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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 July; 55(7): 1823-1828
Copyright © 1989, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Turnover of Extracellular DNA in Eutrophic and Oligotrophic Freshwater Environments of Southwest Florida

John H. Paul^*, Wade H. Jeffrey, Andrew W. David, Mary F. DEFlaun and Lisa H. Cazares

Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5016

ABSTRACT

The turnover of extracellular DNA was investigated in oligotrophic springs of the Crystal River and the eutrophic Medard Reservoir of southwest Florida. The Medard Reservoir possessed large populations of bacterioplankton and phytoplankton (6.8 x 10⁹ cells per liter and 28.6 µg of chlorophyll a per liter, respectively), while the Crystal River springs only contained a fraction of the microbial biomass found in the Medard Reservoir. Although dissolved DNA values were greater in the Medard Reservoir, higher rates of DNA removal resulted in similar extracellular DNA turnover times in both environments (9.62 ± 3.6 h in the Crystal River and 10.5 ± 2.1 h in the Medard Reservoir). These results indicate that regardless of trophic status or microbial standing stock, extracellular DNA turns over rapidly in subtropical planktonic freshwater environments. Therefore, recombinant DNA sequences from released genetically engineered microorganisms might not be expected to survive for long periods of time in freshwater planktonic environments.

^* Corresponding author.

Present address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sabine Island, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561.

Present address: Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111.

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