phylogenetic composition over time. Microorganisms that metabolized cellulose-C belonged to poorly characterized but cosmopolitan soil lineages including Verrucomicrobia, Chloroflexi, and Planctomycetes.