Principal Component Analysis of Microbial Community Data from an Accelerated Decay Cellar Test

Abstract

Analysis of microbial communities is a valuable tool for characterization and identification of microbes in a myriad of environments. We are currently using the molecular method terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis to characterize changes in bacterial and fungal communities on treated and untreated wood in soil. T-RFLP uses fluorescently labeled primers that bind to DNA and provide a fluorescent tag for each unique organism in a sample. The result is a microbial fingerprint that can be used to characterize the community of organisms present in the sample. This paper highlights the process by which microbial data from T-RFLP is obtained, analyzed, and interpreted. In this study, fungal and bacterial data from an accelerated fungal cellar test was analyzed to determine changes in fungal and bacterial species richness and composition during exposure to treated or untreated wood materials. Principal component analysis was used to analyze the microbial data. Results show differences in bacterial and fungal species composition in treated wood compared to untreated wood. Future uses for this technique are discussed.

Citation

Kirker,Grant T.; Lebow, Patricia K. 2014. Principal Component Analysis of Microbial Community Data from an Accelerated Decay Cellar Test. In: Proceedings of the American Wood Protection Association, Birmingham, AL. 2014; pp. 144-149.