Marine Bacteriology

Abstract

The sea contains an extensive microbiological population in cluding bacteria, yeasts, molds, diatoms, dinoflagellates, protozoa, and other microscopic organisms. By virtue of their physiological activities such microorganisms, which vary greatly in diversity of form and in relative abundance, play an important role as bio chemical, geological, and hydrobiological agents in aquatic en vironments. Microbiology is thus a marine science co-ordinate with marine #botany, chemical oceanography, marine geology, physical oceanography, and marine zoology (1). Besides being concerned with the effects of microorganisms on the biological productivity of the sea, the transformation of organic matter, and the diagenesis of marine bottom deposits, the marine micro biologist is confronted by practical problems, e.g., problems of sanitary significance, such as fish spoilage (2, 3), shellfish pollu tion (4), the fouling of ships' bottoms (5), and deterioration of cordage (6), rubber (7), and wooden structures (8) exposed to water. This report is concerned primarily with the biochemical a ' ctivities of bacteria in the sea. ABUNDANCE OF BACTERIA IN THE SEABacteria in sea water.-Comprehensive reviews by Benecke (11) and ZoBell (12) indicate that bacteria are widely distributed in the sea, although relatively less abundant than in soil or fresh water. The numbers of bacteria found in sea water, as determined by plating procedures, range from a very few cells to hundreds of thousands of cells per ml. (13). The largest bacterial populations generally occur in water near shore where there is much terrig-, cnous (land-born) pollution (14,15, 16).In the open ocean the abundance of bacteria increases from the surface downward to depths of forty or fifty meters and then de creases (17,18) until, at depths exceeding two hundred meters, there may be fewer than one viable cell per mt. (14). The bac terial population is not detectably restricted by the high hydro-1 Contribution from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, New Series, No. 330. 565 Annu. Rev. Biochem. 1947.16:565-586. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by West Virginia University on 11/20/14. For personal use only. Quick links to online content Further ANNUAL REVIEWS

Uptake and Release of Dissolved Organic Phosphorus by Representatives of a Coastal Marine Ecosystem1,2

“…During a decline in numbers during which 90% of the cells died, less than 0.1 pg-at/liter of DOP was released over a period of 12 days. In this culture, the density of bacteria during the stationary phase was over 1,000 times as great as the highest oceanic bacterial densitie:; reported by Jannasch and Jones ( 1959) and ZoBell ( 1959). It therefore appears that neither living nor dead bacteria con-stitutc significant sources of DOP in the sea.…”

Plasticity of Candida albicans Biofilms

“…However, not until the 1940s did researchers realize that the bacterial slime covering surfaces in aquatic ecosystems represented more than disorganized detritus. Rather, they were complex and organized communities of cells (58,59). In 1978, J. W. Costerton and his coworkers (60,61) published the first formal description of a bacterial biofilm in researching how bacteria adhered to surfaces in aquatic systems.…”

Comment on acp-2020-1229

“…Within one to two hours of collection, precipitation and aerosol samples were also inoculated in 5 mL ZoBell growth media (ZoBell, 1947) (5 g peptone, 1 g yeast extract per 1 L of filtered (0.22 µm) autoclaved seawater) and grown under ambient conditions (21 -24 ˚C). INP concentrations in ZoBell enrichments were measured 1-day post inoculation and for several days thereafter to monitor for sustained IN activity.…”