This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Xiao, X. Articles by Wang, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Xiao, X. Articles by Wang, F. Agricola Articles by Xiao, X. Articles by Wang, F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 7904-7909, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.7904-7909.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Chitinase Genes in Lake Sediments of Ardley Island, Antarctica

Xiang Xiao,¹ Xuebin Yin,² Jian Lin,¹ Liguang Sun,² Ziyong You,¹ Peng Wang,¹ and Fengping Wang^1*

Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, People's Republic of China,¹ Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China²

Received 19 April 2005/ Accepted 17 August 2005

A sediment core spanning approximately 1,600 years was collected from a lake on Ardley Island, Antarctica. The sediment core had been greatly influenced by penguin guano. Using molecular methods, the chitinolytic bacterial community along the sediment core was studied over its entire length. Primers targeting conserved sequences of the catalytic domains of family 18 subgroup A chitinases detected group A chitinases from a wide taxonomic range of bacteria. Using quantitative competitive PCR (QC-PCR), chitinase gene copies in each 1-cm section of the whole sediment column were quantified. QC-PCR determination of the chitinase gene copies indicated significant correlation with phosphorus and total organic carbon concentration, suggesting a historical connection between chitinase gene copies and the amount of penguin guano input into the lake sediment. Most of the chitinase genes cloned from the historic sediment core were novel. Analysis of the chitinase gene diversity in selected sediment layers and in the fresh penguin deposits indicated frequent shifts in the chitinolytic bacterial community over time. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA genes of chitinolytic bacteria isolated from the lake sediment revealed that the isolates belonged to Janthinobacterium species, Stenotrophomonas species of -Proteobacteria, Cytophaga species of the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides group, and Streptomyces and Norcardiopsis species of Actinobacteria. Chitinase gene fragments were cloned and sequenced from these cultivated chitinolytic bacteria. The phylogeny of the chitinase genes obtained from the isolates did not correspond well to that of the isolates, suggesting acquisition via horizontal gene transfer.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Daxue Road 178, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China. Phone: 86-592-2195349. Fax: 86-592-2085376. E-mail: fengpingw{at}yahoo.com.

---

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 7904-7909, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.7904-7909.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wang, F., Gai, Y., Chen, M., Xiao, X. (2009). Arthrobacter psychrochitiniphilus sp. nov., a psychrotrophic bacterium isolated from Antarctica. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59: 2759-2762 [Abstract] [Full Text]