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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02811-06
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Phylogenetic Diversity of Gram-Positive Bacteria Cultured From Marine Sediments

Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0204

	Abstract

Major advances in our understanding of marine bacterial diversity have been gained through studies of bacterioplankton, the vast majority of which appear to be Gram-negative. Less effort has been devoted to studies of bacteria inhabiting marine sediments, yet there is evidence to suggest that Gram-positive bacteria comprise a relatively large proportion of these communities. To further expand our understanding of the aerobic Gram-positive bacteria present in tropical marine sediments, a culture-dependent approach was applied to sediments collected in the Republic of Palau at depths from intertidal-500 m. This investigation resulted in the isolation of 1,624 diverse Gram-positive bacteria spanning 22 families, including many that appear to represent new taxa. Phylogenetic analysis of 189 representative isolates, based on 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence data, indicated that 124 (65.6%) belonged to the class Actinobacteria while the remaining 65 (34.4%) were members of the class Bacilli. Using a sequence identity value of 98%, the 189 isolates grouped into 78 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of which 29 (37.2%) are likely to represent new taxa. The high degree of phylogenetic novelty observed during this study highlights the fact that a great deal remains to be learned about the diversity of Gram-positive bacteria in marine sediments.

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