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Water masses’ bacterial community structure and microbial activities in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2010

Mauro Celussi ,
Andrea Bergamasco ,
Bruno Cataletto ,
Serena Fonda Umani  and
Paola Del Negro
Mauro Celussi*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Oceanography, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), v. A. Piccard 54, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
Andrea Bergamasco
Affiliation:
CNR–ISMAR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, sezione di Venezia, Castello 1364/A, I-30122 Venezia, Italy
Bruno Cataletto
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Oceanography, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), v. A. Piccard 54, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
Serena Fonda Umani
Affiliation:
Department of Life Science, Università di Trieste, v. Valerio 28/A, I-34127 Trieste, Italy
Paola Del Negro
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Oceanography, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), v. A. Piccard 54, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
*
mcelussi@ogs.trieste.it
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Abstract

During the summer 2005/06, an oceanographic cruise was carried out in the Ross Sea, from Cape Adare, through the Terra Nova Bay polynya to the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. We analysed microbial activities (prokaryotic carbon production, protease, phosphatase, beta-glucosidase and lipase activity) and bacterial community structure (using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis - DGGE) in order to establish if differences in bacterioplankton assemblages and their metabolic requirements occur within the five Ross Sea water masses: Antarctic Surface Waters (AASW), High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW), Ice Shelf Water (ISW), Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW). Differences in activities were found between the highly active AASW and all the other water bodies. A Principal Component Analysis highlighted two main gradients: in the Cape Adare area (AASWn, CDW and AABW) higher phosphatase, lipase and glycolytic activities, increasing towards the surface, were identified, whereas in the southern sector of the basin [AASWs and (m)HSSW] higher leucine uptake and polypeptide degradation characterized the second gradient. DGGE fingerprinting showed for the first time that different water masses harboured diverse bacterial communities, highlighting the high specificity of deep water assemblages. Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria represented the main phylogenetic groupings in all samples and no substantial difference in the phylogenetic composition of assemblages was found between different water masses.

Keywords

biogeochemical processesPCR-DGGE
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , August 2010 , pp. 361 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2010

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