Diversity of thermophilic and non-thermophilic Crenarchaeota at 80 degrees C

A hot spring in the solfataric field of Pisciarelli (Naples-Italy) was analysed for Archaeal diversity. Total DNA was extracted from the environment, archaeal 16S rRNA genes were amplified with Archaea specific primers, and a clone library consisting of 201 clones was established. The clones were grouped in 10 different groups each representing a specific band pattern using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Members of all 10 groups were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Surprisingly, a high abundance of clones belonging to non-thermophilic Crenarchaeal clusters were detected together with the thermophilic archaeon Acidianus infernus in this thermophilic environment. Neither Sulfolobus species nor other hyperthermophilic Crenarchaeota were detected in the clone library. The relative abundance of the sequenced clones was confirmed by terminal restriction fragment analyses. Amplification of 16S rRNA genes from Archaea transferred from the surrounding environment was considered negligible because DNA from non-thermophilic Crenarchaeota incubated under conditions similar to the solfatara could not be PCR amplified after 5 min.     

新疆顿巴斯他乌盐湖沉积物免培养古菌多样性

【目的】了解新疆顿巴斯他乌盐湖沉积物免培养古菌组成及多样性。【方法】利用免培养法直接从顿巴斯他乌盐湖沉积物样品中提取环境总DNA,采用古菌通用引物对16S rRNA基因进行扩增,构建基因克隆文库。对随机挑选的59个阳性克隆进行HaeⅢ限制性酶切分型并测序、BLAST比对及构建16S rRNA基因系统发育树。【结果】文库覆盖率为89%,Shannon-Wiener指数为2.69,共得到21个不同的可操作分类单元,分属于广古菌门(Euryarchaeota,92%)和泉古菌门(Crenarchaeota,8%),其中多数为盐杆菌科(Halobacteriaceae,88%)的盐杆菌属(Halobacterium,24%)、盐盒菌属(Haloarcula,18%)、盐碱红菌属(Natronorubrum,14%)、盐红菌属(Halorubrum,8%)等,与海盐环境(thalassohaline)获得的16S rRNA基因序列相似性最高(﹥95%);整个文库中约11%的克隆与可培养古菌多个属的相似性小于97%。【结论】顿巴斯他乌盐湖古菌多样性略低于同类高盐环境,组成较为一致,只是各类群所占百分比稍有不同,且可能存在一些潜在新物种或新类群。     

Biogeography and Landscape-Scale Diversity of the Dominant Crenarchaeota of Soil

We surveyed the diversity of soil Archaea across a large scale elevational gradient of ecosystem types, from foothills forest to alpine tundra in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. We used a dilution technique to sequence the single most abundant archaeal 16S rDNA sequence in each of the 40 soil cores distributed across the gradient to compare our results to those of typical 16S clone library studies.We found a greater diversity of sequences than has typically been found in clone library studies from a single site or core, identifying sequences both from the Terrestrial Group and the FFSB Group at several sites. We did not observe any significant environmental correlates with the dominant sequence type, nor was there any relationship between the spatial distance between samples and the phylogenetic similarity of the dominant sequence types. Despite using a very different methodology, our collective results are in remarkably good agreement with other studies of soil Crenarchaeota in terms of the diversity and relative abundance of sequence types identified. We are able to identify two instances of very tightly clustered sequences which we suggest are the results of global selective sweeps—one closely related to SCA1145, an abundant globally distributed group within the Terrestrial Group of Crenarchaeota, and another nested within the more basal FFSB group of sequences. We replicated our sequence results at two levels: first, by repeating the dilution and PCR processes from the same soil core DNA extraction, and second, by performing a replicate DNA extraction from the same homogenized soil core sample. Pairs of sequences produced by the dilution replicates were significantly more similar than the pairs of sequences produced by the extraction replicates, suggesting that soil Crenarchaeota exists in highly localized and discrete clonal populations.     

中国和美国原始土壤中非高温泉古菌的发现和鉴定

近年来在非极端环境中已经发现有古菌(Archaea)的存在, 但在中国原始土壤中还未见报道。本研究的目的是调查古菌是否存在于两个分别取自中国新疆和广西的土壤及两个美国亚利桑那州南部地区的土壤中。我们分别构建了这四个原始土壤的古菌16S rDNA文库并对28个克隆的16S rDNA进行了鉴定。所有这些16S rDNA的序列都归类于古菌的泉古菌门(Crenarchaeota)。进化树分析表明, 这些泉古菌的16S rDNA属于非高温陆地环境中的泉古菌种群, 明显区别于海洋和淡水地带的泉古菌种群。这个泉古菌种群又有两个分支, 这两个分支在16S rDNA序列上和G C含量上有明显的区别。本研究在两个中国和两个美国原始土壤中鉴定了非高温泉古菌的存在, 由此证明泉古菌的存在范围不只局限于高温等极端环境。另外, 美国原始土壤中的泉古菌只属于一个进化分支, 这说明非高温泉古菌种群的类型和土壤的地理位置及土壤特性有关。     

Diversity and structure of the archaeal community in the leachate of a full-scale recirculating landfill as examined by direct 16S rRNA gene sequence retrieval

The diversity and structure of the archaeal community in the effluent leachate from a full-scale recirculating landfill was characterized by direct 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA) retrieval. Total-community DNA was extracted from the microbial assemblages in the landfill leachate, and archaeal 16S rDNAs were amplified with a universally conserved primer and an Archaea-specific primer. The amplification product was then used to construct a 16S rDNA clone library, and 70 randomly selected archaeal clones in the library were grouped by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of representatives from each unique RFLP type showed that the archaeal library was dominated by methanogen-like rDNAs. Represented in the kingdom of Euryarchaeota were phylotypes highly similar to the methanogenic genera Methanoculleus, Methanosarcina, Methanocorpusculum, Methanospirillum and Methanogenium, where the clone distribution was 48, 11, 3, 1 and 1, respectively. No sequences related to known Methanosaeta spp. were retrieved. Four rDNA clones were not affiliated with the known methanogenic Archaea, but instead, they were clustered with the uncultured archaeal sequences recently recovered from anaerobic habitats. Two chimeric sequences were identified among the clones analyzed.     

Phylogenetic diversity of planktonic archaea in the estuarine region of East China Sea

To examine the diversity and structure of archaeal communities in the Yangtze River estuarine region of East China Sea (ECS), the 16S rRNA gene clone libraries of two typical sites were constructed with the archaea-specific primers. In total, 71 clones randomly selected were screened by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and 21 clones with unique RFLP pattern were sequenced. All the sequences are clustered into the two groups of Marine Group I (MGI) and Marine Group II (MGII) which are affiliated with the phyla Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota, respectively. MGI clones dominate both libraries with 20 MGI sequences obtained. The majority of sequences are closely related to uncultured marine archaea except for two sequences of which the nearest neighbor is a newly identified isolate of nitrifying marine archaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus (98% identity). The results indicate that ECS coastal waters are inhabited by archaeal community with low dominance and high diversity corresponding to the complex estuarine environments, suggesting that archaea may perform an important role in the estuarine ecosystem.     

新疆沙湾冷泉沉积物中免培养古菌多样性初步研究

【目的】了解新疆沙湾冷泉沉积物的古菌组成及多样性。【方法】采用免培养法,液氮研磨提取冷泉沉积物总DNA,使用古菌通用引物进行16S rRNA基因扩增,构建16S rRNA基因文库。对阳性克隆进行HhaI限制性酶切分型,选出具有不同酶切图谱的序列进行测序,将所得序列与GenBank数据库中序列比对并构建16S rRNA基因系统发育树。【结果】从冷泉沉积物古菌16S rRNA基因文库中随机挑选了121个阳性克隆,共得到22个不同的可操作分类单元,BLAST结果表明全部克隆子归属于泉古菌门(Crenarchaeote)中免培养类群。系统发育分析归类为Soil-Freshwater-subsurface group和MarinegroupI,2个亚群并且各占整个文库的50%。其中40%左右的克隆子与具有无机碳和硝酸盐同化能力的泉古菌有高的相似性。此外还发现40%的克隆子与低温泉古菌类群具有很高的相似性。【结论】新疆沙湾冷泉沉积物中古菌类群多样性较低,但存有大量高度适应此低温、贫营养环境的泉古菌类群。     

新疆红井子盐碱土壤非培养放线菌多样性

【目的】研究新疆红井子盐碱土壤中的放线菌物种多样性。【方法】应用基于16S rRNA基因序列系统发育分析的免培养方法进行放线菌物种多样性分析。利用放线菌特异性引物,以土壤样品总DNA为模板,扩增16S rRNA基因,构建16S rRNA基因克隆文库,并对文库中的插入序列进行RFLP分析。【结果】随机挑选的246个阳性克隆通过酶切筛选出61个不同图谱的重组克隆并测序。分析结果显示这61个克隆序列分属于42个OTUs,分布于放线菌纲(Actinobacteria)的放线菌亚纲(Actinobacteridae)、酸微菌亚纲(Acidimicrobidae)和红色杆菌亚纲(Rubrobacteridae);该环境中有71.4%的序列与已有效发表菌株的序列相似性小于97%,代表着放线菌新类群,其中部分序列形成了几个独立的进化分支,可能代表更高级的新分类单元。【结论】红井子土壤中的放线菌组成具有丰富的多样性,并有新放线菌分类单位的潜在资源,值得进一步进行开发研究。     

Phylogenetic analysis of the gut bacterial microflora of the fungus-growing termite Odontotermes formosanus

We constructed a bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone library from the gut microbial community of O. formosanus and phylogenetically analyzed it in order to contribute to the evolutional study of digestive symbiosis and method development for termite control. After screening by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, 56 out of 280 clones with unique RFLP patterns were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. The representative phylotypes were affiliated to four phylogenetic groups, Firmicutes, the Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi group, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria of the domain Bacteira. No one clone affiliated with the phylum Spirochaetes was identified, in contrast to the case of wood-feeding termites. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that nearly half of the representative clones (25 phylotypes) formed monophyletic clusters with clones obtained from other termite species, especially with the sequences retrieved from fungus-growing termites. These results indicate that the presence of termite-specific bacterial lineages implies a coevolutional relationship of gut microbes and host termites.     

Diverse archaeal community of a bat guano pile in Domica Cave (Slovak Karst,Slovakia)

The molecular diversity of Archaea in a bat guano pile in Cave Domica (Slovakia), temperate cave ecosystem with significant bat colony (about 1600 individuals), was examined. The guano pile was created mainly by an activity of the Mediterranean horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus euryale) and provides a source of organic carbon and other nutrients in the oligotrophic subsurface ecosystem. The upper and the basal parts of guano surface were sampled where the latter one had higher pH and higher admixture of limestone bedrock and increased colonization of invertebrates. The relative proportion of Archaea determined using CARD-FISH in both parts was 3.5–3.9 % (the basal and upper part, respectively). The archaeal community was dominated by non-thermophilic Crenarchaeota (99 % of clones). Phylogenetic analysis of 115 16S rDNA sequences revealed the presence of Crenarchaeota previously isolated from temperate surface soils (group 1.1b, 62 clones), deep subsurface acid waters (group 1.1a, 52 clones) and Euryarchaeota (1 clone). Four of the analyzed sequences were found to have little similarity to those in public databases. The composition of both archaeal communities differed, with respect to higher diversity of Archaea in the upper part of the bat guano pile. High diversity archaeal population is present in the bat guano deposit and consists of both soil- and subsurface-born Crenarchaeota.     

Molecular phylogenetic diversity of the bacterial community in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus

The phylogenetic diversity of the bacterial community in the gut of the termite Coptotermes formosanus was investigated using a 16S rRNA gene clone library constructed by PCR. After screening by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, 49 out of 261 clones with unique RFLP patterns were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Many of the clones (94%) were derived from Bacteroidales, Spirochaetes, and low G + C content gram-positive bacteria consisting of Clostridiales, Mycoplasmatales, Bacillales, and Lactobacillales. In addition, a few clones derived from Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, and the candidate phylum "Synergistes" were also found. The most frequently identified RFLP type, BCf1-03, was assigned to the order Bacteroideales, and it constituted about 70% of the analyzed clones. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the representative clones found in this study tended to form some clusters with the sequences cloned from the termite gut in several other studies, suggesting the existence of termite-specific bacterial lineages.     

太湖地区典型菜地土壤微生物16S rDNA的PCR-RFLP分析

土壤微生物多样性是土壤生态功能的基础,但长期以来缺乏对高强度土地利用条件下的土壤微生物多样性的认识.作者采用间接法提取了江苏省太湖地区典型菜地土壤微生物的总DNA,以细菌的通用引物27F和1492R扩增16S rDNA片段,将扩增产物与T-载体酶连,转化大肠杆菌,建立土壤微生物16S rDNA克隆文库.PCR扩增基因文库中插入的16S rDNA外源片段,用两种限制性内切酶Hha I和Rsa I分别酶切,获得该土壤173个克隆的酶切指纹图谱.结果表明,Hha I和Rsa I联合酶切产生了63个基因分型,文库的覆盖度达76.30%,单一酶切产生的基因分型少,但文库的覆盖度高;克隆文库中存在两种优势类群,分别占总克隆的16%和12%.16S rDNA测序结果表明,太湖地区菜地土壤细菌在分类方面主要属于α-和γ-变形杆菌亚门.以上结果为进一步研究太湖地区菜地土壤微生物生态功能提供了基础资料.     

黄河三角洲滨海湿地非培养放线菌多样性

【目的】利用免培养技术对黄河三角洲滨海湿地土壤中放线菌多样性进行分析。【方法】提取样品总DNA, 利用放线菌门特异引物扩增放线菌16S rRNA基因序列, 构建放线菌16S rRNA基因克隆文库, 文库经RFLP分析后挑选代表序列测序并进行多样性指数分析和系统发育分析。【结果】构建的放线菌16S rRNA基因克隆文库覆盖率(C)为96.3%, 116个测序序列可化分为46个OTUs, 58.7%的OTUs (27个)存在于放线菌亚纲(Actinobacteridae)放线菌目(Actinomycetales)的7个亚目中, 分布于10个科中, 其中弗兰克氏菌亚目(Frankineae)最多, 共7个OTUs, 有30.4%的OTUs (14个)存在于酸微菌亚纲(Acidimicrobidae)醋微菌亚目(Acidimicrobineae)中, 没有发现与红色杆菌亚纲(Rubrobacteridae)和科里氏杆菌亚纲(Coriobacteridae)亲缘关系较近的序列。有10.9%的OTUs序列与有效发表的所有类群无亲缘关系, 在进化树上成为一个独立的进化分支, 有可能代表新亚目或更高级分类单元的类群。【结论】黄河三角洲滨海湿地蕴含着丰富的放线菌物种多样性及潜在的放线菌新类群, 具有深一步研究的价值。     

Characterization of the microbial diversity in a permafrost sample from the Canadian high Arctic using culture-dependent and culture-independent methods

A combination of culture-dependent and culture-independent methodologies (Bacteria and Archaea 16S rRNA gene clone library analyses) was used to determine the microbial diversity present within a geographically distinct high Arctic permafrost sample. Culturable Bacteria isolates, identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, belonged to the phyla Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria with spore-forming Firmicutes being the most abundant; the majority of the isolates (19/23) were psychrotolerant, some (11/23) were halotolerant, and three isolates grew at -5 degrees C. A Bacteria 16S rRNA gene library containing 101 clones was composed of 42 phylotypes related to diverse phylogenetic groups including the Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Cytophaga - Flavobacteria - Bacteroides, Planctomyces and Gemmatimonadetes; the bacterial 16S rRNA gene phylotypes were dominated by Actinobacteria- and Proteobacteria-related sequences. An Archaea 16S rRNA gene clone library containing 56 clones was made up of 11 phylotypes and contained sequences related to both of the major Archaea domains (Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota); the majority of sequences in the Archaea library were related to halophilic Archaea. Characterization of the microbial diversity existing within permafrost environments is important as it will lead to a better understanding of how microorganisms function and survive in such extreme cryoenvironments.     

新疆断裂带含硫冷泉泉水细菌群落结构多样性

摘要：【目的】为了解新疆断裂带含硫冷泉泉水中细菌群落结构的组成和物种多样性。【方法】采用免培养法直接从冷泉水中提取环境总DNA,采用细菌通用引物对泉水中细菌的16S rRNA基因进行PCR扩增,构建16S rRNA基因克隆文库。使用限制性内切酶Hae Ⅲ对随机挑选的阳性克隆子进行限制性片段长度多态性分析(Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, RFLP),选出具有不同酶切图谱的序列进行测序、BLAST比对和构建16S rRNA基因系统发育树。【结果】共从细菌16S rRNA基因文库中筛选了228个阳性克隆,RFLP分型得到33个不同的操作分类单元 (Operational Taxonomic Unites, OTUs),覆盖度 (Coverage C) 为92%。BLAST比对、RDP归类及系统发育分析将这33个OTUs归为：变形菌门 (Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌门 (Bacteroidetes) 和厚壁菌门 (Firmicutes)。变形菌门为绝对优势类群,占整个细菌克隆文库的98%,,其中20%左右的类群与硫化物代谢相关的光合自养和化能自养类群纯培养菌具有高的相似性 (>97%)。此外,还发现大量类群 (总文库的64%,其中57%为军团菌属Legionella spp., 类群)与GenBank中已存细菌16S rRNA基因相似性小于96%。【结论】新疆断裂带含硫冷泉泉水中细菌类群的多样性较低,但可能存在大量潜在细菌新种和新分类。另外,该泉水可能是潜在的新军团菌病传播源,因而可能对下游人畜健康存在潜在威胁。     

新疆艾比湖湿地博乐河入口处土壤细菌多样性分析

【目的】了解新疆艾比湖湿地国家级自然保护区非培养土壤细菌群落组成及多样性。【方法】采用非培养法直接从湿地土壤提取总DNA进行16S r RNA基因扩增,构建细菌16S r RNA基因克隆文库。使用MspⅠ和AfaⅠ限制性内切酶对阳性克隆进行16S r RNA基因扩增片段的限制性酶切分析(Amplified r DNA restriction analysis,ARDRA),挑取具有不同双酶切图谱的克隆进行测序,序列比对并构建16S r RNA基因系统发育树。【结果】从土壤细菌的16S r RNA基因文库中随机挑取75个不同谱型的克隆子,共得到58个OTUs,系统发育归类为8个细菌类群:绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi)、蓝藻门(Cyanobacteria)、变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)、放线菌门(Actinobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)、疣微菌门(Verrucomicrob)和芽单胞菌门(Gemmatimonadetes)。其中,变形菌门为第一优势菌群,拟杆菌门为第二优势菌群,两者约占总克隆的65%。【结论】艾比湖湿地博乐河入口处土壤细菌多样性丰富,且存在一定数量的潜在微生物新种。     

若尔盖高原湿地泥炭沼泽土亚硝酸盐还原酶（nirK）反硝化细菌群落结构分析

若尔盖泥炭湿地是世界少有的低纬度永久冻土湿地,具有高海拔、高紫外辐射、高有机质的特点。该区域N2O的排放量对全球气候变暖有重要影响。对若尔盖高原湿地泥炭沼泽土中的亚硝酸盐还原酶(nir K)反硝化细菌群落结构多样性进行分析,以期揭示该区域N2O释放的微生物调控机制。基于若尔盖高原湿地泥炭沼泽土的理化性质和反硝化活性(PDA),结合限制性酶切片段长度多态性(Restriction fragment length polymorphism,RFLP)技术、克隆文库及分子测序对该生态系统中的nir K反硝化细菌群落结构及多样性进行分析。反硝化活性测定结果显示:阿西地区麦溪地区分区地区,反硝化活性与土壤有机碳、总氮和丰富度呈显著正相关(P0.05)。Shannon-wiener多样性指数以阿西最高、分区最低。3个样品中共测序15条nir K基因代表序列,系统发育表明若尔盖高原湿地优势nir K反硝化菌群为变形门菌群。其中,阿西地区主要为α-变形菌门,麦溪地区主要为β-变形菌门,分区地区无法确定优势种群。冗余分析(Redundancy analysis,RDA)显示:有效钾和有效磷是影响nir K反硝化细菌群落结构的关键环境因子。本论文显示,若尔盖高原湿地存在着明显的反硝化作用,调控这些反硝化作用的nir K反硝化细菌多样性较高,且与土壤有效钾和有效磷密切相关。     

Nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) gene fragments differ between native and cultivated Michigan soils

The effect of standard agricultural management on the genetic heterogeneity of nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) fragments from denitrifying prokaryotes in native and cultivated soil was explored. Thirty-six soil cores were composited from each of the two soil management conditions. nosZ gene fragments were amplified from triplicate samples, and PCR products were cloned and screened by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The total nosZ RFLP profiles increased in similarity with soil sample size until triplicate 3-g samples produced visually identical RFLP profiles for each treatment. Large differences in total nosZ profiles were observed between the native and cultivated soils. The fragments representing major groups of clones encountered at least twice and four randomly selected clones with unique RFLP patterns were sequenced to verify nosZ identity. The sequence diversity of nosZ clones from the cultivated field was higher, and only eight patterns were found in clone libraries from both soils among the 182 distinct nosZ RFLP patterns identified from the two soils. A group of clones that comprised 32% of all clones dominated the gene library of native soil, whereas many minor groups were observed in the gene library of cultivated soil. The 95% confidence intervals of the Chao1 nonparametric richness estimator for nosZ RFLP data did not overlap, indicating that the levels of species richness are significantly different in the two soils, the cultivated soil having higher diversity. Phylogenetic analysis of deduced amino acid sequences grouped the majority of nosZ clones into an interleaved Michigan soil cluster whose cultured members are alpha-Proteobacteria. Only four nosZ sequences from cultivated soil and one from the native soil were related to sequences found in gamma-Proteobacteria. Sequences from the native field formed a distinct, closely related cluster (D(mean) = 0.16) containing 91.6% of the native clones. Clones from the cultivated field were more distantly related to each other (D(mean) = 0.26), and 65% were found outside of the cluster from the native soil, further indicating a difference in the two communities. Overall, there appears to be a relationship between use and richness, diversity, and the phylogenetic position of nosZ sequences, indicating that agricultural use of soil caused a shift to a more diverse denitrifying community.     

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Gut Bacterial Microflora of the Fungus-Growing Termite Odontotermes formosanus

We constructed a bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone library from the gut microbial community of O. formosanus and phylogenetically analyzed it in order to contribute to the evolutional study of digestive symbiosis and method development for termite control. After screening by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, 56 out of 280 clones with unique RFLP patterns were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. The representative phylotypes were affiliated to four phylogenetic groups, Firmicutes, the Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi group, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria of the domain Bacteira. No one clone affiliated with the phylum Spirochaetes was identified, in contrast to the case of wood-feeding termites. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that nearly half of the representative clones (25 phylotypes) formed monophyletic clusters with clones obtained from other termite species, especially with the sequences retrieved from fungus-growing termites. These results indicate that the presence of termite-specific bacterial lineages implies a coevolutional relationship of gut microbes and host termites.     

Diversity and abundance of Crenarchaeota in terrestrial habitats studied by 16S RNA surveys and real time PCR

Novel phylogenetic lineages of as yet uncultivated crenarchaeota have been frequently detected in low to moderate-temperature, marine and terrestrial environments. In order to gain a more comprehensive view on the distribution and diversity of Crenarchaeota in moderate habitats, we have studied 18 different terrestrial and freshwater samples by 16S rDNA-based phylogenetic surveys. In seven different soil samples of diverse geographic areas in Europe (forest, grassland, ruderal) and Asia (permafrost, ruderal) as well as in two microbial mats, we have consistently found one particular lineage of crenarchaeota. The diversity of Crenarchaeota in freshwater sediments was considerably higher with respresentative 16S rDNA sequences distributed over four different groups within the moderate crenarchaeota. Systematic analysis of a 16S rDNA universal library from a sandy ecosystem containing 800 clones exclusively revealed the presence of the soil-specific crenarchaeotal cluster. With primers specific for non-thermophilic crenarchaeota we established a rapid method to quantify archaeal 16S rDNA in real time PCR. The relative abundance of crenarchaeotal rDNA was 0.5-3% in the bulk soil sample and only 0.16% in the rhizosphere of the sandy ecosystem. A nearby agricultural setting yielded a relative abundance of 0.17% crenarchaeotal rDNA. In total our data suggest that soil crenarchaeota represent a stable and specific component of the microbiota in terrestrial habitats.