deletions | additions       diff --git a/introduction.tex b/introduction.tex  index 90ed221..30eab8e 100644  --- a/introduction.tex  +++ b/introduction.tex 
...
An important step in understanding soil C cycling dynamics is to identify individual contributions of discrete microorganisms and to investigate the relationship between genetic diversity, community structure, and function \cite{O_Donnell_2002}. The vast majority of microorganisms continue to resist cultivation in the laboratory, and even when cultivation is achieved, the traits expressed by a microorganism in culture may not be representative of those expressed when in its natural habitat. Stable-isotope probing (SIP) provides a unique opportunity to link microbial identity to activity and has been utilized to expand our knowledge of a myriad of important biogeochemical processes \cite{Chen_Murrell_2010}. The most successful applications of this technique have identified organisms which mediate processes performed by a narrow set of functional guilds such as methanogens\cite{Lu_2005}. The technique has been less applicable to the study of soil C cycling because of limitations in resolving power as a result of simultaneous labeling of many different organisms in the community. Additionally, molecular applications such as TRFLP, DGGE, and cloning that are frequently used in conjunction with SIP provide insufficient resolution of taxon identity and depth of coverage. We have developed an approach that employs a complex mixture of substrates, added at low concentration relative to soil organic matter pools, along with massively parallel DNA sequencing, which greatly expands the ability of nucleic acid SIP to explore complex patterns of C-cycling in microbial communities.   The aim of this study is to track the temporal dynamics of C assimilation through discrete individuals of the soil microbial community to provide greater insight into soil C-cycling and the transformation of the microbial community during plant biomass degradation. To test this, we use \textsuperscript{13}C-xylose and \textsuperscript{13}C-cellulose as a proxy for labile and polymeric C, respectively, in an experimental approach that employs the addition of a soil organic matter simulant (a complex mixture of model carbon sources and inorganic nutrients common to plant biomass) to soil. Parallel incubations of soils amended with this complex C mixture, where a single C constituent is substituted for its \textsuperscript{13}C-labeled equivalent, allows us to test how different C substrates cascade through discrete taxa within the soil microbial community. A previous study has shown that \textsuperscript{13}C labeled plant residues enable tracking of C through microbial pathways \cite{Evershed_2006}. Using a novel approach we couple nucleic acid stable isotope probing with next generation sequencing (SIP-NGS) to elucidate soil microbial community members responsible for specific C transformations. Amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments from many gradient fractions and multiple gradients make it possible to track carbon assimilation by hundreds of different taxa. This approach allows us to identify specific microbial taxa that assimilate different forms of soil C, and to evaluate thedynamics of  assimilation dynamics  of these substrates into DNA.