- Marine Ecology: Microbial Processes
- Published:
Microbial activity in the sediment of the Sognefjord (Norway)
Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen volume 49, pages 169–176 (1995)
Abstract
The activity of microorganisms was investigated in sediment samples of the Norwegian Sognefjord at a 1260 m depth. The enzymatic potential (measured, using the cleavage of fluoresceindiacetate FDA) ranged between 11 and 29 nmol FDA cm−3 h−1. LabeledAnacystis sp. (Cyanobacteria) were degraded (measured as liberation of14C-labeled CO2) at a rate of 0.67–1.24% day−1. The assays were run at 1 atm and at 126 atm pressure. In both cases, activity was higher when samples were incubated under 1 atm than under simulated in-situ conditions. This indicates that the sediment community of the fjord is adapted only to a limited extent to the elevated pressure at the bottom. The results are compared and discussed with data from other deep marine environments.
Literature Cited
Barnett, P. R. O., Watson, J. & Connely, D., 1984. A multiple corer for taking virtually undisturbed samples from shelf, bathyal and abyssal sediments. — Oceanol. Acta7, 399–408.
Billen, G., 1982. Modelling the processes of organic matter degradation and nutrient recycling in sedimentary systems. In: Sediment microbiology. Ed. by D. B. Nedwell & C. M. Brown. Acad. Press, London, 15–52.
Boetius, A., 1995. Microbial enzyme activity in deep-sea sediments. — Helgoländer Meeresunters.49, 177–187.
Chaistain, R. A. & Yayanos, A. A., 1991. Ultrastructural changes in an obligately barophilic marine bacterium after decompression. — Appl. environ. Microbiol.57, 1489–1497.
Christiansen, B., 1993. A television and photographic survey of megafaunal abundance in the central Sognefjord, western Norway. — Sarsia78, 1–8.
Chrost, J., 1990. Microbial ectoenzymes in aquatic environments. In: Aquatic microbial ecology —biochemical and molecular approaches. Ed. by J. Overbeck & R. J. Chrost. Springer, New York, 47–78.
Deming, J. W., & Colwell, R. R., 1982. Barophilic bacteria associated with digestive tracts of abyssal holothurians. — Appl. environ. Microbiol.44, 1222–1230.
Deming, J. W. & Colwell, R. R., 1985. Observations of barophilic microbial activity in samples of sediment and intercepted particulates from the Demerara Abyssal Plain. — Appl. environ. Microbiol.50, 1002–1006.
Deming, J. W., Tabor, P. S. & Colwell, R. R., 1981. Barophilic growth of bacteria from intestinal tracts of deep-sea invertebrates. — Microb. Ecol.7, 85–94.
Freeland, H. J., Farmer, D. M. & Levings, C. D., 1980. Fjord oceanography. Plenum Press, New York, 715 pp.
Hoppe, H. G., 1983. Significance of exoenzymatic activities in the ecology of brackish water: measurements by means of methylumbelliferyl-substrates. — Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.11, 299–308.
Jaeneke, R., 1991. Protein stability and molecular adaptation to extreme conditions. — Eur. J. Biochem.202, 715–728.
Jannasch, H. & Wirsen, C. O., 1973. Deep-sea microorganisms: in situ response to nutrient enrichment. — Science, N.Y.180, 641–643.
Jannasch, H. & Wirsen, C. O., 1982. Microbial activities in undecompressed and decompressed deep-seawater samples. — Appl. environ. Microbiol.43, 1116–1124.
Jannasch, H. & Wirsen, C. O., 1984. Variability of pressure adaptation in deep sea bacteria. — Arch. Microbiol.139, 281–288.
Köster, M., 1992. Mikrobieller Abbau von organischem Material an Grenzzonen. Diss., Univ. Kiel, 148 pp.
Köster, M., Jensen, P. & Meyer-Reil, L. A., 1991. Hydrolytic activity associated with organisms and biogenic structures in deep-sea sediments. In: Microbial enzymes in aquatic environments. Ed. by R. Chrost. Springer, Berlin, 298–310.
Lochte, K., 1992. Bacterial standing stock and consumption of organic carbon in the benthic boundary layer of the abyssal North Atlantic. In: Deep-sea food chains and the global carbon cycle. Ed. by T. Rowe & V. Pariente. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1–10.
Meyer-Reil, L. A., 1990. Microorganisms in marine sediments: considerations concerning activity measurements. — Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih. Ergebn. Limnol.34, 1–6.
Meyer-Reil, L. A. & Köster, M., 1992. Microbial life in pelagic sediments: the impact of environmental parameters on enzymatic degradation of organic material. — Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.81, 65–72.
Rowe, G. T. & Deming, J. W., 1985. The role of bacteria in the turnover of organic carbon in deep-sea sediments. — J. mar. Res.43, 925–950.
Turley, C. M. & Lochte, K., 1990. Microbial response to the input of fresh detritus to the deep-sea bed. — Paleogeogr. Paleoclimatol. Paleoecol.89, 3–23.
Turley, C. M., Lochte, K. & Paterson, D. J., 1988. A barophilic flagellate isolated from 4500 m in the mid-North Atlantic. — Deep Sea Res.35, 1079–1092.
Yayanos, A. A., 1969. A technique for studying biological reaction rates at high pressure. — Rev. scient. Instrum40, 961–963.
Yayanos, A. A., Dietz, A. S. & van Boxtel, R., 1979. Isolation of a deep-sea barophilic bacterium and some of its growth characteristics. — Science, N.Y.205, 808–809.
Yayanos, A. A., Dietz, A. S. & van Boxtel, R., 1981. Obligately barophilic bacterium from the Mariana Trench. — Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.78, 5212–5215.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Poremba, K., Jeskulke, K. Microbial activity in the sediment of the Sognefjord (Norway). Helgolander Meeresunters 49, 169–176 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02368347
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02368347