Sreedevi N Kutty, Rosamma Philip and R Damodaran
Yeasts are ubiquitous in distribution and are found throughout the aquatic environment. Their distribution and population depends mainly on the surrounding environment. This study is about the occurrence and distribution of yeasts from the slope sediments of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Sediment samples were collected from 200, 500 and 1000 m depths along the west and east coast of Indian peninsula. Majority of sampling stations showed a clayey silt sediment texture. Organic matter was found to be comparatively higher in the Arabian Sea. Yeast population varied between stations and found to be more in Arabian Sea. Candida was the predominant genera identified from both Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Diversity was maximum at 500 m in Arabian Sea and at 1000 m in Bay of Bengal. Data analysis was carried out using PRIMER 5.1 and SPSS 10.0. Correlation studies using PRIMER software showed a positive correlation between organic matter and yeast population.
