Author(s)

Jong-Shik Kim, Man-Young Jung, Keun Chul Lee, Dae-Shin Kim, Suk-Hyung Ko, Jung-Sook Lee, Sung-Keun Rhee

Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Republic of Korea.
Gyeongbuk Institute for Marine Bioindustry, Uljin, Republic of Korea.
Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Research Institute for Hallasan, Jeju, Republic of Korea.

The abundance and diversity of archaeal assemblages were analyzed in soils collected from Gyorae Gotjawal forest, Jeju, Korea. Gotjawal soil refers to soil derived from a lava-formed forest, characterized by high organic matter content, fertility, and poor rocky soil. Using domain-specific primers, archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences were PCR amplified for clone library construction, and a total of 185 archaeal clones were examined. The archaeal clones were affiliated with the phyla Thaumarchaeota (96.2%) and Euryarchaeota (3.8%). The most abundant thaumarchaeal group (90.3% of the clones) was the group I.1b clade, which includes soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea. The unique characteristics of Gotjawal soil, including basalt morphology, vegetation, and groundwater aquifer penetration, may be reflected in the archaeal community composition. Further study is necessary to understand the unique factors of Gotjawal soils that influence archaeal abundance, composition, and diversity.

Archaea, Gotjawal Soil, 16S rRNA Gene, Phylogeny

Kim, J. , Jung, M. , Lee, K. , Kim, D. , Ko, S. , Lee, J. and Rhee, S. (2014) The Archaea Community Associated with Lava-Formed Gotjawal Forest Soil in Jeju, Korea. Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment, 3, 96-102. doi: 10.4236/jacen.2014.33012.