Microbial Analysis of Leaf Litter and Soil Present During the Decomposition of Wild-type and Lignin-deficient Strains of Sorghum Bicolor
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
20-4-2015 10:00 AM
End Date
20-4-2015 11:30 AM
Student's Major
Biological Sciences
Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Mentor's Name
Christopher Ruhland
Mentor's Email Address
christopher.ruhland@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Biological Sciences
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Description
Sorghum bicolor is a plant widely used as feed for livestock and human consumption. Sorghum is a high-yielding and temperature and drought tolerant plant, thus it is a critical source of nutrients in developing countries. Structural rigidity of the cell wall is dependent upon lignin and recently a mutant has been identified that contains lower concentrations which increases digestibility. As breakdown of crop remnants is greatly influenced by lignin concentrations, which in turn influences carbon cycling, we examined decomposition of the wild type and lignin deficient (BMR 6/12) varieties of sorghum. Examining microbes during decomposition of these strains offers understanding into the sources that these different microbes utilize to grow and reproduce, providing additional insight into the chemical composition of these two strains. Leaf litter from each strain will be bundled separately in 30 bags and harvested from a local agronomic field at 4, 5, and 6 months after planting. Community-level phenotype profiling (CLPP) of the microbial community extracted from leaf litter will performed by testing the ability of each community to use 95 different carbon sources. As a control, CLPP will also be performed on microbial communities extracted directly from soil. Principle components analysis of CLPP patterns will be used to determine whether the difference in genotype between the two strains of S. bicolor translates into significant differences in the microbial communities associated with their respective decomposition. Such differences could additionally suggest phenotypic differences between these S. bicolor strains that have yet to be identified.
Microbial Analysis of Leaf Litter and Soil Present During the Decomposition of Wild-type and Lignin-deficient Strains of Sorghum Bicolor
CSU Ballroom
Sorghum bicolor is a plant widely used as feed for livestock and human consumption. Sorghum is a high-yielding and temperature and drought tolerant plant, thus it is a critical source of nutrients in developing countries. Structural rigidity of the cell wall is dependent upon lignin and recently a mutant has been identified that contains lower concentrations which increases digestibility. As breakdown of crop remnants is greatly influenced by lignin concentrations, which in turn influences carbon cycling, we examined decomposition of the wild type and lignin deficient (BMR 6/12) varieties of sorghum. Examining microbes during decomposition of these strains offers understanding into the sources that these different microbes utilize to grow and reproduce, providing additional insight into the chemical composition of these two strains. Leaf litter from each strain will be bundled separately in 30 bags and harvested from a local agronomic field at 4, 5, and 6 months after planting. Community-level phenotype profiling (CLPP) of the microbial community extracted from leaf litter will performed by testing the ability of each community to use 95 different carbon sources. As a control, CLPP will also be performed on microbial communities extracted directly from soil. Principle components analysis of CLPP patterns will be used to determine whether the difference in genotype between the two strains of S. bicolor translates into significant differences in the microbial communities associated with their respective decomposition. Such differences could additionally suggest phenotypic differences between these S. bicolor strains that have yet to be identified.
Recommended Citation
Tiry, Celsey. "Microbial Analysis of Leaf Litter and Soil Present During the Decomposition of Wild-type and Lignin-deficient Strains of Sorghum Bicolor." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 20, 2015.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2015/poster_session_A/6
