Figure 2
From: Surfactant-associated bacteria in the near-surface layer of the ocean
Sea surface microlayer sampling method.
(a) The sampling is conducted from the bow of the drifting boat, in an area undisturbed by the boat wake. (b) A membrane filter is released using a fishing pole to collect samples away from the vessel to avoid contamination from the ship wake. (c) Microbial cells in the sea surface microlayer attach to the membrane filter due to surface tension. (d) The membrane filter is removed with sterile forceps, stored in a sterile bag and placed on dry ice for laboratory DNA analysis. The sea surface microlayer sampling method was designed to reduce potential contamination of microbial samples. This method included special precautions to avoid hydrodynamic disturbances to the sampling area from the ship hull as well as to identify and eliminate possible microbial contamination during sample collection and handling in the laboratory. The in situ sampling method and the subsequent DNA analysis of the bacterial samples are described in more detail in Methods.
