| Title | Identification of organic matter sources in sulfidic late Holocene Antarctic fjord sediments from fossil rDNA sequence analysis |
| Author | Coolen, M.J.L.; Volkman, J.K.; Abbas, B.; Muyzer, G.; Schouten, S.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S. |
| Author Affil | Coolen, M.J.L., Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Biogeochemistry, Den Burg, Netherlands. Other: Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, Australia |
| Source | Paleoceanography, 22(2), PA2211. Publisher: American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, United States. ISSN: 0883- 8305 |
| Publication Date | Jun. 2007 |
| Notes | In English. 30 refs. GeoRef Acc. No: 285429. CRREL Acc. No: 62005537 |
| Index Terms | algae; glacial deposits; ocean environments; marine deposits; Quaternary deposits; sediments; Antarctica--East Antarctica; Antarctica; Cenozoic; cores; depositional environment; diatoms; DNA; East Antarctica; Ellis Fjord; glacial environment; Holocene; marine environment; marine sediments; microfossils; organic compounds; Plantae; Quaternary; upper Holocene |
| Abstract | The 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) isolated from sulfidic Holocene sediments and particulate organic matter in the water column of the stratified Small Meromictic Basin (SMB) in Ellis Fjord (eastern Antarctica) was analyzed to identify possible biological sources of organic matter. Previous work had shown that the sediments contained numerous diatom frustules and high contents of a highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) C25:2 alkene (which is a specific biomarker of certain species of the diatom genera Navicula, Haslea, Pleurosigma, or Rhizosolenia), so we focused our search on preserved fossil 18S rDNA of diatoms using sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approaches. We did not find diatom-derived fossil 18S rDNA using general eukaryotic primers, and even when we used primers selective for diatom 18S rDNA, we only identified a Chaetoceros phylotype, which is known to form cysts in the SMB but is not a likely source of the C25:2 HBI. When we used PCR/denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis methods specific to phylotypes within the HBI- biosynthesizing genera, we were able to identify three phylotypes in the sediments related to HBI-producing strains of the genera Haslea and Navicula. (mod. journ. abst.) |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.1029/2006PA001309 |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 84278 |