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To estimate the succession and phylogenetic composition of the bacterial communities responsible for the decomposition of rice straw compost under flooded conditions during the cultivation period of paddy rice, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses targeting 16S rDNA and 16S rRNA, followed by sequencing were conducted in a Japanese paddy field. The DGGE bands of the bacterial communities in the rice straw compost were significantly more numerous in the DNA samples than in the RNA samples. Although the band number of the DNA samples was almost constant throughout the period, RNA samples showed fewer DGGE bands after mid-season drainage than before it. Thus, about 81% of the bacteria present in rice straw compost were considered to be metabolically “active” before mid-season drainage and about 62% after it. The changes in the DGGE patterns of bacterial DNA and RNA before and after mid-season drainage, respectively, were also revealed by cluster analysis and principal component analysis of the DGGE patterns. These results indicated that the bacterial communities of rice straw compost incorporated into flooded paddy fields changed gradually along with the decomposition, except for the period of mid-season drainage, but that they were influenced by mid-season drainage. Members of β-, γ- and δ-Proteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group, Chlorobia, Verrucomicrobia, Chloroflexi, Spirochaetes, Firmicutes (clostridia) and Actinobacteria were present during the decomposition of rice straw compost. Characteristic “active” bacteria among them were as follows: Clostridium, Acinetobacter (γ-Proteobacteria) and β-Proteobacteria before mid-season drainage, Flavobacterium, Chondromyces, Chlorflexi and δ-Proteobacteria after mid-season drainage, and Spirochaeta and myxobacteria throughout the period.

Percolating water was sampled from the plow layer and subsoil layer in a Japanese paddy field, and the bacterial communities were compared together with floodwater by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) targeting a partial 16S rRNA gene and subsequent sequencing. The number of DGGE bands ranged from 16 to 28 with no significant differences among the sampling sites and times. Only 2 bands were common for the three sources of water samples. DGGE bands specific for the floodwater samples and percolating water samples from the plow layer were identified, while percolating water samples from the subsoil layer did not show specific bands but displayed common bands to those of the floodwater samples (7 bands) and percolating water samples from the plow layer (1 band). Cluster analysis of the DGGE banding patterns showed a distinct clustering in the samples of percolating water from the plow layer and a closer relationship between the others. These results suggest that the bacterial communities in percolating water changed during downward movement through the plow layer and subsoil layer. Sequences of the DGGE bands specific for the samples of percolating water from the plow layer showed a close relationship with anaerobic bacteria such as iron-reducers or uncultured bacterial DNA isolated from environments that are considered to be less oxic. On the other hand, the sequences of the bands specific for the samples of floodwater and percolating water from the subsoil layer showed a close relationship with uncultured bacterial DNA isolated from freshwater environments.