New Technique Reveals Far More Ocean-Based Bacteria Than Previously Believed
Using a technique that examines short bits of DNA, researchers examined water taken from the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and discovered thousands of previously unknown species of bacteria.
The survey was part of the Census of Marine Life, a decade-long effort to map all marine life. Researchers found an astonishing amount of bacteria in the deep ocean samples — over 20,000 different species in just one liter of water.
In a press release announcing the publication of the results of the survey in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, leader author Mitchell L. Sogin said,
Microbiologists have formally described 5,000 microbial ‘species’. This
study shows we have barely scratched the surface. Over the last 10 to 20 years, molecular studies have shown there to be more than 500,000 kinds of micro organisms. In our new study, we discovered more than 20,000 in a single liter (about one quart) of seawater, having expected just 1,000 to 3,000. The number of different kinds of bacteria in the oceans could eclipse five to 10 million
Sources:
Ocean Microbe Census Discovers Diverse World of Rare Bacteria. Press Release, Census of Marine Life, July 31, 2006.
Thousands of bacterial species discovered in oceans. CBC News, July 31, 2006.
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