Michiro Matsuyama

Phylogenic status of a purple sulfur bacterium and its bloom in Lake Kaiike

Two bacterial species at the upper boundary of the H2S-containing lower layer of Lake Kaiike, a purple sulfur bacterium and Macromonas sp., markedly changed their population densities in a single year (maximum cell numbers ranged between 106 and <103 cells ml−1), although neither species ever entirely disappeared from the lake over at least the past 30 years. Genetic characteristics based on the sequence of the 16S rDNA of the purple sulfur bacterium showed it to be a new species of the Chromatiaceae family. This bloom of purple sulfur bacterium occurred when the H2S layer was disturbed by an external intrusion of seawater.