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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2003, p. 4910-4914, Vol. 69, No. 8
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.8.4910-4914.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Remarkable Diversity of Phototrophic Purple Bacteria in a Permanently Frozen Antarctic Lake

Elizabeth A. Karr, W. Matthew Sattley, Deborah O. Jung, Michael T. Madigan, and Laurie A. Achenbach*

Department of Microbiology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6508

Received 11 February 2003/ Accepted 7 May 2003

Although anoxygenic photosynthesis is thought to play an important role in the primary productivity of permanently frozen lakes in the Antarctic dry valleys, the bacterial communities responsible for this metabolism remain uncharacterized. Here we report the composition and activity of phototrophic purple bacteria in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, as determined by analysis of a photosynthesis-specific gene, pufM. The results revealed an extensive diversity and highly stratified distribution of purple nonsulfur bacteria in Lake Fryxell and showed which phylotypes produced pufM transcripts in situ. Enrichment cultures for purple bacteria yielded two morphotypes, each with a pufM signature identical to signatures detected by environmental screening. The isolates also contained gas vesicles, buoyancy structures previously unknown in purple nonsulfur bacteria, that may be necessary for these organisms to position themselves at specific depths within the nearly freezing water column.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Southern Illinois University, MC 6508, Carbondale, IL 62901-6508. Phone: (618) 453-7984. Fax: (618) 453-8036. E-mail: laurie{at}micro.siu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2003, p. 4910-4914, Vol. 69, No. 8
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.8.4910-4914.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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