Methanogens are implicated in the production of methane that accumulates in marine sediments. However, the factors that control the distribution of the microbial communities that influence the presence of methane in these sediments are not well understood. Our objective is to determine the quantity, diversity, and distribution of microbial communities in the context of abiotic (e.g., grain size...

background: considering their specific adaption to marine milieus, marine actinomycetes constitute an excellent source for producing unique bioactive substances. they are also important sources of antibiotics and extracellular enzymes, geosmin, and enzymes with potent antibacterial and anticarcinogenic properties and low toxicity. the objective of this study is to isolate actinomycetes producin...

Aromatic hydrocarbons are among the main constituents of crude oil and represent a major fraction of biogenic hydrocarbons. Anthropogenic influences as well as biological production lead to exposure and accumulation of these toxic chemicals in the water column and sediment of marine environments. The ability to degrade these compounds in situ has been demonstrated for oxygen- and sulphate-respi...

In the Hudson Bay/James Bay Lowlands, along the coasts of Banks Island, and along the eastern coast of Baffin Island are continuous and extensive sections in Quaternary sediments. These sections are rich in marine fossils, buried peats, and soils and contain a wide variety of glaciagenic sediments together with glacial marine units and littoral deposits. Lake muds are also fairly common. All th...

a r t i c l e i n f o The cosmogenic radionuclide 10 Be was measured from drill core sediments from Lake Malawi in order to help construct a chronology for the study of the tropical paleoclimate in East Africa. Sediment samples were taken every 10 m from the core MAL05-1C to 80 m in depth and then from that depth in core MAL05-1B to 382 m. Sediment samples were then later taken at a higher reso...

The oxidation of methane in anoxic marine sediments is thought to be mediated by a consortium of methane-consuming archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria. In this study, we compared results of rRNA gene (rDNA) surveys and lipid analyses of archaea and bacteria associated with methane seep sediments from several different sites on the Californian continental margin. Two distinct archaeal lineages...

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) involves the microbiological oxidation of ammonium with nitrite as the electron acceptor and dinitrogen gas as the main product. The Scalindua species, an anammox genus that dominates natural habitats, plays an important role in catalysing the loss of nitrogen from marine environments. Until now, a few Scalindua species have been reported to be enriched fr...