This project will continue studies by Dr. Holger Jannasch and his colleagues on microbes and microbial processes at a hydrothermal vent site in the Guaymas Basin. Specific objectives include: 1. quantification of productivity of mat forming bacteria of the genus, Beggiatoa, per unit of occupied area and per unit of bacterial biomass; 2. use of mat material to isolate organisms; 3. molecular studies with gene probes and gene sequencing of mat organisms; 4. quantification and distribution of high temperature requiring bacteria; 5. studies of survival and dispersal of vent organisms; 6. phylogenetic characterization of the natural microbial populations by molecular probes and various genetic studies on the mat organisms. The project will further extend our understanding of the interesting and unique microbiota of hydrothermal vents.
