Endospores Rival Growing Cells in Ocean Sediments

Feb 22, 2019

These spore-forming bacteria grew from samples collected from more than 100 meters beneath the seafloor off Peru’s coast (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 201 Site 1227, Hole A 12H-3, 102.4 mbsf). The vegetative cells glow blue due to a florescent dye, while the endospores appear as bright round balls. Credit: Fumio Inagaki, JAMSTEC

A survey of ocean sediments from around the world finds that dormant bacterial endospores are about as common as slow-growing cells, and make up a significant portion of the total microbial biomass, especially in deeper sediments. An international team has now published their findings, led by Dr. Lars Wörmer from MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, in Science Advances.

Original publication:

Lars Wörmer, Tatsuhiko Hoshino, Marshall W. Bowles, Bernhard Viehweger, Rishi R. Adhikari, Nan Xiao, Go-ichiro Uramoto, Martin Könneke, Cassandre S. Lazar, Yuki Morono, Fumio Inagaki, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs:Microbial dormancy in the marine subsurface: Global endospore abundance and response to burial; Science Advances 2019, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav1024

More informationen from the Deep Carbon Observatory

Contakt:

Dr. Lars Wörmer
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Ulrike Prange
MARUM Media Relations
Phone: 0421 218 65540
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The study is based on sediment samples taken during scientific drilling expeditions. Photo: T. Andrén, ECORD/IODP