Phytoplankton community structure in the Western Subarctic Gyre of the Pacific Ocean during summer determined by a combined approach of HPLC-pigment CHEMTAX and metabarcoding sequencing

Abstract

The Western Subarctic Gyre (WSG) is a cyclonic upwelling gyre in the northwest subarctic Pacific, which is a region with a high concentration of nutrients but low chlorophyll. We investigated the community structure and spatial distribution of phytoplankton in this area by using HPLC-pigment CHEMTAX (a chemotaxonomy program) and metabarcoding sequencing during the summer of 2021. The phytoplankton community showed significant differences between the two methods. The CHEMTAX analyses identified eight major marine phytoplankton assemblages. Cryptophytes were the major contributors (24.96%) to the total Chl a, followed by pelagophytes, prymnesiophytes, diatoms, and chlorophytes. The eukaryotic phytoplankton OTUs obtained by metabarcoding were categorized into 149 species in 96 genera of 6 major groups (diatoms, prymnesiophytes, pelagophytes, chlorophytes, cryptophytes, and dinoflagellates). Dinoflagellates were the most abundant group, accounting for 44.74% of the total OTUs obtained, followed by cryptophytes and pelagophytes. Sixteen out of the 97 identified species were annotated as harmful algal species, and Heterocapsa rotundata, Karlodinium veneficum, and Aureococcus anophagefferens were assigned to the abundant group (i.e., at least 0.1% of the total reads). Nutrients were more important in shaping the phytoplankton community than temperature and salinity. The 24 stations were divided into southern and northern regions along 44°N according to the k-means method, with the former being dominated by high Chl a and low nutrients. Although different phytoplankton assemblages analyzed by the two methods showed various relationships with environmental factors, a common feature was that the dinoflagellate proportion showed a significantly negative correlation with low nutrients and a positive correlation with Chl a.