Microbial Ecology of Lake Plußsee

Lake Plußsee is a small eutrophic kettle lake in northern Germany. Because it is sheltered and has no inflow from rivers, the Plußsee exhibits stable stratification and is especially suitable for limnological studies. This book presents the results of extensive research conducted on the ecophysiology of microorganisms - principally bacteria - at the Plußsee over the past several decades. It begins with three chapters on the general limnological state of the lake: physical factors, inorganic nutrients, plankton composition and succession, fish fauna, etc. These chapters are followed by discussions of dissolved organic matter and photosynthetic production of organic matter by phytoplankton. The remainder of the book addresses the dynamics of structure, function and metabolism of the microorganisms in the Plußsee.

Inhalt

1. Limnology of the Plußsee.- 2. Dissolved Organic Matter: Analysis of Composition and by a Molecular-Biochemical Approach.- 3. Primary Production, Photosynthesis, and Chlorophylla in the Plußsee.- 4. Phytoplankton-Excreted Organic Carbon.- 5. Bacterial Secondary Production.- 6. Microbial Enzymatic Degradation and Utilization of Organic Matter.- 7. Saprophytic and Oligotrophic Bacteria in the Plußsee.- 8. Heterotrophic Potential of Bacteria.- 9. Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase: Allosteric Regulation at the Ecosystem Level by Dissolved Organic Matter.- 10. Relations between Limnothrix redekei (Cyanophyta/Cyanobacteria) and Bacteria: Mutual Control of Growth by Extracellular Algal Products.- 11. Zooplankton Grazing on Bacteria.- 12. Nanoflagellate and Ciliate Grazing on Bacteria.- 13. Viruses.- 14. Phototrophic Bacteria in the Plußsee: Ecology of the Sulfuretum.- 15. Iron Bacteria.- 16. Metabolism of Methane and the Carbon Cycle in the Plußsee.- 17. Bacterial Life in the Plußsee: General Remarks on Aquatic Microbial Ecology.