COMPARATIVE 16S rDNA ANALYSIS OF EXTREMOPHILES IN THE WINTER COVER OF A HIGH MOUNTAIN LAKE

摘要

The winter cover of high mountain lakes is colonized by a whole variety of microorganisms. Lake Gossenkoelle (2413 m a.s.l.) in the Austrian Alps is ice covered for about 8 months a year. This heterogeneous winter cover consists of a sandwich-like structure of alternating ice-and slush layers which form a highly productive habitat with even higher carbon turnover rates than in the subjacent warmer pelagic zone due to the accumulation of nutrients from the lake catchment area and atmospheric deposition. In this study we present results of the diversity of the bacterial community in this temporary habitat by comparative 16S rDNA analysis.