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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 387-395, Vol. 67, No. 1
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.387-395.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Quantitative Molecular Analysis of the Microbial Community in Marine Arctic Sediments (Svalbard)

Katrin Ravenschlag, Kerstin Sahm,* and Rudolf Amann

Molecular Ecology Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, 28359 Bremen, Germany

Received 19 July 2000/Accepted 11 October 2000

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and rRNA slot blot hybridization with 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes were used to investigate the phylogenetic composition of a marine Arctic sediment (Svalbard). FISH resulted in the detection of a large fraction of microbes living in the top 5 cm of the sediment. Up to 65.4% ± 7.5% of total DAPI (4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole) cell counts hybridized to the bacterial probe EUB338, and up to 4.9% ± 1.5% hybridized to the archaeal probe ARCH915. Besides delta -proteobacterial sulfate-reducing bacteria (up to 16% 52) members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium cluster were the most abundant group detected in this sediment, accounting for up to 12.8% of total DAPI cell counts and up to 6.1% of prokaryotic rRNA. Furthermore, members of the order Planctomycetales accounted for up to 3.9% of total cell counts. In accordance with previous studies, these findings support the hypothesis that these bacterial groups are not simply settling with organic matter from the pelagic zone but are indigenous to the anoxic zones of marine sediments. Members of the gamma -proteobacteria also constituted a significant fraction in this sediment (6.1% ± 2.5% of total cell counts, 14.4% ± 3.6% of prokaryotic rRNA). A new probe (GAM660) specific for sequences affiliated with free-living or endosymbiotic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria was developed. A significant number of cells was detected by this probe (2.1% ± 0.7% of total DAPI cell counts, 13.2% ± 4.6% of prokaryotic rRNA), showing no clear zonation along the vertical profile. Gram-positive bacteria and the beta -proteobacteria were near the detection limit in all sediments.

* Corresponding author. Present address: TU Hamburg-Harburg, Technical Microbiology, Kasernenstr. 12, 21071 Hamburg, Germany. Phone: 49-40-428783964. Fax: 49-40-428782909. E-mail: sahm{at}tuhh.de.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 387-395, Vol. 67, No. 1
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.387-395.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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