Effects of lake water chemistry on bacterioplankton community structures of three lakes

Abstract

To investigate the effects of lake water chemistry on bacterioplankton community composition, three different sized lakes (Lake Taihu, Lake Zixia and Lake Pipa) were studied. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA, followed by clone library analysis was used to explore the bacterial community structure in lake water. Cluster analysis of DGGE patterns indicated that bacterioplankton community compositions within one lake were similar. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was carried out to interpret the response of the bacterial community structure to water chemistry. Sampling lakes and total phosphorus were two variables found to significantly correlate with DGGE patterns. Clone library analysis results indicated that the bacterioplankton community composition of three lakes differed markedly, even at the phylum and subphylum levels. The results of the homologous and heterologous coverage curves analysis based on the LIBSHUFF program also showed significant differences among the three clone libraries.