Name: measuring microbial diversity and activity
Uploaded: 2026-03-12T13:57:42.000Z
Duration: 1 min 19 s
Channel: JoVE

Una comunidad microbiana es un consorcio de bacterias, arqueas y eucariotas microbianos que coexisten e interactúan dentro de un hábitat compartido.La estructura de la comunidad microbiana se describe a menudo mediante riqueza, abundancia relativa y uniformidad.En una muestra, la riqueza es el número de taxones detectados, mientras que la abundancia relativa cuantifica la proporción de cada taxón. La uniformidad describe cuán uniformemente están distribuidos los individuos entre los taxones.Actualmente, se utilizan enfoques moleculares independientes de cultivos para perfilar comunidades microbianas.La metagenómica estudia ADN de muestras ambientales, como el suelo, y se utiliza principalmente para perfilar la composición de comunidades microbianas.La metatranscriptómica permite evaluar la expresión del ARNm, proporcionando una instantánea de las funciones microbianas activas, como la producción de enzimas o la degradación del aceite.La metaproteómica y la metabolómica identifican proteínas y metabolitos en el entorno, revelando cómo los microbios contribuyen a procesos como la descomposición de nutrientes y el ciclo biogeoquímico.

métodos para evaluar comunidades microbianas

Methods to Assess Microbial Communities

Las comunidades microbianas, que comprenden bacterias, arqueas y microorganismos eucariotas, habitan ecosistemas diversos y desempeñan papeles cruciales en los procesos ambientales y biológicos. Su diversidad se define por tres parámetros principales: riqueza de especies (el número de especies distintas), abundancia de especies (la cantidad relativa de cada especie) y uniforme de especies (cuán uniformemente se distribuyen las especies individuales en distintos lugares). Estos factores juntos moldean la estructura y el equilibrio ecológico de la comunidad.<h3>Cuantificación de la diversidad microbiana</h3>Para evaluar la diversidad microbiana, los científicos utilizan índices matemáticos. El índice Shannon tiene en cuenta tanto la riqueza como la uniformidad, con valores más altos que indican mayor diversidad y equilibrio. El índice de Simpson mide la probabilidad de que dos individuos seleccionados al azar de una muestra pertenezcan a la misma especie; valores más bajos de Simpson sugieren una mayor diversidad debido a la menor dominancia de especies. Estos índices ayudan a evaluar la salud de la comunidad y la estabilidad ecológica.<h3>Métodos basados e independientes de la cultura</h3>Las comunidades microbianas pueden examinarse mediante métodos dependientes del cultivo , que dependen del cultivo en laboratorio. Sin embargo, muchos microbios no son cultivables bajo condiciones estándar, lo que limita este enfoque. En cambio, las técnicas independientes del cultivo analizan microbios directamente a partir de muestras ambientales, lo que permite una evaluación más completa de la diversidad y función microbiana.<h3>Enfoques moleculares para la evaluación comunitaria</h3><ul><li>Metagenómica: Esta técnica secuencia ADN genómico de muestras ambientales. Identifica taxones microbianos y revela el potencial genético de una comunidad, incluidos organismos no cultivables o raros.</li><li>Metatranscriptómica: Este método secuencia el ARNm para determinar qué genes están siendo transcritos activamente. Proporciona una instantánea funcional de las actividades metabólicas en curso dentro de la comunidad.</li><li>Metaproteómica: Este enfoque analiza todas las proteínas presentes en una muestra ambiental. Revela qué proteínas se están sintetizando, ofreciendo información sobre las vías metabólicas activas y los procesos fisiológicos.</li><li>Metabolómica: Esta técnica perfila metabolitos de moléculas pequeñas, los productos finales de la actividad microbiana. Estos metabolitos reflejan estados fisiológicos e interacciones microbianas, ayudando a explicar procesos como el ciclo de nutrientes y las respuestas al estrés ambiental.</li></ul>Estos métodos representan una fracción de las herramientas disponibles; La integración de técnicas diversas mejora la comprensión de la diversidad microbiana, la función y la complejidad de los ecosistemas.

Métodos para evaluar comunidades microbianas

Microbial communities, comprising bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms, inhabit diverse ecosystems and play crucial roles in environmental and ...

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Education

Educación

JoVE Core

Microbiology

Microbiología

Unit

Unidad

Microbial Ecology

Ecología microbiana

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

TÉRMINOS Y CONCEPTOS CLAVE

measuring microbial diversity and activity

Microbial communities include bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms. They live in many ecosystems and affect important environmental and biological processes. Scientists study these communities by looking at how many species are present, how many individuals each species has, and how evenly the species are spread out.

Species richness is the number of different species in a sample. Species abundance is the relative amount of each species. Species evenness describes how uniformly the individuals are distributed among species. Together, these measures help show the structure and ecological balance of a microbial community.

Researchers also use diversity indices to quantify microbial communities. The Shannon index includes both richness and evenness, and higher values show greater diversity and balance. The Simpson index measures the chance that two randomly chosen individuals belong to the same species. Lower Simpson values indicate higher diversity because no single species dominates as much.

Microbial communities can be studied with culture-based methods or with culture-independent methods. Culture-based methods depend on growing microbes in the lab. This approach has limits because many microbes cannot be cultured under standard conditions. Culture-independent methods examine microbes directly from environmental samples and can give a broader view of diversity and function.

Several molecular methods are used in culture-independent analysis. Metagenomics sequences genomic DNA from environmental samples to identify microbial taxa and reveal the genetic potential of the community, including rare or unculturable organisms. Metatranscriptomics sequences mRNA to show which genes are actively being transcribed, so it gives a snapshot of ongoing metabolic activity.

Other methods add more detail about community function. Metaproteomics analyzes all proteins in a sample and shows which proteins are being made. This helps reveal active metabolic pathways and physiological processes. Metabolomics profiles small-molecule metabolites, which are the end-products of microbial activity. These metabolites can reflect physiological state, microbial interactions, nutrient cycling, and responses to environmental stress.

Together, these tools give scientists a fuller picture of microbial diversity and ecosystem complexity. Using more than one method can improve understanding of both who is there and what they are doing in the community.

Measuring Microbial Diversity and Activity

measuring-microbial-diversity-and-activity

introduction to microbial ecology

Microbial Communities in Soil and Extremes

Microbial ecology looks at how microorganisms live, interact, and adapt in different ecosystems. It also shows how these tiny organisms help shape nutrient cycling, energy flow, and environmental balance. An ecosystem includes living parts and non-living parts, and microbes respond to both. Microorganisms can form populations, which are groups of the same species living together at the same time. When populations from different species live and interact in the same place, they form a microbial...

ecological niche

Microbial Niches in Ecosystems

Microbial niches describe how microorganisms survive, grow, and interact in an ecosystem. A niche includes how a microbe gets resources, reproduces, and relates to other species in its environment. This idea helps explain microbial community dynamics, biogeography, and ecosystem function. A microorganism’s fundamental niche is the full range of conditions where it could survive, grow, and reproduce. These conditions include both biotic factors, such as living interactions, and abiotic factors,...

methods to assess microbial populations

Measuring Microbes in Samples

Measuring microbes in a sample helps scientists study health, ecology, and industry. Microbial counts can show how many cells are present, how diverse they are, and what they may be doing. To do this, researchers use both culture-based and molecular methods. A viable plate count is a classic culture method for estimating living microbes. The sample is first diluted step by step, then spread on nutrient agar plates. Each viable cell can grow into a visible colony, so the colonies can be counted.

methods to assess microbial communities

Microbial communities include bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms. They live in many ecosystems and affect important environmental and biological processes. Scientists study these communities by looking at how many species are present, how many individuals each species has, and how evenly the species are spread out. Species richness is the number of different species in a sample. Species abundance is the relative amount of each species. Species evenness describes how uniformly the...

the winogradsky column

Microbial Layers Inside a Winogradsky Column

A Winogradsky column shows how microbial layers form in a simple, sealed ecosystem. It is a clear model for studying microbial ecology and how different metabolisms interact in sediment over time. The setup uses a transparent glass cylinder. Half of it is filled with sediment mixed with cellulose, such as shredded paper, calcium carbonate, and gypsum. The cellulose provides a carbon source. Calcium carbonate buffers pH, and gypsum supplies sulfate. The rest of the cylinder is filled with pond...

microenvironments

Microbial Niches in Tiny Habitats

Microorganisms live in tiny habitats called microenvironments. These spaces have their own physical and chemical conditions. Oxygen level, pH, temperature, light, and nutrient supply can all differ from the surrounding area. These local conditions strongly affect microbial growth, metabolism, and which species can live there. Microenvironments often have sharp gradients over very small distances. In soil, oxygen may be available at the particle surface but drop off just a few millimeters below.

microbial mats

Microbial Mats and Oxygen Gradients

Microbial mats are layered communities of microbes that grow in response to changes in light, oxygen, and nutrients. These ecosystems are highly organized, and different microorganisms live at different depths. Biofilms are the early stage of this growth and are only a few millimeters thick. Mature microbial mats can grow to centimeter scale and show clear vertical structure. This layered arrangement lets microbes fill separate niches within a very small space. In cyanobacterial mats from hot...

microbial interactions: mutualism

Mutualistic Partnerships in Nature

Mutualistic partnerships in nature show how two or more organisms can benefit from living together. These symbiotic relationships can be obligate, meaning the partners depend on each other, or facultative, meaning the association is helpful but not required. Mutualism helps support many ecosystem functions across land and water. One common example is the partnership between plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi, such as Rhizophagus species. The fungal hyphae grow into the root hairs and epidermis,...

microbial interactions: cooperation

Microbial Cooperation in Soil and Hosts

Microbial cooperation describes helpful interactions between different species. In these partnerships, microbes work together for one or mutual benefit. These interactions can shape ecosystems and evolution. They also play major roles in symbiosis and disease. One clear example involves the Gram-negative bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila and the parasitic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae. Juvenile nematodes carry the bacteria in the soil and need an insect host to mature. When the nematode...

microbial interactions: predation

How Microbes Hunt and Defend

Microbial predation is a form of interaction in which one microorganism kills and eats another to gain nutrients and energy. It includes both bacterial predators and protozoan predators. This process helps shape microbial communities and affects how nutrients move through the environment. Some bacterial predators attack from the outside, while others enter the prey cell. Epibiotic predators, such as Vampirococcus, attach to the surface of a prey cell and release hydrolytic enzymes. These...

microbial interactions: competition

Microbial Competition and Niche Partitioning

Microbial competition shapes how bacteria and other microbes share space and resources. In shared environments, they compete for nutrients, space, or light. The strength of this competition depends on the environment, including nutrient levels, space limits, and how many microbial species are present. These interactions help determine the structure, function, and resilience of microbial communities. Microbial competition is usually grouped into exploitative competition and interference...

microbial interactions: parasitism

Microbial Parasites and Host Dependence

Microbial parasites depend on a host for nutrients and shelter, and this dependence often harms the host. In parasitism, only the parasite benefits. This is different from mutualism, where both organisms gain from the relationship. Microbial parasites are classified by where they live in or on the host. Ectoparasites stay on the host’s surface, such as the skin or outer tissues, and take in nutrients from outside. Endoparasites live inside the host’s body and invade tissues or organs.

microbe-plant interactions

How Plant Microbes Affect Growth

Plant microbes can help, harm, or simply live alongside their hosts. These microbe-plant interactions shape plant growth, health, and ecosystem function. The plant microbiome includes bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses, and these organisms may live on the plant surface, inside plant tissues, or in symbiosis throughout the plant. Some of the most important beneficial partnerships involve mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi form close connections with roots and are grouped as arbuscular...

microbes and the carbon cycle

How Microbes Move Carbon Through Earth

Microbes move carbon through Earth’s major reservoirs and help drive the carbon cycle. Carbon shifts among the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere, where it supports life and helps regulate climate. It commonly cycles as carbon dioxide (CO2), the oxidized form of carbon, but methane (CH4) and organic compounds also matter. Photosynthetic microbes take in atmospheric CO2 and turn it into organic carbon. Cyanobacteria are especially important because they carry out oxygenic...

microbes and methanogenesis

How Microbes Produce Methane

Methane production in anaerobic ecosystems depends on methanogenic archaea and the microbes that work with them. This process happens where oxygen is absent, such as wetlands, sediments, and animal gastrointestinal tracts. In these anoxic habitats, aerobic respiration cannot run, so microbes use other pathways to break down organic matter. Anaerobic decomposition starts when cellulolytic bacteria, or cellulose-digesting bacteria, hydrolyze dead organic material into simple sugars. Other...

microbes and the nitrogen cycle

Microbial Steps in the Nitrogen Cycle

Microbes drive the nitrogen cycle by changing nitrogen into forms that plants and other organisms can use. This biogeochemical cycle keeps nitrogenous compounds balanced in ecosystems. It also supports plant growth and microbial growth. Nitrogen fixation begins the cycle by converting inert atmospheric nitrogen gas, N2, into ammonia, NH3. This step depends on nitrogenase enzymes. Free-living diazotrophs do this on their own. Aerobic bacteria such as Azotobacter spp. and anaerobic bacteria such...

microbes and the sulfur cycle

Sulfur Cycling Through Microbial Reactions

Sulfur cycling depends on microbial reactions that move sulfur through rocks, water, soil, and the air. In Earth systems, sulfur shifts among inorganic forms such as sulfate, elemental sulfur, and sulfide. These changes happen through both abiotic processes and biological activity in oxic and anoxic environments. Sulfate is the most oxidized form of sulfur. It is stored mainly in rocks, marine sediments, and ocean water, where it acts as a long-term reservoir in the global sulfur cycle. In...

microbes and other elemental cycles

Microbes Driving Iron and Manganese Cycles

Microbes drive iron and manganese cycling in aquatic environments by changing these metals between reduced and oxidized forms. These reactions are especially important along redox gradients, where oxygen levels shift across stratified water layers. The microbes use these metals for energy, growth, and structural needs. In oxygen-rich surface waters, iron is usually present as insoluble ferric iron, Fe(III). Some bacteria release siderophores, which are small organic molecules that bind ferric...

marine microbial ecology

Microbial Life in the Ocean

Marine microbial life is shaped by salinity, low nutrients, and changing oxygen levels. These physical and chemical limits influence which microbes can survive and how they function. They also affect how ocean microbes help drive nutrient and carbon cycling. Small cell size is common in these environments because it gives microbes a larger surface-to-volume ratio. That helps them take up nutrients more efficiently when nutrients are scarce. In estuaries, where salinity changes often,...

deep sea microbial ecology

Deep Sea Microbes and Extreme Conditions

Deep sea microbes live in one of Earth’s harshest environments. The deep ocean is far below the sunlit photic zone, which usually reaches the upper 100 to 200 meters of open water. Below that layer, the bathypelagic and abyssal zones stretch from about 1,000 to 6,000 meters, and hadal trenches go even deeper. This region is dark, cold, and highly pressurized. Temperatures are usually around 2 to 3°C, although hydrothermal vents can be slightly warmer. Pressure rises by about 1 atmosphere for...

freshwater microbial ecology

Microbes in Streams, Lakes, and Rivers

Freshwater microbes live in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and marshes, but their communities change with water movement, light, depth, and nutrients. These systems are often grouped into lotic waters, which flow, and lentic waters, which are still or slow-moving. The physical setting shapes where microbes grow and how they get energy. In lentic systems, phytoplankton are the main producers. They make autochthonous organic carbon, which means carbon made within the water body. In lotic...

soil microbial ecology

How Soil Microbes Cycle Nutrients

Soil microbes drive nutrient cycling, organic matter turnover, and ecosystem stability. A gram of soil can contain thousands of bacterial and archaeal taxa, but their shared job is what helps sustain land ecosystems. Their activity changes the way carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients move through soil. Soil is a patchwork of minerals, organic matter, water, and air. Microbes live in tiny microhabitats shaped by pore size, moisture, oxygen, and nutrients. Sandy soils drain fast and tend to...

key terms and concepts

Learn how scientists assess microbial communities using richness, evenness, Shannon and Simpson indices, plus metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.

Measuring Microbial Diversity and Activity | JoVE K12

JoVE Core Microbiology provides an engaging introduction to the microbial world and its influence on health, industry, and the environment. This comprehensive collection covers key concepts such as microbial structure, metabolism, genetics, and ecology. It introduces essential laboratory techniques and microscopy methods through visually engaging animations. Corresponding scientist-in-action videos bridge classroom concepts with real-world research and applications.

microbiology

Measuring Microbial Diversity and Activity

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