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Microbial preference for different size classes of organic carbon: a study from Antarctic snow

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Abstract

Significance of carbon cycling in polar ecosystems is well recognized. Yet, bacteria in surface snow have received less attention in terms of their potential in carbon cycling. Here, we present results on carbon utilization by bacterial communities in three surface snow samples from Antarctica collected along a coastal to inland transect. Microcosm studies were conducted over 8 days at 5 ± 1°C to study carbon metabolism in different combinations of added low molecular weight (LMW (glucose, <1 kDa)) and high molecular weight (HMW (starch, >1 kDa)) substrates (final 20 ppm). The total organic carbon (TOC) in the snow samples decreased with time at rates ranging from non-detectable to 1.4 ppm day−1 with rates highest in snow samples from inland region. In addition, carbon utilization studies were also carried out with bacterial isolates LH1, LH2, and LH4 belonging to the genus Cellulosimicrobium, Bacillus, and Ralstonia, respectively, isolated from the snow samples. Studies with strain LH2 in different amendments of glucose and starch showed that TOC decreased with time in all amendments at a rate of 0.9–1.5 ppm day−1 with highest rates of 1.4–1.5 ppm day−1 in amendments containing a higher proportion of starch. The bacterial isolates were also studied to determine their ability to utilize other LMW and HMW compounds. They utilized diverse substrates like carbohydrates, amino acids, amines, amides, complex polymers, etc., of molecular mass <100 Da, 100–500 Da, >500 Da–1 kDa, and >1 kDa preferring (up to 31 times) substrates with mass of >1 kDa than <1 kDa. The ability of bacteria in snow to utilize diverse LMW and HMW substrates indicates that they could be important in the uptake of similar compounds in snow and therefore potentially govern snow chemistry.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Director, NCAOR, for his excellent support. We thank S. Naik and A. Painguinkar for their valuable support during the analysis. We acknowledge the services of MMRF, National Institute of Oceanography, Cochin for whole cell fatty acid analysis. The authors also acknowledge the helpful comments from Dr. Shanta Nair, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa and Dr. C. T. Achuthankutty, NCAOR. Thanks are also due to S. Karunakaran for help with ArcGis. This is NCAOR contribution number 031/2011.

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  1. National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Headland Sada, Vasco-da-Gama, Goa, 403 804, India

    Runa Antony, K. Mahalinganathan, K. P. Krishnan & Meloth Thamban

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  1. Runa Antony
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  2. K. Mahalinganathan
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  3. K. P. Krishnan
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  4. Meloth Thamban
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Correspondence to Runa Antony.

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Antony, R., Mahalinganathan, K., Krishnan, K.P. et al. Microbial preference for different size classes of organic carbon: a study from Antarctic snow. Environ Monit Assess 184, 5929–5943 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2391-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2391-1

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