Microbial communities in kelp-amended sediments

In this work, we analyzed for the first time the role of bacterial communities in the biodegradation process of two fundamental biomass sources in temperate and subanctarctic coastal sediments: the kelps Macrocystis pyrifera and Undaria pinnatifida. Experimental systems were setup as simplified versions of a coastal environment. M. pyrifera was placed in sediments from a subantarctic environment (Ushuaia Bay) and U. pinnatifida in sediments from a site in northern Patagonia (Nuevo Gulf), sites where these two species is a major source of biomass respectively is regularly deposited.