Phylogenetic Affiliation and Quantification of Psychrophilic Sulfate-Reducing Isolates in Marine Arctic Sediments

ABSTRACT Thirteen psychrophilic sulfate-reducing isolates from two permanently cold fjords of the Arctic island Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Storfjord) were phylogenetically analyzed. They all belonged to the δ subclass of Proteobacteria and were widely distributed within this group, indicating that ps...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Main Authors: Sahm, Kerstin, Knoblauch, Christian, Amann, Rudolf
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Society for Microbiology 1999
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.65.9.3976-3981.1999
https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/AEM.65.9.3976-3981.1999
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Thirteen psychrophilic sulfate-reducing isolates from two permanently cold fjords of the Arctic island Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Storfjord) were phylogenetically analyzed. They all belonged to the δ subclass of Proteobacteria and were widely distributed within this group, indicating that psychrophily is a polyphyletic property. A new 16S rRNA-directed oligonucleotide probe was designed against the largest coherent cluster of these isolates. The new probe, as well as a set of available probes, was applied in rRNA slot blot hybridization to investigate the composition of the sulfate-reducing bacterial community in the sediments. rRNA related to the new cluster of incompletely oxidizing, psychrophilic isolates made up 1.4 to 20.9% of eubacterial rRNA at Storfjord and 0.6 to 3.5% of eubacterial rRNA at Hornsund. This group was the second-most-abundant group of sulfate reducers at these sites. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and hybridization analysis showed bands identical to those produced by our isolates. The data indicate that the psychrophilic isolates are quantitatively important in Svalbard sediments.