Microbial communities associated with Arctic fjord ice polluted with petroleum oils were investigated in this study. A winter field experiment was conducted in the Van Mijen Fjord (Svalbard) from February to June 2004, in which the ice was contaminated with a North Sea paraffinic oil. Holes were drilled in the ice and oil samples frozen into the ice at the start of the experiment. Samples, including cores of both oil-contaminated and clean ice, were collected from the field site 33, 74, and 112 days after oil application. The sampled cores were separated into three sections and processed for microbiological and chemical analyses. In the oil-contaminated cores, enumerations of total prokaryotic cells by fluorescence microscopy and colony-forming units (CFU) counts of heterotrophic prokaryotes both showed stimulation of microbial growth, while concentrations of oil-degrading prokaryotes remained at similar levels in contaminated and clean ice. Analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed that bacterial communities in oil-contaminated ice generated fewer bands than communities in clean ice, although banding patterns changed both in contaminated and clean ice during the experimental period. Microbial communities in unpolluted ice and in cores contaminated with the paraffinic oil were examined by cloning and sequence analysis. In the contaminated cores, the communities became predominated by Gammaproteobacteria related to the genera Colwellia, Marinomonas, and Glaciecola, while clean ice included more heterogeneous populations. Chemical analysis of the oil-contaminated ice cores with determinations of n-C17/Pristane and naphthalene/phenanthrene ratios indicated slow oil biodegradation in the ice, primarily in the deeper parts of the ice with low hydrocarbon concentrations.

No abstract

Sexually selected characters may reveal information about individual quality during mate choice. Fin display and sound emitted with the aid of specific drumming muscles are characters described as being of importance in the reproductive behaviour of cod (Gadus morhua L.). We examined whether the mass of drumming muscles or fin size was sexually dimorphic, and whether these characters could provide information about male cod that was potentially of benefit to mate-seeking females. The mass of drumming muscles, but not fin size, was sexually dimorphic, with males having larger muscles than females. Neither the mass of drumming muscles nor fin size apparently revealed information about traits that may be associated with parasite resistance in males (i.e., parasite intensities and leukocyte densities). However, variation in fertilization potential (i.e., spermatocrit level) among males was related to both mass of drumming muscles and fin size. Thus, by evaluating sound and fin size, mate-seeking females may obtain information about fertilization ability among males. This may be of particular importance for females in a species whose eggs commonly remain unfertilized. Furthermore, males with large drumming muscles and small fins had low spermatocrit levels. This may reflect reductions in sperm density resulting from frequent ejaculations by attractive males. A costly allocation of resources for the development of drumming muscles at the expense of fin muscles used for propulsion is presented as a tentative explanation as to why females should pay attention to these particular traits during courtship. Increased investment in "song" may thus appear at the expense of "dance."

No abstract

No abstract