(Press-News.org) A major question in ecology has centered on the role of microbes in regulating ecosystem function. Now, in research published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Brajesh Singh of the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and collaborators show how changes in the populations of methanotrophic bacteria can have consequences for methane mitigation at ecosystem levels.
"Ecological theories developed for macro-ecology can explain the microbial regulation of the methane cycle," says Singh.
In the study, as grasslands, bogs, and moors became forested, a group of type II methanotrophic bacterium, known as USC alpha, became dominant on all three land use types, replacing other methanotrophic microbes, and oxidizing, thus mitigating methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, explains Singh. "The change happened because we changed the niches of the microbial community."
The pre-eminence of USC alpha bacteria in this process demonstrates that the so-called "selection hypothesis" from macro-ecology "explains the changes the investigators saw in the soil functions of their land-use types," says Singh. The selection hypothesis states that a small number of key species, rather than all species present determine key functions in ecosystems. "This knowledge could provide the basis for incorporation of microbial data into predictive models, as has been done for plant communities," he says.
"Evidence of microbial regulation of the biogeochemical cycle provides the basis for including microbial data in predictive models studying the effects of global changes," says Singh.
Singh warns that one should not take the results to mean that biodiversity is not important. Without microbial biodiversity, the raw materials—different microbial species with different capabilities—for adapting to changes in the environment would be unavailable, he says.
###
A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0513d. Formal publication is scheduled for the June 2013 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
(L. Nazaries, Y. Pan, L. Bodrossy, E.M. Baggs, P. Millard, J.C. Murrell, and B.K. Singh, 2013. Evidence of microbial regulation of biogeochemical cycles from a study on methane flux and land use change. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Published ahead of print 26 April 2013 ,doi:10.1128/AEM.00095-13.)
Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
Microbial changes regulate function of entire ecosystems
2013-06-01
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Surges in latent infections: Mathematical analysis of viral blips
2013-06-01
Philadelphia, PA—Recurrent infection is a common feature of persistent viral diseases. It includes episodes of high viral production interspersed by periods of relative quiescence. These quiescent or silent stages are hard to study with experimental models. Mathematical analysis can help fill in the gaps.
In a paper titled Conditions for Transient Viremia in Deterministic in-Host Models: Viral Blips Need No Exogenous Trigger, published last month in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, authors Wenjing Zhang, Lindi M. Wahl, and Pei Yu present a model to study persistent ...
Mathematical models to better combat HIV
2013-06-01
Philadelphia, PA—The first few hours to days following exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can be of critical importance in determining if infection occurs in a patient. But the low numbers of viruses and infected cells at this stage makes it very difficult to study these events in humans or animal models.
Theoretical mathematical models can help analyze viral dynamics in this early phase, and hence offer insights into therapeutic and prevention strategies, as evidenced by a paper published last month in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics.
In a paper ...
Agricultural fires in western Mexico
2013-06-01
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected dozens of fires burning in western Mexico on May 30, 2013. The fires are outlined in red.
The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. Although the smoke hits hardest right around the area being burned, ...
Food insecurity linked to HIV-treated drug users' deaths
2013-06-01
Food insecurity increases the risk of death among injection drug users living with HIV/AIDS even when they are receiving life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a new study involving Simon Fraser University.
The study, recently published in the peer-reviewed science journal, PLoS One, examines the impact of food insecurity and hunger on survival among injection drug users. Food insecurity is defined by the United Nations' World Food Programme as having insufficient access to adequate quantity and quality of food. Researchers found that drug users who ...
New technology makes breast cancer surgery more precise at UC Irvine
2013-06-01
Orange, Calif., May 31, 2013 — Any breast cancer surgeon who regularly performs lumpectomies confronts the question "Did I get it all?" Thirty to 60 percent of the time in the U.S., the answer is "no," requiring the patient to undergo a second surgery to remove the remaining tumor.
Surgeons at UC Irvine Medical Center are the first in the country to use a device that reduces by half the need to reoperate and cut out breast cancer cells missed during an initial lumpectomy. The MarginProbe System lets the surgeon immediately assess whether cancer cells remain on the margins ...
New research shows that asking for a precise number during negotiations can give you the upper hand
2013-06-01
NEW YORK — With so much on the line for job seekers in this difficult economic climate, a lot of new hires might be wondering how — or whether at all — to negotiate salary when offered a new position. A recently published study on the art of negotiation by two professors at Columbia Business School could help these new hires — and all negotiators — seal a stronger deal than before.
Research conducted by Professors Malia Mason and Daniel Ames and doctoral students Alice Lee and Elizabeth Wiley finds that asking for a specific and precise dollar amount versus a rounded-off ...
NASA satellites watch the demise of Hurricane Barbara
2013-06-01
VIDEO:
NOAA's GOES-14 satellite captured Hurricane Barbara's landfall in southwestern Mexico and movement across land, northward toward the Gulf of Mexico. This 43 second animation of NOAA's GOES-14 satellite observations from...
Click here for more information.
NOAA's GOES-14 satellite captured Hurricane Barbara's landfall in southwestern Mexico and movement across land, northward toward the Gulf of Mexico. This 43 second animation of NOAA's GOES-14 satellite observations ...
Cytomegalovirus might speed brain-cancer growth
2013-06-01
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A virus that infects most Americans but that usually remains dormant in the body might speed the progression of an aggressive form of brain cancer when particular genes are shut off in tumor cells, new research shows.
The animal study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) and at Dana Farber Cancer Institute suggests that cytomegalovirus (CMV) might significantly accelerate the development and progression of glioblastoma, a deadly ...
Study finds glioblastoma patients treated with bevacizumab experience reduced cognitive function and quality of life
2013-06-01
CHICAGO, IL — Many glioblastoma patients treated with bevacizumab (Avastin®) have significant deterioration in neurocognitive function, symptoms and quality of life. Not only that, the changes often predict treatment outcomes, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The findings from the large national multi-center Phase III trial, RTOG 0825, were presented today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive type of brain tumor. Despite slight gains, tumors ...
ATS publishes clinical practice guidelines on sleep apnea and driving
2013-06-01
The American Thoracic Society has released new clinical practice guidelines on sleep apnea, sleepiness, and driving risk on non-commercial drivers.
The new guidelines, which are an update of a 1994 ATS statement on this topic, appear in the June 1, 2013 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"Up to 20 percent of crashes that occur on monotonous roads can be attributed to sleepiness, and the most common medical cause of excessive daytime sleepiness is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)," said Kingman P. Strohl, MD, program director, sleep medicine, University ...