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Impact of the Antarctic benthic fauna on the enrichment of biopolymer degrading psychrophilic bacteria

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Abstract

Stenothermic cold adaptation was a predominant growth characteristic among biopolymer degrading bacteria from Antarctic shelf sediments. Psychrophilic decomposers of protein (gelatin), chitin, and cellulose accounted for up to 84, 93, and 68%, respectively, of 0°C-isolates from selected compartments of the sediments. Macroinvertebrates were recognized as a selective pressure on these fast-growing (zymogenous) psychrophiles. Psychrophilic properties of growth and biopolymer degradation coincided most in the case of proteolytic isolates. On the other hand, the majority of psychrophilic chitin- and cellulose-decomposers showed less efficient biopolymer degradation at environmental temperatures (0°C). Temperature optima of the activities of pertinent depolymerizing enzymes (e.g., scleroprotease) exceeded by far the temperature optima for growth (between 4 and 12°C). Therefore, it appears likely that enhanced rates of enzyme synthesis at low temperatures play a crucial role for the degradation of detrital organic matter in this permanently cold environment.

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  1. Institut für Meereskunde an der Universität Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-2300, Kiel, West Germany

    Wolfgang Reichardt

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  1. Wolfgang Reichardt
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Reichardt, W. Impact of the Antarctic benthic fauna on the enrichment of biopolymer degrading psychrophilic bacteria. Microb Ecol 15, 311–321 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02012644

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