Skip to main content
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1980 Apr;39(4):790–796. doi: 10.1128/aem.39.4.790-796.1980

Temperature Compensation of [U-14C]Glucose Incorporation by Microbial Communities in a River with a Fluctuating Thermal Regime

Karl-Paul Witzel 1,a
PMCID: PMC291420  PMID: 16345542

Abstract

In summer, the river Saar in the southwest of Germany exhibits distinct temperature fluctuations from 8°C at the source to nearly 30°C in the middle region. Temperature optima for bacterial plate counts and the uptake velocity of [U-14C]glucose by the natural microbial communities of different regions ranged from 20 to 30°C, which is significantly above the mean annual water temperature. A correlation between temperature optima and different seasons or habitats was not observed. Despite the relatively high temperature optima, the turnover time for glucose was shortest at temperatures around the mean annual water temperature, due to changes in the substrate affinity. At limiting substrate concentrations, the higher substrate affinity at lower temperatures may lead to a higher real activity at in situ temperatures, and a compensatory stabilization of uptake rates at fluctuating temperatures is possible.

Full text

PDF
790

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Hamilton R. D., Morgan K. M., Strickland J. D. The glucose uptake kinetics of some marine bacteria. Can J Microbiol. 1966 Oct;12(5):995–1003. doi: 10.1139/m66-134. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Harder W., Veldkamp H. Competition of marine psychrophilic bacteria at low temperatures. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 1971;37(1):51–63. doi: 10.1007/BF02218466. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Herbert R. A., Bell C. R. Growth characteristics of an obligately psychrophilic Vibrio sp. Arch Microbiol. 1977 Jun 20;113(3):215–220. doi: 10.1007/BF00492028. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Larkin J. M. Seasonal incidence of bacterial temperature types in Louisiana soil and water. Appl Microbiol. 1970 Aug;20(2):286–288. doi: 10.1128/am.20.2.286-288.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Morita R. Y. Psychrophilic bacteria. Bacteriol Rev. 1975 Jun;39(2):144–167. doi: 10.1128/br.39.2.144-167.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES