Ecophysiology of psychrophilic and psychrotolerant microorganisms.

This review describes psychrophilic and psychrotolerant microorganisms, which are abundant in different kinds of environments. Their ecophysiological properties and strategies for survival are reviewed in relation to their occurrences in marine and terrestrial environments, with special reference to the deep-sea, the sea ice and the permafrost soils.

Interrelationships between microbiological and chemical parameters of sandy beach sediments, a summer aspect.

At 12 stations located in sandy beach sediments of the brackish water Kiel Fjord and Kiel Bight (Baltic Sea, FRG), variations and interrelationships of microbiological, chemical, and physicochemical parameters were monitored. Depending upon location, wide variations of a number of parameters reflecting dissolved organic and inorganic nutrients, chlorophyll a, microbial number, and uptake activity of glucose were measured. Whereas most of the parameters generally showed the tendency to decrease from the inner to the outer Kiel Fjord, individual parameters (oxygen, particulate nitrogen, ribose, chlorophyll a, glucose/fructose ratio) increased with increasing distance from the inner Kiel Fjord. Similarities in the local variation pattern demonstrated various relationships between individual parameters. Among those, dissolved organic nutrients on the one hand and inorganic nutrients on the other hand were closely linked together. Variations of organic and inorganic nutrients corresponded to variations of microbial activity and physicochemical parameters. By comparing standing stock carbon with carbon production, a microbial biomass turnover time of about 100 h was calculated. Approximately 50% of the microphytobenthos primary production was fixed by microorganisms. Daily microbial carbon production (43 mg of C per m) was in the range of meiofauna carbon (35 mg of C per m).