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Science 6 April 1979:
Vol. 204. no. 4388, pp. 68 - 69
DOI: 10.1126/science.204.4388.68
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Articles

Microbial Autotrophy: A Primary Source of Organic Carbon in Marine Sediments

PAUL E. KEPKAY 1, ROBERT C. COOKE 1, and JAMES A. NOVITSKY 2

1 Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1
2 Department of Biology, Dalhousie University

The chemoautotrophic fixation of carbon dioxide by bacteria is responsible for an appreciable component of the organic carbon in a sulfide-rich marine mud. A peak of carbon dioxide fixation (at 40 centimeters subbottom) coincides with peaks in the organic carbon content, the ratio of carbon to nitrogen, and bacterial cell counts. Stimulation of fixation by thiosulfate and inhibition by anaerobic conditions implicate the chemoautotrophic sulfur bacteria as primary producers in this environment.

Submitted on September 8, 1978
Revised on December 22, 1978


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Heterotrophic and Autotrophic Microbial Populations in Cold Perennial Springs of the High Arctic.
N. N. Perreault, C. W. Greer, D. T. Andersen, S. Tille, G. Lacrampe-Couloume, B. S. Lollar, and L. G. Whyte (2008)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 74, 6898-6907
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