Bacterial Community Composition in Germination Inoculant Produced from Salt Marsh Soil.
Faculty Mentor
Jennifer Bailey
Location
Savannah Ballroom
Type of Research
On-going
Session Format
Poster Presentation
College
College of Science & Mathematics
Department
Biology
Abstract
Along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, there is increased demand for nursery production of the native salt marsh plant Spartina alterniflora due to its critical role in stabilizing shorelines and supporting critical ecological processes. Nursery production of S. alterniflora traditionally involves germinating seeds in tap water or potting soil, conditions that lack the types of microbes these seeds would naturally be exposed to. Including these microbes may promote embryo development and/or germination. To explore this possibility, a 21-day experiment was previously conducted to compare S. alterniflora seeds incubated with a soil inoculant (created by filtering salt marsh soil to collect bacteria) to those incubated in tap water (control). Surprisingly, there was no significant difference in germination rates. Potentially, the microbiome composition of the inoculant was not representative of the original salt marsh soil. To test this, we will compare the bacterial community structure and diversity of the original soil inoculant, post germination media and natural salt marsh soil using a 16S rRNA based approach. DNA was extracted from the samples and used to PCR amplify the V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Gel electrophoresis will confirm PCR product formation. 16S PCR products will then be subject to Illumina-based DNA sequencing. Sequencing data will be analyzed using the software Mothur to compare the bacterial communities among sample types. The data will reveal which bacterial types the S. alternaflora seeds were exposed to and whether they are representative of local salt marsh soils. Potentially, this could inform the future creation of optimized soil inoculants that enhance nursery production of S. alterniflora.
Program Description
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Start Date
4-21-2026 10:00 AM
End Date
4-21-2026 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Martin, Kayla V.; Portillo, Grace; Bailey, Jennifer Brofft; and Joesting, Heather, "Bacterial Community Composition in Germination Inoculant Produced from Salt Marsh Soil." (2026). GS4 Student Scholars Symposium. 20.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/research_symposium/2026A/2026A/20
Bacterial Community Composition in Germination Inoculant Produced from Salt Marsh Soil.
Savannah Ballroom
Along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, there is increased demand for nursery production of the native salt marsh plant Spartina alterniflora due to its critical role in stabilizing shorelines and supporting critical ecological processes. Nursery production of S. alterniflora traditionally involves germinating seeds in tap water or potting soil, conditions that lack the types of microbes these seeds would naturally be exposed to. Including these microbes may promote embryo development and/or germination. To explore this possibility, a 21-day experiment was previously conducted to compare S. alterniflora seeds incubated with a soil inoculant (created by filtering salt marsh soil to collect bacteria) to those incubated in tap water (control). Surprisingly, there was no significant difference in germination rates. Potentially, the microbiome composition of the inoculant was not representative of the original salt marsh soil. To test this, we will compare the bacterial community structure and diversity of the original soil inoculant, post germination media and natural salt marsh soil using a 16S rRNA based approach. DNA was extracted from the samples and used to PCR amplify the V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Gel electrophoresis will confirm PCR product formation. 16S PCR products will then be subject to Illumina-based DNA sequencing. Sequencing data will be analyzed using the software Mothur to compare the bacterial communities among sample types. The data will reveal which bacterial types the S. alternaflora seeds were exposed to and whether they are representative of local salt marsh soils. Potentially, this could inform the future creation of optimized soil inoculants that enhance nursery production of S. alterniflora.
