Abstract
Macroecological patterns are found in animals and plants, but also in micro‐organisms. Macroecological and biogeographic distribution patterns in marine Archaea, however, have not been studied yet. Ammonia‐oxidizing Archaea (AOA) show a bipolar distribution (i.e. similar communities in the northernmost and the southernmost locations, separated by distinct communities in the tropical and gyral regions) throughout the Atlantic, detectable from epipelagic to upper bathypelagic layers (<2000 m depth). This tentatively suggests an influence of the epipelagic conditions of organic matter production on bathypelagic AOA communities. The AOA communities below 2000 m depth showed a less pronounced biogeographic distribution pattern than the upper 2000 m water column. Overall, AOA in the surface and deep Atlantic waters exhibit distance–decay relationships and follow the Rapoport rule in a similar way as bacterial communities and macroorganisms. This indicates a major role of environmental conditions in shaping the community composition and assembly (species sorting) and no, or only weak limits for dispersal in the oceanic thaumarchaeal communities. However, there is indication of a different strength of these relationships between AOA and Bacteria, linked to the intrinsic differences between these two domains.
Highlights
The application of ecological theories to microbial organisms has gain renewed interest in the last decade (Martiny et al 2006; Ramette & Tiedje 2007; Fierer 2008; Amend et al 2013; van der Gast 2015)
Are the observed patterns generated via selective processes, such as evolutionary adaptation and sorting of species according to the environmental conditions, or nonselective as proposed by neutral theory, such as dispersal and drift (Vellend et al 2014)? This debate in microbial biogeography has been centred in the last decades on the Baas-Becking principle ‘everything is everywhere, but, the environment selects’ (Baas-Becking 1934)
Quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) was used with slight modifications to evaluate 16S rRNA gene abundance of Thaumarchaeota and the abundance of two ecotypes of Ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA) based on their amoA gene: the low ammonia concentration ecotype (LAC-AOA) and the high ammonia concentration ecotype (HAC-AOA) as previously described (Sintes et al 2013) (Appendix S1, Supporting information)
Summary
The application of ecological theories to microbial organisms has gain renewed interest in the last decade (Martiny et al 2006; Ramette & Tiedje 2007; Fierer 2008; Amend et al 2013; van der Gast 2015). Patterns found in macroorganisms, such as taxa–area relationships and distance–decay patterns (Green et al 2004; HornerDevine et al 2004; Bell 2010; Astorga et al 2012; Wetzel et al 2012; Zinger et al 2014), latitudinal species. In this context, the existence of biogeographic patterns for microbes is widely accepted (Martiny et al 2006; Ramette & Tiedje 2007; Fierer 2008).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
