Water droplets in oil are microhabitats for microbial life

Rainer U. Meckenstock; Frederick von Netzer; Christine Stumpp; Tillmann Lueders; Anne M. Himmelberg; Norbert Hertkorn; Philipp Schmitt-Kopplin; Mourad Harir; Riad Hosein; Shirin Haque; Dirk Schulze-Makuch

doi:10.1126/science.1252215

Report

Water droplets in oil are microhabitats for microbial life

Rainer U. Meckenstock¹,*,†,
Frederick von Netzer¹,
Christine Stumpp¹,
Tillmann Lueders¹,
Anne M. Himmelberg¹,
Norbert Hertkorn²,
Philipp Schmitt-Kopplin²,
Mourad Harir²,
Riad Hosein³,
Shirin Haque⁴,
Dirk Schulze-Makuch⁵,⁶

¹Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
²Research Unit Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
³Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.
⁴Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.
⁵School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.
⁶Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Technical University Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany.

↵†Corresponding author. E-mail: rainer.meckenstock{at}uni-due.de

↵* Present address: Biofilm Center, University Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany.

See allHide authors and affiliations

Science 08 Aug 2014:
Vol. 345, Issue 6197, pp. 673-676
DOI: 10.1126/science.1252215

Rainer U. Meckenstock

1Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site
For correspondence: rainer.meckenstock@uni-due.de

Frederick von Netzer

1Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Christine Stumpp

1Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Tillmann Lueders

1Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Anne M. Himmelberg

1Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Norbert Hertkorn

2Research Unit Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Philipp Schmitt-Kopplin

2Research Unit Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Mourad Harir

2Research Unit Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Riad Hosein

3Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Shirin Haque

4Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Dirk Schulze-Makuch

5School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.

6Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Technical University Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Article
Figures & Data
Info & Metrics
eLetters
PDF

eLetters is an online forum for ongoing peer review. Submission of eLetters are open to all. eLetters are not edited, proofread, or indexed. Please read our Terms of Service before submitting your own eLetter.

Submit a Response to This Article

Compose eLetter

Title

Contents

More information about text formats

Plain text

Plain text
No HTML tags allowed.
Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Author Information

Contributors
First name and middle name First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'. Last Name Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'. Email Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com Role / Occupation Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'. Affiliation Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.

Statement of Competing Interests

Competing interests?

Yes

Please describe the competing interests

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Vertical Tabs

No eLetters have been published for this article.

View Full Text

Water droplets in oil are microhabitats for microbial life

Plain text

Vertical Tabs

Science

Article Tools