Identification of major increased T-RFs in T-RFLP profiles of hydrogen treated soil samples using molecular fingerprinting techniques

In a previous study, twenty hydrogen-oxidizing bacterial strains showing positive plant root elongation effects were isolated. However, T-RFLP work showed that none of these isolates contributed to hydrogen induced TRF increases compared with air treated soil samples.;To study which bacterial groups are responsible for the major increased T-RFs in T-RFLP profiles of hydrogen-treated soil samples, a 16S rDNA library from hydrogen-treated soil samples was constructed utilizing the same DNA used to generate T-RFLP profiles. It showed that the major bacteria groups responsible for the observed hydrogen uptake in soil might belong to the phylum Actinobacteria. Comparisons between the T-RFLP profiles and the 16S rDNA library showed that the T-RFLP fingerprinting method does have the ability to reflect the diversity and structure of numerically dominant bacterial populations within complex microbial communities such as those found in soil.