Phospholipid-derived fatty acids and quinones as markers for bacterial biomass and community structure in marine sediments.

ABSTRACT: Phospholipid-derived fatty acids (PLFA) and respiratory quinones (RQ) are microbial compounds that have been utilized as biomarkers to quantify bacterial biomass and to characterize microbial community structure in sediments, waters, and soils. While PLFAs have been widely used as quantitative bacterial biomarkers in marine sediments, applications of quinone analysis in marine sediments are very limited. In this study, we investigated the relation between both groups of bacterial biomarkers in a broad range of marine sediments from the intertidal zone to the deep sea. We found a good log-log correlation between concentrations of bacterial PLFA and RQ over several orders of magnitude. This relationship is probably due to metabolic variation in quinone concentrations in bacterial cells in di

SUBMITTER: Kunihiro T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4000199 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature