Chapter 49 



Bacterial Habitats in the 

 Antarctic Environment "^^ f 



John McNeill Sieburth 



Xhe microflora of the Antarctic environment is of interest 

 due to this continent's isolation from other land masses, its low 

 temperatures, highly productive marine basins, and its compara- 

 tive freedom from human habitation. The early marine studies 

 have been reviewed by ZoBell (28) while those dealing with 

 Antarctic animals have been reviewed by Sieburth (19, 22). De- 

 spite the renewed interest in Antarctica since World War II and 

 the opportunities aflForded by the International Geophysical Year, 

 few studies have been conducted during the last decade. Sladen 

 (25) has reviewed the few papers dealing with medical micro- 

 biology. Bunt has made some preliminary studies on the fecal 

 ( 1 ) , littoral ( 2 ) and soil microflora ( 3 ) of subantarctic Macquarie 

 Island. During operation Deep Freeze II to McMurdo Sound 

 McBee (11) culturing the intestinal contents of several Antarctic 

 animals, showed the presence of anaerobic bacteria and later ob- 

 tained Clostridium species in enrichment culture of a frozen 

 specimen. Straka and Stokes (26) used frozen samples of fecal 

 and soil material of undescribed nature from non-designated areas 

 to demonstrate that taxonomically undescribed psychrotolerant 

 organisms could be cultivated. A section made from the Antarctic 

 to the mouth of the Ganges by Lebedeva (9) indicated that in 



* This study was made possible through the logistic support of the Hydrographic 

 Service and the Antarctic Naval Group of the Argentine Navy and financial 

 support by the Arctic Institute of North America (ONR 232) and the U. S. 

 Office of Naval Research to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Nonr-2352[02]) 

 and to the University of Rhode Island (Nonr-396[03]) . 



t Contribution No. 38 from the Narragansett Marine Laboratory', University of 

 Rhode Island. 



533 



