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Thermoacidophilic sulfate reduction, which remains a poorly studied process, was investigated in the present work. Radioisotope analysis with S-labeled sulfate was used to determine the rates of dissimilatory sulfate reduction in acidic thermal springs of Kamchatka, Russia. Sulfate reduction rates were found to vary from 0.054 to 12.9 nmol SO/(cm day). The Oil Site spring (Uzon caldera, 60°C, pH 4.2) and Oreshek spring (Mutnovskii volcano, 91°C, pH 3.5) exhibited the highest activity of sulfate-reducing prokaryotes. Stable enrichment cultures reducing sulfate at pH and temperature values close to the environmental ones were obtained from these springs. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that a chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Thermodesulfobium sp. 3127-1 was responsible for sulfate reduction in the enrichment from the Oil Site spring. A chemoorganoheterotrophic archaeon Vulcanisaeta sp. 3102-1 (phylum Crenarchaeota) was identified in the enrichment from Oreshek spring. Thus, dissimilatory sulfate reduction under thermoacidophilic conditions was demonstrated and the agents responsible for this process were revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbiological investigation of the highly mineralized, sulfide-rich cold spring of the Ust'-Kachka resort was carried out. The total number and biomass of microbial cells were 50 × 10 cell/mL and 15 μg/L, respectively. While the total microbial number was low, the sulfate reduction rate determined by the radioisotope method was relatively high (0.575 mg S L day). An enrichment culture was obtained on Widdel medium. According to the results of cloning the 16S rRNA gene fragments with subsequent restriction analysis, the dominant organisms were group 6 sulfate-reducing bacteria ( Desulfovibrio-Desulfomicrobium) and the microorganism exhibiting 99% similarity to the anaerobic haloalkaliphilic bacterium Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rates of photosynthesis and dark CO2 fixation were determined in 12 soda lakes of the Kulunda steppe. Characterization of the phototrophic communities was given, and the cell numbers of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (APB) were determined. The photosynthetic production in different lakes was substantially different, constituting from 0.01 to 1.32 g C m−2 day−1. The main part of carbon dioxide was assimilated in the process of oxygenic photosynthesis. Anoxygenic photosynthesis was recorded only in 5 of the 12 lakes studied. Its values varied between 0.06 and 0.42 g C m−2 day−1, constituting from 8 to 34% of the total photosynthetic activity. Anoxygenic photosynthesis was revealed in the lakes where the number of APB reached 107–109 CFU cm−3. Dark CO2 fixation constituted 0.01–0.15 g C m−2 day−1. Positive correlation was observed between the primary production value and water alkalinity. No relationship between productivity and water mineralization was revealed in the 30–200 g l−1 range, whereas an increase in salinity above 200 g l−1 suppressed the photosynthetic activity. The mechanisms of influence of the environmental factors on the rate of photosynthesis are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anoxygenic phototrophic bacterial community of the brackish meromictic Lake Shira (Khakassia) was investigated in August 2001, July 2002, and February–March 2003. In all the periods of investigation, the prevailing microorganisms were purple sulfur bacteria similar to Lamprocystis purpurea in morphology and pigment composition. Their highest number (3 × 105 cells/ml) was recorded in July 2002 at the depth of 15 m. According to 16S rRNA gene analysis, the strain of purple sulfur bacteria isolated in 2001 and designated Sh Am01 exhibited 98.6% similarity to the type strain of Thiocapsa roseopersicina and 97.1–94.4% similarity to the type strains of Tca. pendens, Tca. litoralis, and Tca. rosea. The minor microorganisms of the anoxygenic phototrophic bacterial community within the period of investigation were nonsulfur purple bacteria phylogenetically close to Rhodovulum strictum (98.3% similarity, strain Sh Rb01), Ahrensia kielensis (of 93.9% similarity, strain Sh Rb02), Rhodomicrobium vannieli (of 99.7% similarity, strain Sh Rmc01), and green sulfur bacteria, phylogenetically close to Chlorobium limicola (of 98.7% similarity, strain Sh Cl03). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal studies of the anoxygenic phototrophic bacterial community of the water column of the saline eutrophic meromictic Lake Shunet (Khakassia) were performed in 2002 (June) and 2003 (February–March and August). From the redox zone down, the lake water was of dark green color. Green sulfur bacteria predominated in every season. The maximum number of green sulfur bacteria was 107 cells/ml in summer and 106 cells/ml in winter. A multi-syringe stratification sampler was applied for the study of the fine vertical distribution of phototrophs in August 2003; the sampling was performed every 5 cm. A 5-cm-thick pink-colored water layer inhabited by purple sulfur bacteria was shown to be located above the layer of green bacteria. The species composition and ratio of purple bacterial species depended on the sampling depth and on the season. In summer, the number of purple sulfur bacteria in the layer of pink water was 1.6 × 108 cells/ml. Their number in winter was 3 × 105 cells/ml. In the upper oxygen-containing layer of the chemocline the cells of purple nonsulfur bacteria were detected in summer. The maximum number of nonsulfur purple bacteria, 5 × 102 cells/ml, was recorded in August 2003. According to the results of the phylogenetic analysis of pure cultures of the isolated phototrophic bacteria, which were based on 16S rDNA sequencing, green sulfur bacteria were close to Prosthecochloris vibrioformis, purple sulfur bacteria, to Thiocapsa and Halochromatium species, and purple nonsulfur bacteria, to Rhodovulum euryhalinum and Pinkicyclus mahoneyensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biogeochemical and molecular biological study of the chemocline and sediments of saline meromictic lakes Shira and Shunet (Khakasia, Russia) was performed. A marked increase in the rates of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis was revealed at the medium depths of the chemocline. The rates of these processes in the bottom sediments decreased with depth. The numbers of the members of domains Bacteria, Archaea, and of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization with rRNA specific oligonucleotide probes labeled with horseradish peroxidase and subsequent tyramide signal amplification. In the chemocline, both the total microbial numbers and those of Bacteria were shown to increase with depth. The archaea and SRB were present in almost equal numbers. In the lake sediments, a drastic decrease in microbial numbers with depth was revealed. SRB were found to prevail in the upper sediment layer and archaea in the lower one. This finding correlated with the measured rates of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbiological and isotopic-geochemical investigations of the brackish meromictic lakes Shira and Shunet were performed in the steppe region of Khakasia in winter. Measurements made with a submersed sensor demonstrated that one-meter ice transmits light in a quantity sufficient for oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis. As in the summer season, in the community of phototrophic bacteria found in Lake Shira, the purple sulfur bacteria Amoebobacter purpureus dominated, whereas, in Lake Shunet, the green sulfur bacteria Pelodictyon luteolum were predominant. Photosynthetic production, measured using the radioisotopic method, was several times lower than that in summer. The rates of sulfate reduction and production and oxidation of methane in the water column and bottom sediments were also lower than those recorded in summer. The process of anaerobic methane oxidation in the sediments was an exception, being more intense in winter than in summer. The data from radioisotopic measurements of the rates of microbial processes correlate well with the results of determination of the isotopic composition of organic and mineral carbon (δ13C) and hydrogen sulfide and sulfate (δ34S) and suggest considerable seasonal variations in the activity of the microbial community in the water bodies investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane emission from the following types of tundra soils was studied: coarse humic gleyey loamy cryo soil, peaty gleyey soil, and peaty gleyey midloamy cryo soil of the arctic tundra. All the soils studied were found to be potential sources of atmospheric methane. The highest values of methane emission were recorded in August at a soil temperature of 8–10°C. Flooded parcels were the sources of atmospheric methane throughout the observation period. The rates of methane production and oxidation in tundra soils of various types were studied by the radioisotope method at 5 and 15°C. Methane oxidation was found to occur in bog water, in the green part of peat moss, and in all the soil horizons studied. Methane production was recorded in the horizons of peat, in clay with plant roots, and in peaty moss dust of the bogey parcels. At both temperatures, the methane oxidation rate exceeded the rate of methane production in all the horizons of the mossy-lichen tundra and of the hillock tundra with flat-bottom depressions. Methanogenesis prevailed only in a sedge-peat moss bog at 15°C. Bacterial enrichment cultures oxidizing methane at 5 and 15°C were obtained. Different types of methanotrophic bacteria were shown to be responsible for methane oxidation under these conditions. A representative of type I methylotrophs oxidized methane at 5°C, and Methylocella tundrae, a psychroactive representative of an acidophilic methanotrophic genus Methylocella, at 15°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbiological and biogeochemical investigations of the coastal zone and the littoral of the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea were carried out. The material for investigations was obtained in the series of expeditions of the Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, in August 1999, 2000, 2001, and in March 2003. The studies were conducted on the littoral and in the water area of the Kandalaksha Preserve, the Moscow University Belomorsk Biological Station, and the Zoological Institute Biological Station, Russian Academy of Sciences. Sediment sampling on the littoral was carried out in the typical microlandscapes differing in the sediment properties and macrobenthos distribution. The maximal sulfate reduction rate (SRR) was shown for the shallow part of the Chernorechenskaya Bay (up to 2550 μg S/(dm3 day)) and in the Bab'ye More Bay (up to 3191 μg S/(dm3 day)). During the winter season, at a temperature of –0.5 × 0.5°C, the SRR in the sediments of the Kartesh Bay was 7.9 × 13 μg S/(dm3 day). In the widest limits, the SRR values varied in the sediment cores sampled on the littoral. The minimal values (11 μg S/(dm3 day)) were obtained in the core samples on the silt–sandy littoral. The littoral finely dispersed sediments rich in organic matter were characterized by high SRR values (524–1413 μg S/(dm3 day)). The maximal SRR values were shown for the sediments present within the stretch of decomposing macrophytes, in local pits at the lower littoral waterline, and in the mouth of a freshwater stream (51–159 mg S/(dm3 day)). A sharp difference in the level of H2S production in the type microlandscapes was shown. The average hydrogen sulfide production in finely dispersed sediments constituted 125 mg S/(m2 day); in stormy discharge deposits, 1950 mg S/(m2 day); in depressions under stones and in silted pits, 4300 mg S/(m2 day). A calculation made with regard to the area of microlandscapes with increased productivity shows that the daily H2S production per 1 km2 of the littoral (August) is 60.8 to 202 kg S/(km2 day), while the organic carbon consumption for sulfate reduction per 1 km2 of the littoral is 46 to 152 kg Corg/(km2 day). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the reduction of active sulfate in acidic sediments isolated from Desulfovibrio sp. TomC at a gold mine at the Tsentral'nyi deposit in Martaiga, Kemerovo oblast, Russia. Topics include the measurement of sulfate reduction rate, the presence of high concentrations of dissolved iron, aluminum, and zinc in wetland water, and the potential use of bacterium Desulfovibrio sp. TomC in bioreactors for metal precipitation from acidic industrial wastes.

The article presents the study which determines the direct activities of organotrophic thermoacidophilic prokaryotes in their natural habitats which is acidic hot sprints in Uzon Calder, Russia. Upon incubation, concentrated solution of KOH was introduced to each bottle to stop biological processes and fix sucrose oxidation products. The process is of a biological nature because its rate in abiotic controls never exceed of that observed in the experiments.

Cultivation and molecular approaches were used to study methanogenesis in saline aquatic system of the Lake Elton (southern Russia), the largest hypersaline lake in Europe. The potential rates of hydrogenotrophic, acetoclastic, methylotrophic and methyl-reducing methanogenesis and diversity of the growth-enriched for by adding electron donors methanogenic communities were studied in the sediment slurry incubations at salinity range from 7 to 275 g/L. The most active pathway detected at all salinities was methylotrophic with a dominance of Methanohalobium and Methanohalophilus genera, at salt saturation and moderately halophilic Methanolobus and Methanococcoides at lower salinity. The absence of methane production from acetate, formate and H 2 /CO 2 under hypersaline conditions was most probably associated with the energy constraints. The contribution of hydrogenotrophic, acetoclastic, and methyl-reducing methanogens to the community increases with a decrease in salinity. Temperature might play an important regulatory function in hypersaline habitats; i.e. methylotrophic methanogens and hydrogenotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) outcompeting methyl-reducing methanogens under mesophilic conditions, and vice versa under thermophilic conditions. An active methane production together with negligible methane oxidation makes hypersaline environments a potential source of methane emission.

Hydroasoustic techniques were used for detection and mapping of gas jet areas in the coastal regions of the Crimean peninsula. Gas seep areas in the bays Laspi, Khersones, and Kazach'ya were chosen for detailed microbiological investigation. The first type of gas jets, observed in the Laspi Bay, was probably associated with discarge of deep thermogenic methane along the faults. Methane isotopic composition was char- acterized by Δ13C of -35.3 degrees. While elevated rates of aerobic methane oxidation were revealed in the sandy sediments adjacent to the methane release site, no evidence of bacterial mats was found. The second type of gas emission, observed in the Khersones Bay, was accompanied by formation of bacterial biofilms of the "Thiodendron" microbial community type, predominated by filamentous, spirochete-like organisms, in the areas of gas seepage. The isotopic composition of methane was there considerably lower (-60.4 degrees), indicating a considerable contribution of modern microbial methane to the gas bubbles discharged in this bay. Activity of the third type of gas emission, the seeps of the Kazach'ya Bay, probably depended directly on modern microbial processes of organic matter degradation in the upper sediment layers. The rates of sulfate reduction and methanogenesis were 260 and 34 μmol dm(-3) day(-1), respectively. Our results indicate different mechanisms responsible for formation of methane jets in the Laspi Bay and in the coastal areas of the Heracles Peninsula, where the bays Kazach'ya and Khersones are located.

In the paper there are presented data of field observations of the spectrum of viruses, contained in the waste waters. The studies were performed on the territory of the city and the territory unfavorable for hepatitis A. In the territory of the big city by RT-PCR in the waste liquid the enterovirus RNA was detected in 45% of samples; astroviruses--90%; noroviruses--80% and 15% of rotaviruses. Samples from 2 wells were slightly positive for the presence of HCV RNA A. In the waste liquid on the territory, unfavorable for viral hepatitis A, in 100% of the samples there were determined noro- and astroviruses RNA and adenovirus DNA, in 75%--enterovirus RNA; 50%--HAV RNA and a 25%--rotavirus RNA.

The community of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (APB) in the water column of the Kislo-Sladkoe stratified lake recently isolated from the sea (White Sea, Kandalaksha Bay) was investigated in September 2010. The water of the sulfide-rich zone was greenish-brown due to intense development of green sulfur bacteria (GSB). Nine APB strains were isolated from the water samples: three belonging to GSB, five, to purple sulfur bacteria (PSB), and one, to purple nonsulfur bacteria (PNB). GSB predominated in the phototrophic community of the chemocline. Unexpectedly, two morphologically different green-colored GSB strains were found to be phylogenetically identical and related to the brown-colored @Chlorobium phaeovibrioides (99% similarity according to the 16S rRNA gene sequencing). Homology to the closest green-colored species (Chlorobium luteolum) was 98%. Two morphologically and physiologically similar PSB strains (TcrPS10 and AmPS10) had rounded cells containing okenonokenonee and gas vesicles. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, these strains were most closely related (99%) to two different Thiocapsa species: Tca. marina (containing okenonokenonee and no gas vesicles) and Tca. rosea (containing spirilloxanthin and gas vesicles). The remaining isolates of purple bacteria were similar to the already described APB species.

Mass-spectrometric investigation of carbon isotope composition (delta13C) was carried out for suspended organic matter and dissolved mineral compounds for the water column of some meromictic water bodies differing in salinity and trophic state. As a rule, a more pronounced carbon isotope fractionation (resulting from the metabolism of phytoplankton and anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria) was revealed in the zones of enhanced oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis. Carbon isotope fractionation at the border between oxidized and reduced waters depends both on the activity of microbial communities and on the dominant species of phototrophic microorganisms. Analysis of the distribution profiles of the isotopic composition of suspended organic matter and dissolved mineral carbon revealed active mineralization of the organic matter newly formed via anoxygenic photosynthesis in the monimolimnion by microbial communities, resulting in the release of isotopically light carbon dioxide. Mineral carbon in the anaerobic zones of highly productive meromictic water bodies is therefore enriched with the light 12C isotope.

The possibility of measuring the rates of light and dark CO2 assimilation using 13C carbonate was demonstrated on Lake Kichier (Marii El). The application of methods utilizing the stable 13C and the radioactive 14C isotopes resulted in comparable values of the rates of light and dark CO2 fixation. Due to its absolute environmental safety, the method with 13C mineral carbon can be recommended as an alternative to radioisotope methods for qualitative measurements of CO2 fixation rates in aquatic ecosystems.

An anaerobic phototrophic bacterial community in Lake Mogilnoe, a relict lake on Kil'din Island in the Barents Sea, was studied in June 1999 and September 2001. Irrespective of the season, the upper layer of the anaerobic zone of this lake had a specific species composition of sulfur phototrophic bacteria, which were dominated by the brown-colored green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium phaeovibrioides. The maximum number of phototrophic sulfur bacteria was observed in June 1999 at a depth of 9 m, which corresponded to a concentration of bacteriochlorophyll (Bchl) e equal to 4.6 mg/l. In September 2001, the maximum concentration of this pigment (3.4 mg/l) was found at a depth of 10 m. In both seasons, the concentration of Bchl a did not exceed 3 microg/l. Purple sulfur bacteria were low in number, which can be explained by their poor adaptation to the hydrochemical and optical conditions of the Lake Mogilnoe water. In June 1999, the water contained a considerable number of Pelodictyon phaeum microcolonies and Prosthecochloris phaeoasteroides cell chains, which was not the case in September 2001. A 16S rDNA-based phylogenetic analysis of pure cultures of phototrophic bacteria isolated from the lake water confirmed that the bacterial community is dominated by Chl. phaeovibrioides and showed the presence of three minor species, Thiocvstis gelatinosa, Thiocapsa sp., and Thiorhodococcus sp., the last of which is specific to Lake Mogilnoe.

In May 1998, during the fifty-first voyage on board the research vessel Professor Vodyanitskii, a comparative study was conducted of the species diversity of green and purple sulfur bacteria in the water column of the chemocline zone at deep-sea stations and on the bottom surface of the Black Sea shallow regions. At three deep-sea stations, the accumulation of photosynthesizing bacteria in the chemocline zone at a depth of 85-115 m was revealed on the basis of the distribution of potential values of carbon dioxide light fixation. The location of the site of potential carbon dioxide light fixation suggests that the photosynthesis may be determined by the activity of the brown Chlorobium sp., revealed earlier at these depths. Enrichment cultures of brown sulfur bacteria were obtained from samples taken at the deep-sea stations. By morphology, these bacteria, assigned to Chlorobium sp., appear as nonmotile straight or slightly curved rods 0.3-0.5 x 0.7-1.2 microm in size; sometimes, they form short chains. Ultrathin sections show photosynthesizing antenna-like structures, chlorosomes, typical of Chlorobiaceae. The cultures depended on the presence of NaCl (20 g/l) for growth, which corresponds to the mineralization of Black Sea water. The bacteria could grow photoautotrophically, utilizing sulfide, but the Black Sea strains grew much more slowly than the known species of brown sulfur bacteria isolated from saline or freshwater meromictic lakes. The best growth of the strains studied in this work occurred in media containing ethanol (0.5 g) or sodium acetate (1 g/l) and low amounts of sulfide (0.4 mM), which is consistent with the conditions of syntrophic growth with sulfidogens. The data obtained allow us to conclude that the cultures of brown sulfur bacteria are especially adapted to developing at large depths under conditions of electron donor deficiency owing to syntrophic development with sulfate reducers. The species composition of the photosynthetic bacteria developing in the bottom sediments of shallow stations differed substantially from that observed at deep-sea stations. Pure cultures of the green Chlorobium sp. BS 1C and BS 2C (chlorobactin as the carotenoid), purple sulfur bacteria Chromatium sp. BS 1Ch (containing spirilloxanthine series pigments), and Thiocapsa marina BS 2Tc (containing the carotenoid okenone) were obtained from samples of sediments at shallow-water stations. Brown sulfur bacteria were absent in the sediment samples obtained from the Black Sea shallow-water stations 1 and 2.

Microbiological and biogeochemical investigations of the coastal zone and the littoral of the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea were carried out. The material for investigations was obtained in the series of expeditions of the Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, in August 1999, 2000, 2001, and in March 2003. The studies were conducted on the littoral and in the water area of the Kandalaksha Preserve, the Moscow University Belomorsk Biological Station, and the Zoological Institute Biological Station, Russian Academy of Sciences, Sediment sampling on the littoral was carried out in the typical microlandscapes differing in the sediment properties and macrobenthos distribution. The maximal sulfate reduction rate (SRR) was shown for the shallow part of the Chemorechenskaya Bay (up to 2550 micrograms S/(dm3 day)) and in the Bab'ye More Bay (up to 3191 micrograms S/(dm3 day)). During the winter season, at a temperature of -0.5-0.5 degrees C, the SRR in the sediments of the Kartesh Bay was 7.9-13 micrograms S/(dm3 day). In the widest limits, the SRR values varied in the sediment cores sampled on the littoral. The minimal values (11 mu]g S/(dm3 day)) were obtained in the core samples on the silt-sandy littoral. The littoral finely dispersed sediments rich in organic matter were characterized by high SRR values (524-1413 micrograms S/(dm3 day)). The maximal SRR values were shown for the sediments present within the stretch of decomposing macrophytes, in local pits at the lower littoral waterline, and in the mouth of a freshwater stream (51-159 mg S/(dm3 day)). A sharp difference in the level of H2S production in the type microlandscapes was shown. The average hydrogen sulfide production in finely dispersed sediments constituted 125 mg S/(m2 day); in stormy discharge deposits, 1950 mg S/(m2 day); in depressions under stones and in silted pits, 4300 mg S/(m2 day). A calculation made with regard to the area of microlandscapes with increased productivity shows that the daily H2S production per 1 km2 of the littoral (August) is 60.8 to 202 kg S/(km2 day), while the organic carbon consumption for sulfate reduction per 1 km2 of the littoral is 46 to 152 kg C(org)/(km2 day).

Microbiological and biogeochemical studies of the meromictic saline Lake Shira (Khakasia) were conducted. In the upper part of the hydrogen-sulfide zone, at a depth of 13.5-14 m, there was a pale pink layer of water due to the development of purple bacteria (6 x 10(5) cells/ml), which were assigned by their morphological and spectral characteristics to Lamprocystis purpureus (formerly Amoebobacter purpurea). In August, the production of organic matter (OM) in Lake Shira was estimated to be 943 mg C/(m2 day). The contribution of anoxygenic photosynthesis was insignificant (about 7% of the total OM production). The share of bacterial chemosynthesis was still less (no more than 2%). In the anaerobic zone, the community of sulfate-reducing bacteria played a decisive role in the terminal decomposition of OM. The maximal rates of sulfate reduction were observed in the near-bottom water (114 micrograms S/(1 day)) and in the surface layer of bottom sediments (901 micrograms S/(dm3 day)). The daily expenditure of Corg for sulfate reduction was 73% of Corg formed daily in the processes of oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis and bacterial chemosynthesis. The profile of methane distribution in the water column and bottom sediments was typical of meromictic reservoirs. The methane content in the water column increased beginning with the thermocline (7-8 m), and reached maximum values in the near-bottom water (17 microliters/l). In bottom sediments, the greatest methane concentrations (57 microliters/l) were observed in the surface layer (0-3 cm). The integral rate of methane formation in the water column and bottom sediments was almost an order of magnitude higher than the rate of its oxidation by aerobic and anaerobic methanotrophic microorganisms.

Seasonal investigations of methane distribution and rates of its oxidation and generation in the water column and sediments of the Black Sea northwestern shelf were carried out within the framework of the interdisciplinary projects "European River-Ocean Systems" (EROS-2000, EROS-21) and "Biogenic Gases Exchange in the Black Sea" (BigBlack) in August 1995, May 1997, and December 1999. Experiments that involved the addition of 14CH3COONa and 14CO2 to sediment samples showed the main part of methane to be formed from CO2. Maximum values of methane production (up to 559 mumol/(m2 day)) were found in coastal sediments in summer time. In winter and spring, methane production in the same sediments did not exceed 3.6-4.2 mumol/(m2 day). The delta 13C values of methane ranged from -70.7 to -81.8@1000, demonstrating its microbial origin and contradicting the concept of the migration of methane from cold seeps or from the oil fields located at the Black Sea shelf. Experiments that involved the addition of 14CH4 to water and sediment samples showed that a considerable part of methane is oxidized in the upper horizons of bottom sediments and in the water column. Nevertheless, it was found that, in summer, part of methane (from 6.8 to 320 mumol/(m2 day)) arrives in the atmosphere.

The total number of microorganisms and rates of microbial processes of the carbon cycle were determined in snow, sea ice, water, and seafloor sediments of the northern part of the Barents Sea from September to October, 1998. The explorations were carried out in two areas: along the trajectory from Franz Josef Land to Victoria Island and along the continental slope region covered with solid ice at latitude 81 degrees-82 degrees N and longitude 37 degrees-39 degrees E. At the time of study, the ice cover was represented by thick one-year old ice (up to 1.2 m), perennial ice (up to 1.85 m), and pack ice. The number of bacteria in the snow cover, sea ice, and seawater was 12 to 14, 50 to 110, and 10 to 240 x 10(3) cells/ml, respectively. Rates of CO2-assimilation in the absence of light, glucose utilization, and methane oxidation by bacteria were determined. The highest rate of microbial processes was found in samples of the lowermost newly formed sea ice. The lowest level of activity for all processes was observed from melted snow water. A direct relation was shown between the concentration of Corg, the bacterial biomass, and the values of delta 13Corg in mixtures of melted snow and ice. The number of microorganisms and rates of microbial processes in seafloor sediments measured at the stations on the continental slope are comparable to those in the central part of the Barents Sea and the northern part of the Kara Sea.