Vertical Distribution of Fungal Community Composition and Water Quality During the Deep Reservoir Thermal Stratification

Abstract

Freshwater fungal community composition plays pivotal roles in sustaining the function and health of drinking water reservoir ecosystems. To investigate the vertical evaluative characteristics of an aquatic fungal community under conditions of stable thermal stratification, water samples were collected at 0.5, 10, 25, 40, 60 and 70 m depths of Jinpen Reservoir during thermal stratification. Fungal community composition was determined using a high-throughput DNA sequencing technique and combined with water quality parameters. The results showed that the epilimnion, metalimnion, and hypolimnion water layers were formed in Jinpen Reservoir. The temperature decreased steadily from the surface at 22.33℃ to the bottom with 7.21℃ (P<0.05). The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration decreased significantly from the surface to the bottom (P<0.05). The conductivity and the concentration total phosphorus and iron increased significantly from the surface to the bottom (P<0.05). The high-throughput DNA sequencing revealed a total of 1247 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which were affiliated with four phylum, 14 classes, and 39 genera, including Zygomycota, Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, and Chytridiomycota. The highest Shannon diversity and Chao 1 were 3.45 and 360 at 60 m, respectively. The Shannon diversity and Chao 1 were significantly higher in the hypolimnion than in the metalimnion (P<0.05). Rhodotorula (27.23%), Alternaria (24.28%),Cladosporium (22.98%), Alternaria (32.00%), Didymella (17.47%), and Cladosporium (28.17%) were the dominant species at 0.5 m, 10 m, 25 m, 40 m, 60 m, and 70 m, respectively. There are a number of unclassified fungi at different water depths. The heat map profile indicated significant differences in the vertical distribution of the fungal community composition in Jinpen Reservoir. A principle component analysis (PCA) indicated that water temperature, DO, TP, and conductivity had dramatic influences on the vertical distribution of the fungal community composition. The results provide new insights on the relationship between water quality and fungal community composition during reservoir thermal stratified periods.