Influence of soil properties on the vertical movement of genetically-marked Pseudomonas fluorescens through large soil microcosms

Summary

Vertical translocation of the introduced transposon Tn5-tagged Pseudomonas fluorescens cells was studies after irrigation of 50-cm long soil columns of loamy sand. The soil in the columns was slowly brought to saturation using groundwater, and enough water was then slowly added to permit collection of the percolated water. Introduced bacteria were transported to lower soil layers to a significantly higher degree in undisturbed soil cores than in repacked cores; water transport was hampered in both core types due to high soil bulk densities. Soil bulk density affected the degree of transport of the introduced cells; progressively more cells were translocated to deeper soil layers and into the percolation water at decreasing soil bulk densities. Repeated percolation of soil at a bulk density of 1.25 caused an increase in Tn5-tagged cell numbers in the lower soil layers and in the percolated water. Further, cells initially introduced into a dry (5.3% moisture) soil were translocated to a lesser extent than cells introduced into a wetter (13% moisture) soil. Finally, wheat roots enhanced the water-induced transport of introduced cells to the 40- and 50-cm deep soil layers and into the effluent, but not to the remaining soil layers. Large soil columns such as those used in the present study are useful in assessing the transport and survival of introduced bacterial cells in soils under a variety of simulated environmental conditions.