Comparison of bacterial community structures at main habitats in paddy field ecosystem based on DGGE analysis

Bacterial communities at different habitats in a Japanese paddy field ecosystem were compared to understand the bacterial world in the ecosystem as a whole by analyzing data of the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) band patterns and the sequenced DGGE bands. The habitats were floodwater, percolating water, microcrustacean inhabiting in floodwater, plow layer soil, rice roots, rice straw and rice straw compost incorporated in soil, rice straw placed on the soil surface, plant residues in paddy fields, and rice straw under composting process. Phylotype (band) richness, diversity, evenness, and stability of the bacterial communities at the respective habitats were evaluated based on the DGGE profile data. Phylotype richness was greater near plant residues, rice straw buried in soil and rice straw placed on soil surface, while it was smaller at microcrustacean and rice straw compost buried in soil. The samples from plow layer soil and rice straw compost buried in soil showed considerably higher index values for diversity, evenness, and stability, while those from rice straw placed on soil surface and microcrustacean had lower values of the indices than other habitats. Sequences of totally 250 DGGE bands were assigned to phyla or classes. Distribution of bacterial members to phylogenetic taxa was different among the respective habitats. Inhabitants in plow layer soil were most widely distributed among the groups (nine phyla: Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Chlorobi, Verrucomicrobia, Acidobacteria, Nitrospira, candidate division OP10, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria), while those in floodwater and microcrustacean were restricted to only three phyla (Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria). Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were found at all the habitats and the habitats except for plow layer soil, respectively, whereas abundant members belonged to Chloroflexi and Actinobacteria in plow layer soil. “Comprehensive mapping” of DGGE fragments was conducted by principal component analysis based on evolutionary distances of the fragments to 202 reference bacterial strains to overview phylogenetic relationships of bacterial members among the respective habitats. The score plots with the first and second principal components distinctly characterized bacterial members at the respective habitats, and the similarity between the respective communities was clearly demonstrated. Overall, bacterial communities at the respective habitats were distinct and different in the diversity and stability to each other, which may have contributed to the diversity of overall bacterial communities in the paddy field ecosystem.