Biogeography of Rhizobium radiobacter and distribution of associated temperate phages in deep subseafloor sediments.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriophages might be the main 'predators' in the marine deep subsurface and probably have a major impact on indigenous microbial communities. To identify their function within this habitat, we have determined their abundance and distribution along the sediment columns of two continental margin and two open ocean sites that were recovered during Leg 201 of the Ocean Drilling Program. For all investigated sites, viral abundance followed the total cell numbers with a virus-to-cell ratio between 1 and 10 in the upper 100 mbsf (meters below seafloor). An increasing ratio of about 20 in deeper layers indicated an ongoing viral production in up to 11 Ma old sediments. We have used Rhizobium radiobacter as the most frequently isolated organism from the deep subsurface with a high in situ abunda

SUBMITTER: Engelhardt T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3526171 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature