Diversity and role of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in the cycling of autochthonous and allochthonous organic carbon in marine microbial mats

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The project is a basic study of the species distribution, activity and physiology of dominant aerobic chemotrophic microorganisms in marine micriobial mats. Aerobic chemotrophs are chiefly responsible for the maintenance of the carbon cycle within mats. Nevertheless, surprisingly little research has been done on this group and its degradative capabilities are largely unknown, probably because former scientific interest in mats was centered around cyanobacterial photosynthesis. The chosen system for the study are oil-impacted mats at the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. The project will be German-Saudi collaboration. These mats are rich and unique study subjects because they (a) must harbor degraders of the indigenous organic compounds as any other mat, (b) must harbor in addition degraders of oil compounds as external substances of environmental concern, and (c) develop at seasonally high temperature and salinity such that the degraders are expected tro represent novel extremotolerant aerobes; their knowledge may in the longer run contribute to the development of bioremediation strategies under the given conditions. Study approaches include measurement of the chemical micro-zonation, substrate and metabolite analyses, molecular community analyses, strain isolation and physiological characterization.