Number and phylogenetic affiliation of bacteria assimilating dimethylsulfoniopropionate and leucine in the ice-covered coastal Arctic Ocean

7 pages, 5 figures, 1 table.-- Issue title: "Sea ice and life in a river-influenced arctic shelf ecosystem" The ability of bacteria to assimilate sulfur from dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) was examined in the western Arctic Ocean by combining microautoradiography and fluorescence in sit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Marine Systems
Main Authors: Vila-Costa, Maria, Simó, Rafel, Alonso-Sáez, Laura, Pedrós-Alió, Carlos
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2008
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/16131
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.10.006
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Summary:7 pages, 5 figures, 1 table.-- Issue title: "Sea ice and life in a river-influenced arctic shelf ecosystem" The ability of bacteria to assimilate sulfur from dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) was examined in the western Arctic Ocean by combining microautoradiography and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Assimilation of leucine was also measured for comparative purposes since leucine is considered a universal substrate for bacteria, which use it for protein synthesis. Samples were collected at 3 m depth, through a hole in the ice, in the CASES (Canadian Arctic Shelf Ecosystem Study) overwintering station in Franklin Bay (eastern Beaufort Sea) in March and May 2004 to compare two contrasting situations: winter and early spring. FISH counts indicated that the bacterial assemblage consisted of α- (up to 60% of the EUB positive cells), β- (up to 10%) and γ-proteobacteria (around 20%), and Bacteroidetes (up to 60%). The β-proteobacteria were not active with any of the two substrates tested. The remaining groups were much less efficient at assimilating DMSP-sulfur (5% of the cells) than leucine (20–35%) both in winter and in spring. Only the Roseobacter group of α-proteobacteria showed a similar assimilation of both substrates Financial support for this study was provided by grants from the Generalitat de Catalunya (DURSI 2003ACES00029/ANT), the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (REN2002-11565-E/ANT), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through project CASES (Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study) under the overall direction of L.Fortier. Special thanks to W. F. Vincent for providing the opportunity to join CASES Peer reviewed