In situ Analysis of the Distributions and Phylogeny of Cultivatable and Non-cultivatable Planctomycetales Using Phylogenetic Group-specific RNA Probes

最近来自开放海洋浮游细菌种群和温泉微生物垫的分子数据表明，细菌的自然种群非常多样化。对这些系统中许多独特的、深分支谱系的观察支持了一种广泛持有的观点，即自然生态系统包含许多新的微生物分类群，其中一些的深度接近门级。此外，特别是在浮游生态系统中，相关的16s rRNA基因序列被发现形成高度相似的簇，这表明rRNA可能被用作研究微生物群体遗传学和物种多样性的工具。P.I.s建议使用类似的rRNA技术来研究植物菌门在自然生态系统中的遗传多样性、丰度和生态作用。这种方法将识别淡水系统中从未被组装过的微生物群落的组成部分，并将促进一项令人兴奋的分子技术的改进。

Recent molecular data from open ocean bacterioplankton populations and hot spring microbial mats suggest that natural populations of bacteria are remarkably diverse. The observation of numerous unique, deeply branching lineages in these systems supports the widely held view that natural ecosystems contain many novel microbial taxa, some of nearly phylum level depth. Moreover, particularly in the planktonic ecosystem, related 16s rRNA gene sequences were found to form clusters of high similarity suggesting that rRNAs might be used as a tool to study microbial population genetics, as well as species diversity. The P.I.s propose to study the genetic diversity, abundance, and ecological role of the Planctomycetales phylum in natural ecosystems using similar rRNA techniques. This approach will identify components of the microbial community in fresh water systems that have never been assemble before, and will promote the refinement of an exciting molecular technique.