Fingerprinting Microbial Assemblages from the Oxic/Anoxic Chemocline of the Black Sea

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Abstract
Biomass samples from the Black Sea collected in 1988 were analyzed for SSU genes from Bacteria and Archaea after 10 years of storage at −80°C. Both clonal libraries and direct fingerprinting by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analyses were used to assess the microbial community. Uniform and discrete depth distributions of different SSU phylotypes were observed. However, most recombinant clones were not restricted to a specific depth in the water column, and many of the major T-RFLP peaks remain uncharacterized. Of the clones obtained, an ε- Proteobacteria and a Pseudoalteromonas -like clone accounted for major peaks in the fingerprint, while deeply branching lineages of α- and γ- Proteobacteria were associated with smaller peaks. Additionally, members were found among both the δ- Proteobacteria related to sulfate reducers and the Archaea related to phylotypes from the ANME groups that anaerobically oxidize methane.