VAAM-Jahrestagung 2011 Karlsruhe, 3.–6. April 2011

the environment and to human health. As model compounds we selected theantibiotics sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and ciprofloxacin (CIP). Wedetermined the concentrations of SMX and, CIP and their metabolites in aMexican soil chronosequence (soil irrigated with wastewater for differenttime periods, from 10 to 100 years). As typical human pathogens persistentin the environment, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium,Enterobacter spp and Klebsiella pneumoniae were chosen. Furthermore, thesulfonamide resistance genes (sul1, sul2) and the fluoroquinolone resistancegenes (qnrA, qnrB and qnrS) were selected for this study.The antibiotics were quantified by LC-MS/MS after accelerated solventextraction (ASE) and solid-phase extraction (SPE). The concentration rangein the ASE extracts is between 0 and 177 ng/g dry mass (DM) soil for CIPand between 0 and 108 ng/g DM soil for SMX. Enterococci were quantifiedby a real-time PCR assay on basis of the 23S rRNA sequence by TaqManPCR. Between 10 4 and 10 6 23S rRNA gene copies per g soil could bedetected. The qnr resistance genes and the sul1 and sul2 resistance genes arequantified by SYBR Green real-time PCR. Bacterial CFUs/g soil were in therange of 10 6 . Total bacterial cell counts (DAPI-counts) were around 10 9CFU/g soil. Plasmid transfer rates were determined by use of a mobilizableGFP monitoring tool based on the multiple antibiotic resistance plasmidpIP501. Transfer is verified by fluorescence microscopy, antibioticresistance acquisition and gfp-specific PCR. The GFP transfer rate with theBacillus subtilis was about 10 -4 per recipient, the GFP transfer rate to thedetached soil bacterial community was in the same range.[1] Arends, K. et al: GFP-labelled monitoring tools to quantify conjugative plasmid transfer betweenG+ and G- bacteria (in preparation).EMP042Biomarkers indicating the variability of methanogeniccommunities within Late Pleistocene and HolocenePermafrost deposits of Kurungnakh, SiberiaJ. Griess* 1,2 , K. Mangelsdorf 1 , D. Wagner 21 Organic Geochemistry, Helmholtz Center Potsdam - German ResearchCenter for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam, Germany2 Periglacial Research, Alfred Wegener Institute, Potsdam, GermanyPermafrost environments of the Northern hemisphere are suspected to bestrongly affected by the currently observed and predicted global temperaturerise. Given that about one third of global soil stored carbon is preserved inpermafrost, a degradation of permafrost due to an increase of atmosphericand soil temperatures might lead to an increase in the bioavailability ofrecent as well as ancient carbon. Thus, an intensified microbial turnover ofthese particular carbon pools might cause the release of large amounts ofgreenhouse gases such as methane. To predict the risk for future climate andestimate the global atmospheric carbon budget, it is important to understandthe microbial driven methane dynamics and their response to climatechanges in the past.Therefore, a combination of quantitative as well as qualitative analyses ofrecent and fossil methanogenic communities was accomplished to revealvariations in permafrost deposits of the Siberian Arctic. A 23 m longpermafrost core drilled in 2002 on Kurungnakh Island, Lena River Delta,Siberia comprising deposits of Late Pleistocene and Holocene wasexamined, using biogeochemical and microbiological methods in context ofa paleoclimate reconstruction done by Schirrmeister et al., 2002.As a general result it is shown that lipid biomarkers and amplifiable DNAwere successfully recovered throughout the whole Kurungnakh permafrostsequence with an age of up to 42 ka. Intervals of high total organic carbonand in-situ methane content were also characterized by high amounts ofglycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). GDGTs provide paleo-signalsof archaeal and bacterial communities as these core lipids are relativelystable outside intact cells in geological time frames. Total GDGTs variedthroughout the core but were dominated by bacterial GDGTs. ArchaealGDGTs were detected to a lesser amount but nicely mirrored the geneticfingerprints of methanogenic archaea obtained from denaturating gradientgel electrophoresis (DGGE). Sequence analyses showed a diversity ofmethanogens affiliated with Methanobacteriaceae, Methanosarcinaceae andMethanomicrobiaceae.Both biogeochemical and microbiological methods revealed variation withinthe composition of past methanogenic microbial communities and showedindications of a response to climate changes.EMP043Assessment of the diversity of coliform bacteria in riverbank filtrate and river water in IndonesiaM. Hügler* 1 , J. Eggers 2 , S. Stauder 2 , B. Hambsch 11 Department of Microbiology, Water Technology Center (TZW), Karlsruhe,Germany2 Department of Technology, Water Technology Center (TZW), Karlsruhe,GermanyIn Indonesia, river water is commonly used as source for drinking waterproduction. Due to the absence of efficient waste water treatment, riverwater often shows strong faecal contaminations. Instead of complex andcostly direct treatment of river water, river bank filtration might be an easyand efficient alternative in order to achieve drinking water of a suitablehygienic quality.In a BMBF-funded project, drinking water treatment under tropicalmonsoon conditions in central Java was investigated. Within the project, thechemical, physical as well as microbiological properties of water of theOpak River as well as the river bank filtrate at the site Trimulyo wereinvestigated.The river water exhibited temporarily a high content of suspended solids aswell as severe contaminations with faecal bacteria. E. coli reaches numbersof more than 10 4 cells per 100 mL, coliform bacteria more than 10 5 cells per100 mL. In the river bank filtrate, E. coli could not be detected anymore; yetcoliform bacteria were still present, albeit in numbers below 10 2 cells per100 mL. As in Indonesia soil and groundwater temperatures reach almost30°C, environmental coliform bacteria could grow there. Therefore it wasinvestigated if the coliform bacteria found in the river bank filtrate are ofenvironmental origin and grow during the soil passage, or if they comeoriginally from the river water. In order to address this question thecultivable coliform bacteria from the river water and the river bank filtratewere identified using molecular methods. To identify and classify thecoliform strains we amplified and sequenced the 16S rRNA as well asfunctional genes. It could be shown that the spectrum of coliform bacteria inboth waters was identical, including e.g. members of the genera Citrobacter,Enterobacter and Klebsiella. Thus, the coliform bacteria found in the riverbank filtrate are derived from the river.In summary, river bank filtration efficiently removes E. coli as well as mostcoliform bacteria (approx. 4 log removal). Yet a disinfection step is requiredin order to achieve hygienically safe drinking water.EMP044Brazilian sponges as source for novel species andbioactive compoundsW.-R. Abraham* 1 , G. Molinari 1 , C. Lerner 2 , B. Mothes 21 Department of Chemical Microbiology, Helmholtz Center for InfectionResearch, Braunschweig, Germany2 Porto Alegre Botanical Garden, Zoobotanical Foundation, Porto Alegre,BrazilWe hypothized biofilm communities on sponges to be controlled both bycommunity members and the sponge host. To prove this, microbialcommunities associated with different sponge species from the Ilha doArvoredo National Reserve, Brazil, have been investigated for their diversityand bioactive secondary metabolites production.Different sponge species were sampled at various places in this Reserve.Homogenized sponge sections were cultivated on different agar media. Fromthese plates i) individual colonies were purified and ii) total DNA of allstrains on the plates were analysed for biodiversity using the 16S rRNAgene sequences.Most sponge species possessed very distinct microbial communities andsome bacteria species have only be isolated from a single sponge species.The sponge Axinella corrugata harboured unique bacteria species. The samesponge species collected at different sites in the Archipelago had closelysimilar microbial communities which can be very distinct from microbialcommunities from a different sponge species collected at the same site. Thisfinding points to close mutualistic interactions between the sponge and itsmicrobial communities. In total more than 200 bacterial strains have beenisolated and identified. The majority of them belong to the genera Vibrio,Pseudoalteromonas and Cobetia. However, strains from rare genera, e. g.Maritimibacter, Martelella and Donghicola, and species not fitting in any ofthe known Bacteroidetes genera have also been found. The isolates havebeen tested for their antibiotic activities and their ability to prevent biofilmformation. A number of them showed even activities against multi-resistantspektrum | Tagungsband 2011