Abstract
A Winogradsky column is a clear glass or plastic column filled with enriched sediment. Over time, microbial communities in the sediment grow in a stratified ecosystem with an oxic top layer and anoxic sub-surface layers. Winogradsky columns have been used extensively to demonstrate microbial nutrient cycling and metabolic diversity in undergraduate microbiology labs. In this study, we used high-throughput 16s rRNA gene sequencing to investigate the microbial diversity of Winogradsky columns. Specifically, we tested the impact of sediment source, supplemental cellulose source, and depth within the column, on microbial community structure. We found that the Winogradsky columns were highly diverse communities but are dominated by three phyla: Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. The community is structured by a founding population dependent on the source of sediment used to prepare the columns and is differentiated by depth within the column. Numerous biomarkers were identified distinguishing sample depth, including Cyanobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria as biomarkers of the soil-water interface, and Clostridia as a biomarker of the deepest depth. Supplemental cellulose source impacted community structure but less strongly than depth and sediment source. In columns dominated by Firmicutes, the family Peptococcaceae was the most abundant sulfate reducer, while in columns abundant in Proteobacteria, several Deltaproteobacteria families, including Desulfobacteraceae, were found, showing that different taxonomic groups carry out sulfur cycling in different columns. This study brings this historical method for enrichment culture of chemolithotrophs and other soil bacteria into the modern era of microbiology and demonstrates the potential of the Winogradsky column as a model system for investigating the effect of environmental variables on soil microbial communities.
Highlights
Sergei Winogradsky is a founder of modern microbiology and microbial ecology, and is credited with the discovery of chemolithotrophy [1,2]
We demonstrate that Winogradsky column microbial communities are exceptionally diverse and that the community structure is determined by a founder effect from the sediment source used to create the column, which is further stratified by depth within the column
Most did not show the banding patterns commonly seen in Winogradsky columns, patches of numerous different colors were seen throughout (Figure 1)
Summary
Sergei Winogradsky is a founder of modern microbiology and microbial ecology, and is credited with the discovery of chemolithotrophy [1,2] His name is familiar to microbiologists and microbiology students as the originator of Winogradsky columns, commonly used in microbiology education to demonstrate microbial diversity and nutrient cycling. In addition to an oxic niche at the top and anoxic sub-surface niches, the production of H2S generated by sulfur reducing microbes results in high H2S in anoxic layers, which diffuses up towards the oxic layer This stratification in the column leads to the growth of different microbes at different depths, exemplified by the growth of pigmented microorganisms, including phototrophs, producing visible layers. Requiring only the input of light, the Winogradsky column establishes a structured microbial ecosystem, carrying out essential nutrient cycles including the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles
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