Scientists Map Microbiome Hidden Deep inside Tree Trunks
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Scientists Map Microbiome Hidden Deep inside Tree Trunks
"Scientists have mapped microbe populations in human guts, deep-sea ecosystems and even clouds. Yet the microbial communities inside tree trunks have remained largely unseen until now. For a recent study in Nature, researchers analyzed about 150 trees to map the communities of microbes living in 16 species. They estimate that a single mature tree hosts about one trillion bacteria in its trunk microbiome, with distinct communities living in different layers."
"Most intriguing, the scientists found anaerobic bacteriabacteria that don't consume oxygenproducing methane in the deep heartwood. It turned out what's living inside the trees was really different from what we found anywhere else in the forest, says the study's co-lead author, Jonathan Gewirtzman, an ecosystem ecologist at Yale University. The trees' interior population, he says, was more akin to that of a wetland."
About 150 trees across 16 species were sampled to map trunk microbiomes. A single mature trunk hosts roughly one trillion bacteria, with distinct microbial communities in sapwood and heartwood layers. Deep heartwood contains anaerobic bacteria that produce methane, creating an internal population more similar to wetlands than to surrounding forest soils. Historically, internal plant tissues were presumed sterile, but focus later centered on roots; trunk and shoot microbiomes remained understudied until these analyses. Frozen core samples were ground and sequenced to identify bacteria, and gas measurements from sealed drill holes assessed in situ microbial activity, including methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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