Baeyens, W.F.J.

Billon, G.

Gao, Y.

Gillan, D.

Leermakers, M.

Lesven, L.

Pede, A.

Sabbe, K.

Vyverman, W.

Open Marine Archive

  - 57 -
PATTERNS IN MICROBIAL DIVERSITY IN NORTH SEA SEDIMENTS; 
CORRELATIONS WITH SPECIFIC SEDIMENT CHARACTERISTICS AND HEAVY 
METAL POLLUTION 
Pede Annelies1, David Gillan2, Yue Gao3, Gabriel Billon4, Ludovic Lesven4, Martine 
Leermakers3, Willy Baeyens3, Wim Vyverman and Koen Sabbe1  
1 Ghent University, Department of Biology, Lab. Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Krijgslaan 
281-S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium  
E-mail: ajpede.pede@ugent.be  
2 Université Libre de Bruxelles, Marine Biology Laboratory, 50 Av Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, 
Belgium 
3 Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Pleinlaan 2, 
1050 Brussels, Belgium 
4 Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, UMR-CNRS 8110, France 
 
Very little information is available on the diversity and structure of microbial 
communities in marine subtidal sediments, especially for micro-eukaryotes. In the 
framework of the Belgian MICROMET project, we investigated spatial (9 subtidal 
stations, top 0-1cm vs bottom 9-10cm) and seasonal (February vs July) variation 
patterns in the molecular diversity of archaeal, bacterial and eukaryotic communities in 
the Belgian Continental Plate (BCP) in relation to sediment granulometry, geochemistry 
and metal contamination. Microbial diversity was determined using DGGE and clone 
libraries based on the SSU rDNA gene; metals were determined using DET/DGT. 
Sediments ranged from sandy and well oxygenated to muddy, anoxic and heavily metal 
contaminated. Eukaryotic diversity was surprisingly high (20-50 phylotypes per station) 
and was dominated by Stramenopila (mainly diatoms), unidentified (or ambiguously 
identified) marine Eukaryotes, Metazoa and Fungi. Protozoa (Alveolata, Cercozoa, 
Foraminifera) were found in a lesser degree. While no clear trends in eukaryotic 
diversity between stations or seasons were found, community composition showed 
pronounced differences between sandy and muddy stations; spatial variation in diversity 
is much more pronounced in sandy stations. Seasonal differences were less marked. 
Archaeal diversity was very low to non-detectable in all stations. Bacterial diversity was 
dominated by γ- and δ-Proteobacteria and CFB bacteria; eubacterial diversity was 
significantly reduced in the muddy sediments. 


Patterns in microbial diversity in North Sea sediments; correlations with specific sediment characteristics and heavy metal pollution

Patterns in microbial diversity in North Sea sediments; correlations with specific sediment characteristics and heavy metal pollution

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