MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MICROBIAL COMMUNITY INVOLVED IN THE CARBON CYCLE IN DIFFERENT AREAS AND TYPES OF SOIL MANAGEMENT

This paper addresses the diversity of two soil bacterial groups involved in the biogeochemical carbon cycle: bacteria implicated in chitin degradation and methanotrophs. To evaluate the influence of soil physico-chemical and anthropic characteristics on the diversity of these microbial groups, total DNA was directly extracted from soils differently managed and sampled in central and south Italy. PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses targeting genes coding for chitinase ( chiA ), particulate methane monooxygenase ( pmoA ) and 16S rRNA from bacteria, actinomycetes and type I or II methanotrophs were used to fingerprint the soil bacterial communities. DGGE cluster analysis showed a clear separation of the bacterial communities on the basis of the sampling sites. The Canonical Corrispondance Analysis (CCA) suggests that the edaphic factors such as granulometry and pH, could be responsible for determining the composition of these bacterial groups.