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A pressure-retaining deep ocean sampler and transfer system for measurement of microbial activity in the deep sea

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Abstract

A deep ocean sampler (DOS) has been developed for microbiological sampling and is capable of aseptically collecting 400-ml water samples from any depth in the world oceans. The instrument maintains samples under in situ pressure and temperature. A hyperbaric transfer system has also been developed, enabling transfer of sample volumes up to 150 ml, without decompression or dilution, to pressurized incubation chambers. Utilization of14C-glutamate (21 to 96μg/l) and14C-acetate (4.6μg/l) by microbial populations in undecompressed water samples from the N.W. Atlantic and the Cape and Angola Basins was recorded over incubation periods of 2 to 18 weeks. Rates of substrate utilization ranged from 1 to 38×10−2 μg/l/day.

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Author notes

  1. Paul S. Tabor

    Present address: Environmental Sciences Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.

  2. Kouichi Ohwada

    Present address: Fisheries Agency, National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Hirutak Tamaki, Wataraigun, 519-04, Mie, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, 20742, College Park, Maryland

    Paul S. Tabor, Jody W. Deming, Kouichi Ohwada & Rita R. Colwell

  2. National Bureau of Standards, 20760, Gaithersburg, Maryland

    Harry Davis & Meyer Waxman

Authors
  1. Paul S. Tabor
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  2. Jody W. Deming
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  3. Kouichi Ohwada
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  4. Harry Davis
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  5. Meyer Waxman
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  6. Rita R. Colwell
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Tabor, P.S., Deming, J.W., Ohwada, K. et al. A pressure-retaining deep ocean sampler and transfer system for measurement of microbial activity in the deep sea. Microb Ecol 7, 51–65 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02010478

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