Identifying numerically abundant culturable bacteria from complex communities: an example from a lignin enrichment culture.

Culturable bacteria that were numerically important members of a marine enrichment community were identified and characterized phylogenetically. Selective and nonselective isolation methods were used to obtain 133 culturable bacterial isolates from model marine communities enriched with the high-molecular-weight (lignin-rich) fraction of pulp mill effluent. The culture collection was screened against community DNA from the lignin enrichments by whole-genome hybridization methods, and three marine bacterial isolates were identified as being numerically important in the communities. One isolate was in the alpha-subclass of Proteobacteria, and the other two were in the gamma-subclass of Proteobacteria. Isolate-specific 16S rRNA oligonucleotide probes designed to precisely quantify the isolates in the lignin enrichment communities indicated contributions ranging from 2 to 32% of enrichment DNA, values nearly identical to those originally obtained by the simpler whole-genome hybridization method. Two 16S rRNA sequences closely related to that of one of the isolates, although not identical, were amplified via PCR from the seawater sample originally used to inoculate the enrichment medium. Partial sequences of 14 other isolates revealed significant phylogenetic diversity and unusual sequences among the culturable lignin enrichment bacteria, with the Proteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium, and gram-positive groups represented.