Microbial diversity in coastal subsurface sediments: a cultivation approach using various electron acceptors and substrate gradients.

ABSTRACT: Microbial communities in coastal subsurface sediments are scarcely investigated and have escaped attention so far. But since they are likely to play an important role in biogeochemical cycles, knowledge of their composition and ecological adaptations is important. Microbial communities in tidal sediments were investigated along the geochemical gradients from the surface down to a depth of 5.5 m. Most-probable-number (MPN) series were prepared with a variety of different carbon substrates, each at a low concentration, in combination with different electron acceptors such as iron and manganese oxides. These achieved remarkably high cultivation efficiencies (up to 23% of the total cell counts) along the upper 200 cm. In the deeper sediment layers, MPN counts dropped significantly. Parallel to

SUBMITTER: Kopke B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1317335 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature