Fig. 4From: Spatial segregation of the biological soil crust microbiome around its foundational cyanobacterium, Microcoleus vaginatus, and the formation of a nitrogen-fixing cyanosphereRatio of the nifH to 16S rRNA gene copy number in bulk biocrust soil and M. vaginatus bundle (cyanosphere) communities. The nifH/16S rRNA ratio was obtained by quantitative PCR assays of each and was two to three orders of magnitude higher in the cyanosphere than in the bulk soil crust. A one-way ANOVA test showed that differences between groups (M. vaginatus bundles vs. bulk biocrust soil) were significant (p value < 0.005)Back to article page