Forney Lab: Ursel Schütte

Introduction

Succession is the gradual process by which the species composition of communities changes.  Patterns and causes of succession differ according to climate and soils, but during all successions the soil of the site and the early colonists modify the conditions under which individuals of later-arriving species must grow.  Areas in the high Arctic newly exposed after glacial retreat seem especially suitable for studying the role of early microbial succession because plant establishment occurs rather slowly.

This study will investigate succession in microbial communities, including cyanobacteria, along the glacial foreland of Midtre Lovenbreen of the high Arctic.  Both species composition and functional gene diversity of genes associated with the nitrogen cycle and their expression will be examined from different glacial time points.  Sequences of cyanobacterial strains will be compared to isolates based on culturing techniques.

Changes in community structure along the transect, the variance in species diversity within a site as well as changes in functional gene diversity will be studied using TRFLP (Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism).  The expression of the functional genes will be described using Reverse Transcriptase PCR.  Sequences of cyanobacterial strains will be obtained using clone library and sequencing analysis techniques.  They will be compared to strains isolated using culture based techniques.