Diversity and bioprospective potential (cold-active enzymes) of cultivable marine bacteria from the subarctic glacial Fjord, Kongsfjorden.

The diversity and abundance of culturable bacteria in Kongsfjorden water (15 stations) and sediments (12 stations) were studied. Viable numbers ranged between 105–106 CFU l−1 in water and 102–104 CFU g−1 in the sediments. A total of 291 and 43 bacterial isolates were retrieved from the water (KJF) and sediments (FS), respectively.

Arcticibacter svalbardensis gen. nov., sp. nov., of the family Sphingobacteriaceae in the phylum Bacteroidetes, isolated from Arctic soil.

In the course of a study aimed at isolating bacteria from Arctic soils by a method that selectively enriches for rare bioactive actinomycetes, a Gram-stain-negative, pigmented, non-motile rod, designated MN12-7(T), was isolated. The salmon-pink strain was, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, found to be affiliated with the family Sphingobacteriaceae. Strain MN12-7(T) was catalase-, oxidase- and cellulase-positive and lacked gelatinase, urease, lipase and pectinase.