Poster: Soil microbial communities associated with two exotic plants
 
SunJeong Park

 
As exotic plants are introduced into an ecosystem, some species propagate rapidly, replacing native species. Conseqeuntly, diversity may decrease. The dominance of invading plants in the ecosystem has been explained by competition, lack of natural enamies and resource partitioning. With recent development of DNA fingerprinting methods, it has become possible to study the interaction between soil microbes and invading species. Based on a field experiment, the composition of soil microbial communities associated with the exotic plants, Polygonum cuspidaum and Alliaria petiolata is expressed as Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP). The T-RFLP profile is analyzed by optimization clustering. Microbial communities sampled on the rhizosphere of the two target species are distinct from communities at a distance of 1 meter from the target plants but not associated with the plants. Also each exotic plant shows the accumulation of a distinct soil microbial community.