Siew Wen Lee

Date of Award

1-1-2015

Thesis Type

masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

science

Department

Faculty of Science

Institution

University of Malaya

Abstract

We investigated the dynamics of attached and free-living bacterial abundance over a period of 18 months in tropical coastal waters of Malaysia. We measured at both oligotrophic coastal water (Port Dickson) and eutrophic estuary (Klang), and hypothesized that attached bacteria are predominant in eutrophic waters. We also addressed whether attached and free-living bacteria differ phylogenetically. We found that bacterial abundance was higher at Klang than Port Dickson (Student’s t-test: t = 4.87, df = 19, P < 0.001). Attached bacteria also formed a large fraction of the total bacteria at Klang (75 ± 13%) relative to Port Dickson (56 ± 22%), and showed preference for chlorophyll a based particles rather than total suspended solids. The bacterial community structure was clearly different between the two stations but was similar between the attached and free-living bacterial population. Our results showed the importance of attached bacteria in eutrophic water where they could play a major role in carbon and nutrient cycling.

Note

Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 2015.

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