Do bacteria grow in soil that remains under water all the time? Or, are bacteria growing under water all anaerobes? If not, where from do they get O2 if there is not much agitation for O2 to be dissolved?
Hello Hossain, could you please rephrase your question? Growth of bacteria under water could mean many things. Aquatic microbiology is a broad area of microbiology. What would bacteria be doing in water or sediment under it if they do not grow? I think you are interested in something else.
Thanks Dr. Maurice Ekpenyong. I am planning to examine bacterial diversity in soil that always remains under water. But I am not so sure about the culture condition.
Bacteria are abundant in sediments or soils always under water. So, emphatically I say Yes, bacteria grow under water. Relating to the source of oxygen required to grow I would say that there are different bacteria in ocean beds. Most are Strict anaerobes, some are aerotolerant anaerobes while a few facultative anaerobes have also been reported in soils under water or sediment. The source of oxygen depends on depth of such soil or sediment sampled. Water mixing could make free oxygen available in the first 5 cm of sediment although little in quantity. Mostly, anaerobic respiration using such terminal electron acceptors as nitrate and sulfate hold sway. The vast majority of the bacteria will not require oxygen for growth and so anaerobiosis will hold sway. In your culture-based technique therefore, you should make provision for the possibility of isolating bacteria from these diverse physiological groups. Anaerobic culture conditions should dominate your thought. But be a little flexible about it. You just might find what you did not expect. It's research!
Thanks a lot Dr. Maurice Ekpenyong. That information helped me a lot!
So I would put every culture both in anaerobic jar and on the bench.
Dear Hossain, you must revise your concepts about aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. None of the bacterial species can survive without Oxygen, whether anaerobe or aerobe. The only reason we called them anaerobes that they cannot survive in aerobic / atmospheric / free Oxygen tension, but anaerobes do need and acquire Oxygen in its soluble form (bound form) only to carry out their survival. So it is only the Oxygen nature that prevails in their surroundings which actually matters and not the absolute Oxygen absence. Anaerobes do not survive in free Oxygen, but they definitely need Oxygen. That is why, bacteria further sub-classify as stringent anaerobes or non-stringent anaerobes, aero-tolerants, micro-aerophilics, facultative anaerobes. You can check all of these definitions to broaden your concepts further.
Regards......
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