Bacterial community in sediment from the Western Pacific “Warm Pool” and its relationship to environment

Abstract

Total DNAs were extracted from different sections of deep sea sediment core sample collected from the Western Pacific “Warm Pool”. The bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) clone libraries were constructed and analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and DNA sequencing. The bacterial communities in these samples and their relationship to environment were analyzed consequently. The results indicated that among eight main bacterial groups found in these sediments, members of the γ-Proteobacteria were most abundant in each section of sediment core sample and the genus Colwellia belonging to γ-Proteobacteria was dominant in this area. Members of the α-Proteobacteria were found commonly existing in these samples, while members belonging to β-Proteobacteria were seldom detected. The diversity of bacterial communities from different sections of sediment core sample was δ- and ε-Proteobacteria and the bacterial group including generaCytopahga, Flexibacteria andBacteroides (CFB group). These bacteria all were inversely proportional to the depth of sediment. Phylogenetic analysis showed that there were 18%–30% and 15%–25% of total bacterial communities related to methane and sulfur metabolism respectively in each section of core sample, implicating that the metabolism of sulfur and methane played an important role in the substance and energy cycles of the Western Pacific “Warm Pool”.