Title: Specificity of Moss Response to Moss-Associated Bacteria: Some Influences of Moss Species, Habitat, and Locale
Abstract: Bacteria adhering to three unrelated species of wild moss growing in similar or different habitats were isolated on a nonselective medium and tested for their effect on protonemal growth and development of four species of moss. Of the six groups of bacterial isolates from separate moss samples (283 isolates), 48%-68% promoted the development of their host moss; relatively few were inhibitory. Two species of moss belonging to separate families, Pylaisiella selwynii and Heterophyllium haldaneanum, collected from the same oak log, responded similarly to the bacterial isolates; the bacteria isolated from each had no distinguishable effects on the different mosses. Atrichum undulatum collected on the ground within a few meters of the other mosses responded differently to these bacteria, and bacteria from this species differed from the others in the proportion that were active on other mosses. Pylaisiella selwynii from Illinois and Wisconsin, ca. 170 miles apart, did not differ in their response to these bacteria, nor did the two samples of A. undulatum from the same two sites. Also, there were no significant differences between the groups of bacteria obtained from the same species of moss from the two different locales. More limited results with bacteria from P. selwynii collected in Minnesota, where a much greater change in latitude was involved, showed they were significantly different from bacteria collected from this moss growing in Wisconsin when tested on the latter moss. This group of bacteria was significantly more effective, however, on P. selwynii from Wisconsin than on Funaria hygrometrica. These data indicate that habitat as well as the species of moss and possibly major changes in locale may influence the kinds of bacteria found adhering to the same moss in nature, as estimated by their ability to alter growth and development of the different mosses.
Publication Year: 1986
Publication Date: 1986-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 9
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot