A Snapshot of the Taxonomic Composition and Metabolic Activity of the Microbial Community in an Arctic Harbour (Ny-Ålesund, Kongsfjorden, Svalbard)

Within the Svalbard archipelago, Kongsfjorden is an important marine ecosystem that is recognised as one of the main representative Arctic glacial fjords. Prokaryotic organisms are key drivers of important ecological processes such as carbon fluxes, nutrient mineralisation, and energy transfer, as w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Main Authors: Simone Cappello, Francesco Smedile, Gabriella Caruso, Sabrina Patania, Alessia Lunetta, Maurizio Azzaro
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023
Subjects:
microbial community
polar environments
harbour
structure
enzymatic activity
Svalbard
Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering
VM1-989
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Arctic
Arctic Harbour
Ny-Ålesund
Svalbard Archipelago
Kongsfjord*
Kongsfjorden
Ny Ålesund
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11051018
https://doaj.org/article/6505fcca6a9a490f8ed619dd8dd0e7a3
Description
Summary:Within the Svalbard archipelago, Kongsfjorden is an important marine ecosystem that is recognised as one of the main representative Arctic glacial fjords. Prokaryotic organisms are key drivers of important ecological processes such as carbon fluxes, nutrient mineralisation, and energy transfer, as well as sentinels of environmental pollution, especially in sediments, that are a repository of contaminants. In some areas of the Arctic, the structure and metabolic activity of the microbial community in the organic matter turnover and globally in the functioning of the benthic domain are mostly still unknown. A snapshot of the main microbial parameters such as bacterial abundance (by microscopic and plate counts), structure (by 16S rRNA sequencing), and metabolic activity was provided in Ny-Ålesund harbour, contextually in seawater and sediment samples. Fluorogenic substrates were used to assess the microbial ability to utilise organic substrates such as proteins, polysaccharides, and organic phosphates through specific enzymatic assays (leucine aminopeptidase—LAP, beta-glucosidase—ß-GLU, and alkaline phosphatase—AP, respectively). The metabolic profiles of psychrophilic heterotrophic bacterial isolates were also screened using a qualitative assay. The phylogenetic analysis of the microbial community revealed that Proteobacteria prevailed among the observed taxonomic groups. Several of the observed sequences were assigned to clones found in harbours, microbial biofilms, antifouling paints, or oil-polluted facilities of cold environments, highlighting a signature of human pressure on the polar habitat of Ny-Ålesund harbour.

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