Bacterial Diversity of Ny-Ålesund, Arctic Archipelago Svalbard

The bacterial diversity of the water sample, collected from Ny-Ålesund, Arctic Archipelago Svalbard was analyzed by a phenotypic as well as a genotypic approach. Pure colonies of the culturable bacteria were established and grown at a range of temperatures: 4oC, 15oC, 22oC and 37oC. Optimum growth was found at 15oC, and around 28 colonies were obtained. The library was dominated by 16S rDNAs of Gram-negative bacteria (γ-Proteobacteria). Twenty two isolates exhibited sequences were similar to that of known bacterial isolates (>97% sequence similarity), represented by the species of the genera Psychrobacter, Pseudomonas, and Acinetobacter. Six isolates exhibited sequences showed less affi liation with known taxa (<97% sequence similarity), and may represent novel taxa.