Community size and metabolic rates of psychrophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria in Arctic marine sediments

• Main Authors: Knoblauch, C., Jørgensen, B., Harder, J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-485E-2; http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-4860-E

The numbers of sulfate reducers in two Arctic sediments within situ temperatures of 2.6 and -1.7 degrees C were determined. Most-probable-number counts were higher at 10 degrees C than at 20 degrees C, indicating the predominance of a psychrophilic community. Mean specific sulfate reduction rates of 19 isolated psychrophiles were compared to corresponding rates of 9 marine, mesophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria. The results indicate that, as a physiological adaptation to the permanently cold Arctic environment, psychrophilic sulfate reducers have considerably higher specific metabolic rates than their mesophilic counterparts at similarly low temperatures.