BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN LAKES AS REVEALED BY 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENE-SEQUENCES

Bacterial communities of seven lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of Ne w York State were characterized by amplification and sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA. Analysis of over 100 partial sequences revealed a dive rse collection of lineages, largely of the class Proteobacteria (19% a lpha subdivision, 31% beta subdivision, and 9% gamma subdivision), the phylum Cytophaga-Flavobacteria-Bacteroides (15%), and the order Actin omycetales (18%). Additionally, a number of the sequences were similar to those of the order Verrucomicrobiales. However, few of the sequenc e types are closely related to those of characterized species. The rel ative contributions of the groups of sequences differed among the lake s, suggesting that bacterial population structure varies and that it m ay be possible to relate aquatic bacterial community structure to wate r chemistry.