Microbial Competition in Polar Soils: A Review of an Understudied but Potentially Important Control on Productivity

Biology

Terrence H. Bell¹  Katrina L. Callender¹  Lyle G. Whyte¹ 

[1] Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9, Canada; E-Mails:

关键词: competition;    Arctic;    Antarctic;    bacteria;    fungi;    biogeochemistry;    biodegradation;    soil;    microbial communities;   

DOI  :  10.3390/biology2020533

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Intermicrobial competition is known to occur in many natural environments, and can result from direct conflict between organisms, or from differential rates of growth, colonization, and/or nutrient acquisition. It has been difficult to extensively examine intermicrobial competition in situ, but these interactions may play an important role in the regulation of the many biogeochemical processes that are tied to microbial communities in polar soils. A greater understanding of how competition influences productivity will improve projections of gas and nutrient flux as the poles warm, may provide biotechnological opportunities for increasing the degradation of contaminants in polar soil, and will help to predict changes in communities of higher organisms, such as plants.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.