Fig. 7

Workflow diagram of the experimental design. a¹³C-Glucose and ¹²C-Glucose was used in PSYL5 culture medium for ¹³C- and ¹²C-WH15EPS production by Granulicella sp WH15. ¹³C- and ¹²C-WH15EPS were purified and incubated with litter-topsoil samples collected in Wolfheze forest, NL. Controls without WH15EPS were also incubated; each treatment had 6 replicates. After 35 days of incubation and CO₂ respiration measurements, DNA was extracted and fractionated. “Heavy fraction” of the ¹³C-WH15EPS incubations and total DNA from ¹²C-WH15EPS and controls without EPS were sent for shotgun sequencing. b In parallel, purified ¹²C-WH15EPS was used as a carbon source for culture medium DNMS. A 10⁻³ dilution of litter-topsoil samples collected in Wolfheze forest was inoculated in the culture medium and incubated at room temperature for 30 days. Each plate had 2 replicates. Next, cells were scraped from the plates; total DNA was extracted and sent for Shotgun sequencing