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Abstract

The bacterial diversity and community structure within both organically enriched and adjacent, unimpacted, near-shore marine sediments at two fish farms in southern Tasmania, Australia, was examined using 16S rRNA gene clone library construction and analysis. Sediments at both caged and reference sites at both farms showed a very high level of microbial diversity. Over 900 clones were analysed and grouped into 631 unique phylotypes. Reference sites were dominated by Delta- and Gammaproteobacteria and the Cytophaga-Flavobacteria-Bacteroides group. Cage site sediments were also dominated by these phylotypes, as well as members of the Alpha- and Epsilonproteobacteria. Diversity and coverage indices indicated that the actual diversity of the sediments was much greater than that detected, despite a large sampling effort. All libraries were shown to be statistically different from one another (P < 0.05). Many phylotypes did not group with cultured bacteria, but grouped with other environmental clones from a wide array of marine benthic environments. Diversity and evenness indices suggested that although both parameters changed after farming, diverse communities were present in all sediments. The response of the microbial community to organic load suggested that random, rather than predictable, succession events determine community composition and diversity, and that sediment type may influence bacterial community and sediment response to organic perturbation.