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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1038-1049, Vol. 66, No. 3
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Highly Ordered Vertical Structure of Synechococcus Populations within the One-Millimeter-Thick Photic Zone of a Hot Spring Cyanobacterial Mat

Niels Birger Ramsing,1,* Mike J. Ferris,2 and David M. Ward2

Department of Microbial Ecology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark,1 and Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 597172

Received 5 May 1999/Accepted 15 October 1999

A variety of contemporary techniques were used to investigate the vertical distribution of thermophilic unicellular cyanobacteria, Synechococcus spp., and their activity within the upper 1-mm-thick photic zone of the mat community found in an alkaline siliceous hot spring in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Detailed measurements were made over a diel cycle at a 61°C site. Net oxygenic photosynthesis measured with oxygen microelectrodes was highest within the uppermost 100- to 200-µm-thick layer until midmorning, but as the day progressed, the peak of net activity shifted to deeper layers, stabilizing at a depth of 300 µm from midday throughout the afternoon. Examination of vertical thin sections by bright-field and autofluorescence microscopy revealed the existence of different populations of Synechococcus which form discrete bands at different vertical positions. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene segments from horizontal cryosections obtained at 100-µm-thick vertical intervals also suggested vertical stratification of cyanobacterial, green sulfur bacterium-like, and green nonsulfur bacterium-like populations. There was no evidence of diel migration. However, image analysis of vertical thin sections revealed the presence of a narrow band of rod-shaped Synechococcus cells in which the cells assumed an upright position. These upright cells, located 400 to 800 µm below the surface, were observed only in mat samples obtained around noon. In mat samples obtained at other time points, the cells were randomly oriented throughout the mat. These combined observations reveal the existence of a highly ordered structure within the very thin photic zone of this hot spring microbial mat, consisting of morphologically similar Synechococcus populations that are likely to be differentially adapted, some co-occurring with green sulfur bacterium-like populations, and all overlying green nonsulfur bacterium-like populations.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Biological Sciences, Ny Munkegade, Building 540, DK 8000 Aarhus, Denmark. Phone: 45 8942 3248. Fax: 45 8612 7191. E-mail: niels.ramsing{at}biology.aau.dk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1038-1049, Vol. 66, No. 3
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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