Samplesofdeep-oceanwater(3170m)takenfromtheRockallTrough(North-EastAtlantic)were
incubatedforone-monthatatmosphericand in-situ pressure(31MPa),at4 1C andintheabsenceand
presence ofaddednutrients.Prokaryoticabundance(directcellcounts)increasedbyatleast28-foldin
enrichmentswithoutaddednutrients.However,themagnitudeofincreaseinabundancewaslessfor
incubationscarriedoutat in-situ pressure(131–181-fold)thanthoseincubationsatsurfacepressure
(163–1714-foldincreaseinabundance).Changesintheprokaryoticcommunityprofileasaresultof
one-monthincubationweremeasuredbymeansofDenaturingGelElectrophoresis(DGGE)ofextracted
16S rDNA.Theprofilesofpost-incubationsamplesincubatedat in-situ pressurewereseparatedfromall
other profilesaswerethoseofunpressurisedsampleswithaddednutrients.Thebehaviour(fitness)of
individualcommunitymembers(OperationalTaxonomicUnits:OTUs)wasdeterminedonthebasisof
changeinrelativeDGGEbandintensitiesbetweenpre-andpost-incubationsamples.Oftwenty-one
OTUs examined,sixwerefitterwhenincubatedinthepresenceofaddednutrientsandat in-situ
pressureandoneofthesewasadvantagedwhengrownintheabsenceofaddednutrientsandat in-situ
pressure.Theserepresentedautochthonousandactivemembersofthedeep-oceanprokaryotic
community.Incontrast,sevenOTUsweredisadvantagedwhengrownunder in-situ pressureandwere
indicativesurface-derivedallochtonousmicroorganisms.AfurthertwoOTUscametodominancein
incubationswithaddednutrients(pressurisedandunpressurised)andsimilartothepreviouscategory
were probablysurface-derivedmicroorganisms.AsingleOTUshowedcharacteristicsofpiezophilicand
oliogrophicbehaviourandfourOTUsweredisadvantagedunderallincubationconditionsexamined.
The twenty-oneDGGEbandsweresequencedandthebacterialcommunitiesweredominatedby
Gammaproteobactria and toalesserextentmembersofthe Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides and
d groups ofprokaryotes.