Survival, metabolic activity and conjugative interactions of indigenous and introduced streptomycete strains in soil microcosms

The growth and activity of introduced (S. lividans TK24 pIJ673 and S. lividans TK23) and indigenous (S. griseus CAG17) streptomycete strains in soil was studied, under controlled conditions. The effect of environmental parameters such as temperature, soil water content and nutrient availability on the growth and activity of these strains, was studied using a highly dynamic fed-batch soil microcosm system. Using this new system, repeated cycles of active streptomycete growth were achieved, allowing long-term investigation of metabolic activity, plasmid stability and conjugative plasmid transfer. In long-term experiments, respiration rates and enzyme activity patterns matched the pattern of germination/sporulation cycles of the inoculants. In situ hybridisation, using fluorescently labelled oligonucleotides, also proved the presence of metabolically active streptomycete mycelia in sterile soil. Plasmid stability under varying temperatures and selective pressure was studied using the above system. In both sterile and non sterile amended antibiotic containing soil, no intraspecific transfer of plasmid pIJ673 from S. lividans TK24 to S. griseus CAG17 was detected. The soil microcosm system used, though, permitted detection of intraspecific conjugative transfer of this plasmid from S. lividans TK24 to S. lividans TK23 in soil.