A molecular assessment of the functionality of foraging pit micro-organisms
This
research focuses on the diversity and functionality of foraging pit
microorganisms, particularly bacteria and fungi. These microorganism
are critical to our understanding of the metabolic processes and the
mechanisms involved in animal pit influences on soil. Modern molecular
techniques of extracting microbial community DNA and the subsequent
amplification and sequencing of evolutionary conserved genes will be
used for the phylogenetic analysis of these microorganisms. Comparative
analysis between pit soil from bilby, bettong and rabbit and non-pit
soil will aid our understanding of the functional groups of microbes
and its significance as a community within the pits.
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