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Microbial community of reduced pockmark sediments (Gdansk Deep, Baltic Sea)

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Abstract

The microbial community of reduced pockmark sediments in the Russian sector of the Gdansk Deep, Baltic Sea, was investigated by molecular biological techniques. Fluorescent in situ hybridization was used to determine the numbers of eubacteria, archaea, and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Eubacteria were found to predominate in the upper 10 cm of the sediment (up to 5.3 × 109 cells/g wet sediment), while the number of archaea increased in the 10- to 30-cm layers (up to 2.8 × 109 cells/g wet sediment, which is higher than the number of eubacteria in the same horizons). Analysis of 16S rRNA gene fragments revealed members of the following phyla: Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Planctomycetales, and high-G + C gram-positive bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRBs) of the families Syntrophaceae, Desulfuromonadaceae, and Actinobacteria of the genera Kocuria and Rothia were the predominant groups. Molecular probes were used to determine predominance of Desulfovibrionales in the SRB enrichment cultures obtained from different horizons of pockmark sediments. Three archaeal phylotypes were revealed, belonging to Euryarchaeota. One of these fell into the group of uncultured methanotrophic archaea (ANME-1a), while the other two were most closely related to uncultured methanogens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limnological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Irkutsk, Russia

    O. V. Shubenkova & A. V. Likhoshvai

  2. Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7, k. 2, Moscow, 117312, Russia

    T. A. Kanapatskii & N. V. Pimenov

Authors
  1. O. V. Shubenkova
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  2. A. V. Likhoshvai
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  3. T. A. Kanapatskii
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  4. N. V. Pimenov
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Correspondence to N. V. Pimenov.

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Original Russian Text © O.V. Shubenkova, A.V. Likhoshvai, T.A. Kanapatskii, N.V. Pimenov, 2010, published in Mikrobiologiya, 2010, Vol. 79, No. 6, pp. 801–811.

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Shubenkova, O.V., Likhoshvai, A.V., Kanapatskii, T.A. et al. Microbial community of reduced pockmark sediments (Gdansk Deep, Baltic Sea). Microbiology 79, 799–808 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261710060123

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261710060123

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