If scientists want to find out how fast a population of bacteria grows, they often measure how their cell count changes over time. However, this method has a major flaw: it does not measure how fast the bacteria multiply or die. Yet these factors are very important for understanding ecological processes. That is why researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen have now taken a closer look at these processes during a spring bloom in the German Bight. In doing so, they challenge some previous dogmas.
The researchers around Jan Brüwer, Bernhard Fuchs and Rudolf Amann investigated the growth of bacteria during the spring bloom off Helgoland using various methods: With the microscope, they counted and identified not only the cells present, but also the frequency of cells that were currently dividing. This way, they were able to calculate how quickly different types of bacteria multiplied in their natural environment.
"The results had some surprises in store for us," says group leader Bernhard Fuchs."For example, we found that the most common group of bacteria in the ocean, called SAR11, divides almost ten times faster than assumed." Moreover, in many cases the measured growth rates do not match the abundance of the respective bacteria in the water.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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