Abstract
During a joint French-Swedish expedition (NORBI) in July-August, 1975, in the deep Norwegian Sea, the density of aerobic, heterotrophic sediment bacteria was determined by viable counts at 9 stations. The numbers rarely exceeded 103 ml-1 wet sediment. ATP measurements, with a limit of detectability of 5 ng ml-1 wet sediment, gave constantly negative results. One third of the strains isolated at 5°C were psychrophiles. The ability to degrade lipids, proteins, starch, and chitin, probably due to maximum biosynthesis of the exoenzymes, was correlated with the optimum temperature for growth. There was a strong positive correlation (P<0.001) between optimum temperature for the isolates and the number of different macromolecules attacked. Lipolytic activity was found to predominate. Differences in the bacterial composition between the Norwegian and Lofoten, Spitsbergen, and Greenland deep basins are discussed in relation to known differences in their faunal density and hydrography.
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