New method for isolating barophiles from intestinal contents of deep-sea fishes retrieved from the abyssal zone

Abstract

We devised a new method (the dorayaki method) using marine agar under in situ pressures to isolate barophilic bacteria from the intestinal contents of three deep-sea fishes (two Coryphaenoides yaquinae samples and one Ilyophis sp. sample) retrieved from depths of 4,700 to 6,100 m in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. All 10 strains isolated from one sample (C. yaquinae) were obligately barophilic. One of the 10 strains did not grow at atmospheric pressure and 103.4 MPa but did grow well between 20.7 and 82.7 MPa, with optimal growth at 41.4 MPa. This method is useful for isolating psychrophilic and barophilic deep-sea bacteria.