MICROBIOLOGICAL INDICATION AND EVALUATION OF THE STATE OF BOTTOM SEDIMENTS IN SOUTH BAIKAL

Structural and functional characteristics of microbial communities of South Baikal bottom sediments were studied. The density of saprophytic bacteria (million cells/g wet sediment) was 0.01 - 0.08 in clean silt ed sands and silts and 0.3 - 1.3 in anthropogenic sediments. Since the early 1980s, the quantity of saprophytic microorganisms in the region affected by waste effluents from the Baikal'sk Pulp and Paper Mill (B PPM) has increased by 5 to 10-fold, while the daily production of micr obial communities has not undergone substantial changes, averaging 0.5 and 1.70 mu g C/g dry sediment in the BPPM region and near the west c oast, respectively. The coli-index (1000 cells/g on average) is report ed for the first time for bottom sediments. Fecal coliforms were most abundant (7000 cells/g) and frequently encountered (60%) at a depth of 5 - 30 m. It is concluded that there is no relation between coliform bacteria and natural characteristics of the biocenoses.