Role of plant residues in determining temporal patterns of the activity, size, and structure of nitrate reducer communities in soil.

The incorporation of plant residues into soil not only represents an opportunity to limit soil organic matter depletion resulting from cultivation but also provides a valuable source of nutrients such as nitrogen. However, the consequences of plant residue addition on soil microbial communities involved in biochemical cycles other than the carbon cycle are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the responses of one N-cycling microbial community, the nitrate reducers, to wheat, rape, and alfalfa residues for 11 months after incorporation into soil in a field experiment. A 20- to 27-fold increase in potential nitrate reduction activity was observed for residue-amended plots compared to the nonamended plots during the first week. This stimulating effect of residues on the activity of the nitrate-reducing community rapidly decreased but remained significant over 11 months. During this period, our results suggest that the potential nitrate reduction activity was regulated by both carbon availability and temperature. The presence of residues also had a significant effect on the abundance of nitrate reducers estimated by quantitative PCR of the narG and napA genes, encoding the membrane-bound and periplasmic nitrate reductases, respectively. In contrast, the incorporation of the plant residues into soil had little impact on the structure of the narG and napA nitrate-reducing community determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) fingerprinting. Overall, our results revealed that the addition of plant residues can lead to important long-term changes in the activity and size of a microbial community involved in N cycling but with limited effects of the type of plant residue itself.

Comparative sensitivity to the fungicide tebuconazole of biofilm and plankton microbial communities in freshwater ecosystems.

Stream and lake ecosystems in agricultural watersheds are exposed to fungicide inputs that can threaten the structure and functioning of aquatic microbial communities. This research analyzes the impact of the triazole fungicide tebuconazole (TBZ) on natural biofilm and plankton microbial communities from sites presenting different degrees of agricultural contamination. Biofilm and plankton communities from less-polluted (LP) and polluted (P) sites were exposed to nominal concentrations of 0 (control), 2 and 20 µg TBZ L(-1) in 3-week microcosm experiments. Descriptors of microbial community structure (bacterial density and chlorophyll-a concentration) and function (bacterial respiration and production and photosynthesis) were analyzed to chart the effects of TBZ and the kinetics of TBZ attenuation in water during the experiments. The results showed TBZ-induced effects on biofilm function (inhibition of substrate-induced respiration and photosynthetic activity), especially in LP-site communities, whereas plankton communities experienced a transitory stimulation of bacterial densities in communities from both LP and P sites. TBZ attenuation was stronger in biofilm (60-75%) than plankton (15-18%) experiments, probably due to greater adsorption on biofilms. The differences between biofilm and plankton responses to TBZ were likely explained by differences in community structure (presence of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) matrix) and microbial composition. Biofilm communities also exhibited different sensitivity levels according to their in-field pre-exposure to fungicide, with P-site communities demonstrating adaptation capacities to TBZ. This study indicates that TBZ toxicity to non-targeted aquatic microbial communities essentially composed by microalgae and bacteria was moderate, and that its effects varied between stream and lake microbial communities.

Archaeal diversity in a Fe-As rich acid mine drainage at Carnoulès (France).

The acid waters (pH=2.73-3.4) that originate from the Carnoulès mine tailings (France) are known for their very high concentrations of As (up to 10,000 mg l(-1)) and Fe (up to 20,000 mg l(-1)). To analyze the composition of the archaeal community, (their temporal variation inside the tailing and spatial variations all along the Reigous Creek, which drains the site), seven 16S rRNA gene libraries were constructed. Clone analysis revealed that all the sequences were affiliated to the phylum Euryarchaeota, while Crenarchaeota were not represented. The study showed that the structure of the archaeal community of the aquifer of the tailing stock is different to that of the Reigous Creek. Irrespective of the time of sampling, the most abundant sequences found inside the tailing stock were related to Ferroplasma acidiphilum, an acidophilic and ferrous-iron oxidizing Archaea well known for its role in bioleaching. Inversely, in Reigous Creek, a sequence affiliated to the uncultured Thermoplasmatales archaeon, clone YAC1, was largely dominant. This study provides a better understanding of the microbial community associated with an acid mine drainage rich in arsenic.