A device for assessing microbial activity under ambient hydrostatic pressure: The in situ microbial incubator ( ISMI )
Type | Article |
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Date | 2023-02 |
Language | English |
Author(s) | Amano Chie1, Reinthaler Thomas1, Sintes Eva2, Varela Marta M.3, Stefanschitz Julia1, Kaneko Sho4, Nakano Yoshiyuki5, Borchert Wolfgang6, Herndl Gerhard J.1, 7, Utsumi Motoo8, 9 |
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Bio‐Oceanography Unit University of Vienna Vienna ,Austria 2 : Instituto Español de Oceanografía‐CSIC, Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares Palma de Mallorca, Spain 3 : Instituto Español de Oceanografia‐CSIC, Centro Oceanografico de A Coruña A Coruña, Spain 4 : NiGK Corporation Saitama ,Japan 5 : Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) Yokosuka ,Japan 6 : Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG Leer ,Germany 7 : NIOZ, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University Texel ,The Netherlands 8 : Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Tsukuba Ibaraki ,Japan 9 : Microbiology Research Center for Sustainability University of Tsukuba Ibaraki, Japan |
Source | Limnology And Oceanography-methods (1541-5856) (Wiley), 2023-02 , Vol. 21 , N. 2 , P. 69-81 |
DOI | 10.1002/lom3.10528 |
Abstract | Microbes in the dark ocean are exposed to hydrostatic pressure increasing with depth. Activity rate measurements and biomass production of dark ocean microbes are, however, almost exclusively performed under atmospheric pressure conditions due to technical constraints of sampling equipment maintaining in situ pressure conditions. To evaluate the microbial activity under in situ hydrostatic pressure, we designed and thoroughly tested an in situ microbial incubator (ISMI). The ISMI allows autonomously collecting and incubating seawater at depth, injection of substrate and fixation of the samples after a preprogramed incubation time. The performance of the ISMI was tested in a high-pressure tank and in several field campaigns under ambient hydrostatic pressure by measuring prokaryotic bulk 3H-leucine incorporation rates. Overall, prokaryotic leucine incorporation rates were lower at in situ pressure conditions than under to depressurized conditions reaching only about 50% of the heterotrophic microbial activity measured under depressurized conditions in bathypelagic waters in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Our results show that the ISMI is a valuable tool to reliably determine the metabolic activity of deep-sea microbes at in situ hydrostatic pressure conditions. Hence, we advocate that deep-sea biogeochemical and microbial rate measurements should be performed under in situ pressure conditions to obtain a more realistic view on deep-sea biotic processes. |
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