Epigeic Earthworms Exert a Bottleneck Effect on Microbial Communities through Gut Associated Processes 英文参考文献.docVIP

EpigeicEarthwormsExertaBottleneckEffecton MicrobialCommunitiesthroughGutAssociated Processes Mar?′aGo′mez-Brando′n1*¤,ManuelAira1,MartaLores2,JorgeDom?′nguez1 1 Departamento de Ecolox?′a e Biolox?′a Animal, Facultade de Biolox?′a, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain, 2 Laboratorio de Investigacio′n y Desarrollo de Soluciones Anal?′ticas. Departamento de Qu?′mica Anal?′tica, Facultad de Qu?′mica, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Abstract Background: Earthworms play a critical role in organic matter decomposition because of the interactions they establish with microorganisms. The ingestion, digestion, assimilation of organic material in the gut and then casting is the first step in earthworm-microorganism interactions. The current knowledge of these direct effects is still limited for epigeic earthworm species, mainly those living in man-made environments. Here we tested whether and to what extent the earthwormEisenia andrei is capable of altering the microbiological properties of fresh organic matter through gut associated processes; and if these direct effects are related to the earthworm diet. Methodology: To address these questions we determined the microbial community structure (phospholipid fatty acid profiles) and microbial activity (fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis) in the earthworm casts derived from three types of animal manure (cow, horse and pig manure), which differed in microbial composition. PrincipalFindings: The passage of the organic material through the gut ofE.andrei reduced the total microbial biomass irrespective of the type of manure, and resulted in a decrease in bacterial biomass in all the manures; whilst leaving the fungi unaffected in the egested materials. However, unlike the microbial biomass, no such reduction was detected in the total microbial activity of cast samples derived from the pig manure. Moreover, no