Alk B pyrosequencing -Secondary successional trajectories of structural and catabolic bacterial communities in oil-polluted soil planted with hybrid Poplar. Alk B pyrosequencing

It is envisaged that a detailed understanding of rhizospheric microbial populations will greatly contribute to a better design and implementation of rhizoremediation. In order to investigate the long-term succession of structural and catabolic bacterial communities in oil polluted soil planted with hybrid poplar, we carried out a 2-year field study. Hybrid aspen (Populus tremula x tremuloides) seedlings were planted in polluted soil excavated from an accidental oil-spill site. Vegetated and un-vegetated soil samples were collected for microbial community analyses at 7 different time-points during the course of 2 years and sampling time-points were chosen to cover the seasonal variation in the boreal climate zone. Bacterial community structure was accessed by means of 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing whereas catabolic communities were monitored by pyrosequencing of alkane hydroxylase and extradiol dioxygenase genes. We observed a clear succession of bacterial communities on both structural and functional levels from early to late phase communities.