Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Establishment of Microbial Eukaryotic Enrichment Cultures from a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake and Assessment of Carbon Fixation Potential
Published on: April 20, 2012
Hydrocarbon contamination changes the bacterial diversity of soil from around Scott Base, Antarctica
David J Saul1, Jackie M Aislabie, Caroline E Brown
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.
Abstract:
A combination of culture-independent and culturing methods was used to determine the impacts of hydrocarbon contamination on the diversity of bacterial communities in coastal soil from Ross Island, Antarctica. While numbers of culturable aerobic heterotrophic microbes were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher in the hydrocarbon-contaminated soil than control soil, the populations were less diverse. Members of the divisions Fibrobacter/Acidobacterium, Cytophaga/Flavobacterium/Bacteroides, Deinococcus/Thermus, and Low G+C gram positive occurred almost exclusively in control soils whereas the contaminated soils were dominated by Proteobacteria; specifically, members of the genera Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas and Variovorax, some of which degrade hydrocarbons. Members of the Actinobacteria were found in both soils.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Bioremediation of Hydrocarbons
Bioremediation
Marine Microbial Ecology
Microbes and Climate Change
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Soil Microbial Ecology

