Abundance and salt tolerance of obligately aerobic, phototrophic bacteria in a marine microbial mat

Abstract

Data have been collected on the abundance of obligately aerobic, bacteriochlorophyll- a-containing bacteria in a marine microbial mat on the West Frisian Island of Texel, The Netherlands. Plate counts on media rich in organic matter revealed average numbers of 3 ∗10 5·cm −3 sediment in the top 10 mm of the mat; the number of purple non-sulphur bacteria was of the same magnitude. Due to the relatively small dimensions of obligately aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria and purple non-sulphur bacteria, compared to those of purple sulphur bacteria, the contributions of either of the two former groups to the biomass of Bchl- a-containing organisms was approximately 3%. The specific Bchl- a-content of the isolated obligately aerobic phototrophs was very low (0.8 to 1.0 μg·mg −1 protein) compared to that of purple non-sulphur bacteria (16 to 20 μg·mg −1 protein), and purple sulphur bacteria (27 to 30 μg·mg −1). As a consequence, the relative contribution to the total Bchl a concentration of the two former groups (0.1% and 2.1%, respectively) was negligible, compared to that of the purple sulphur bacteria (97.8%). Salinities <50 had little effect on growth rate and yield of isolates; at salinities between 50 and 100 the doubling time increased progressively with a concomitant decrease in yield; no growth occurred at salinities > 140.