Bacterial community structure and functional profiling of high Arctic fjord sediments

Abstract

Kongsfjorden, an Arctic fjord is significantly affected by the glacier melt and Atlantification, both the processes driven by accelerated warming in the Arctic. This has lead to changes in primary production, carbon pool and microbial communities, especially that in the sediment. In this study, we have examined the bacterial community structure of surface (0–2 cm) and subsurface (3–9 cm) sediments of Kongsfjorden using the high throughput sequencing analysis. Results revealed that bacterial community structure of Kongsfjorden sediments were dominated by phylum Proteobacteria followed by Bacteroidetes and Epsilonbacteraeota. While α- and γ- Proteobacterial class were dominant in surface sediments; δ- Proteobacteria were found to be predominant in subsurface sediments. The bacterial community structure in the surface and subsurface sediments showed significant variations (p ≤ 0.05). Total organic carbon could be one of the major parameters controlling the bacterial diversity in the surface and subsurface sediments. Functional prediction analysis indicated that the bacterial community could be involved in the degradation of complex organic compounds such as glycans, glycosaminoglycans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and also in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.

Planococcus notacanthi sp. nov., isolated from the skin of a deep-sea snub-nosed spiny eel

“…Members of the genus Planococcus are of great biotechnological interest because of their robustness and diverse biological activities, such as production of cold-adapted and halotolerant enzymes [18][19][20], radiation tolerance [21], plant growth promotion [22] and antioxidant and cytotoxic activities [23,24]. They have also been extensively studied for their potential applications in bioremediation and polysaccharide degradation [25][26][27][28].…”

Production and optimization of l‐asparaginase by Streptomyces koyangensis SK4 isolated from Arctic sediment

“…The extreme environmental conditions of the Arctic ecosystem resulted in the selection of diverse microbial communities with unique bioactive potential. Many microbiologists had identified an abundance of bacterial species living in the seawater, sediment, and snow bed of these cold regions of the Arctic ecosystem [9]. Bacteria producing cold-active enzymes such as lipases and beta-galactosidases for various biotechnological applications have also been reported previously from this environment [10].…”