Bacterioplankton Community Composition Research Articles

Spatio-Temporal Interdependence of Bacteria and Phytoplankton during a Baltic Sea Spring Bloom.

In temperate systems, phytoplankton spring blooms deplete inorganic nutrients and are major sources of organic matter for the microbial loop. In response to phytoplankton exudates and environmental factors, heterotrophic microbial communities are highly dynamic and change their abundance and composition both on spatial and temporal scales. Yet, most of our understanding about these processes comes from laboratory model organism studies, mesocosm experiments or single temporal transects. Spatial-temporal studies examining interactions of phytoplankton blooms and bacterioplankton community composition and function, though being highly informative, are scarce. In this study, pelagic microbial community dynamics (bacteria and phytoplankton) and environmental variables were monitored during a spring bloom across the Baltic Proper (two cruises between North Germany to Gulf of Finland). To test to what extent bacterioplankton community composition relates to the spring bloom, we used next generation amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, phytoplankton diversity analysis based on microscopy counts and population genotyping of the dominating diatom Skeletonema marinoi. Several phytoplankton bloom related and environmental variables were identified to influence bacterial community composition. Members of Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria dominated the bacterial community composition but the bacterial groups showed no apparent correlation with direct bloom related variables. The less abundant bacterial phyla Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia, on the other hand, were strongly associated with phytoplankton biomass, diatom:dinoflagellate ratio, and colored dissolved organic matter (cDOM). Many bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed high niche specificities. For example, particular Bacteroidetes OTUs were associated with two distinct genetic clusters of S. marinoi. Our study revealed the complexity of interactions of bacterial taxa with inter- and intraspecific genetic variation in phytoplankton. Overall, our findings imply that biotic and abiotic factors during spring bloom influence bacterial community dynamics in a hierarchical manner.

Contrasting patterns of free-living bacterioplankton diversity in macrophyte-dominated versus phytoplankton blooming regimes in Dianchi Lake, a shallow lake in China

Freshwater shallow lakes typically exhibit two alternative stable states under certain nutrient loadings: macrophyte-dominated and phytoplankton-dominated water regimes. An ecosystem regime shift from macrophytes to phytoplankton blooming typically reduces the number of species of invertebrates and fishes and results in the homogenization of communities in freshwater lakes. We investigated how microbial biodiversity has responded to a shift of the ecosystem regime in Dianchi Lake, which was previously fully covered with submerged macrophytes but currently harbors both ecological states. We observed marked divergence in the diversity and community composition of bacterioplankton between the two regimes. Although species richness, estimated as the number of operational taxonomic units and phylogenetic diversity (PD), was higher in the phytoplankton dominated ecosystem after this shift, the dissimilarity of bacterioplankton community across space decreased. This decrease in beta diversity was accompanied by loss of planktonic bacteria unique to the macrophyte-dominated ecosystem. Mantel tests between bacterioplankton community distances and Euclidian distance of environmental parameters indicated that this reduced bacterial community differentiation primarily reflected the loss of environmental niches, particularly in the macrophyte regime. The loss of this small-scale heterogeneity in bacterial communities should be considered when assessing long-term biodiversity changes in response to ecosystem regime conversions in freshwater lakes.

Snowmelt-driven changes in dissolved organic matter and bacterioplankton communities in the Heilongjiang watershed of China

Bacterioplankton plays a significant role in the circulation of materials and ecosystem function in the biosphere. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from dead plant material and surface soil leaches into water bodies when snow melts. In our study, water samples from nine sampling sites along the Heilongjiang watershed were collected in February and June 2014 during which period snowmelt occurred. The goal of this study was to characterize changes in DOM and bacterioplankton community composition (BCC) associated with snowmelt, the effects of DOM, environmental and geographical factors on the distribution of BCC and interactions of aquatic bacterioplankton populations with different sources of DOM in the Heilongjiang watershed. BCC was measured by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DOM was measured by excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy. Bacterioplankton exhibited a distinct seasonal change in community composition due to snowmelt at all sampling points except for EG. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that BCC was more closely related to DOM (Components 1 and 4, dissolved organic carbon, biochemical oxygen demand and chlorophyll a) and environmental factors (water temperature and nitrate nitrogen) than geographical factors. Furthermore, DOM had a greater impact on BCC than environmental factors (29.80 vs. 15.90% of the variation). Overall, spring snowmelt played an important role in altering the quality and quantity of DOM and BCC in the Heilongjiang watershed.

Spatial-Temporal Changes of Bacterioplankton Community along an Exhorheic River.

To date, few aquatic microbial ecology studies have discussed the variability of the microbial community in exorheic river ecosystems on both the spatial and seasonal scales. In this study, we examined the spatio-temporal variation of bacterioplankton community composition in an anthropogenically influenced exorheic river, the Haihe River in Tianjin, China, using pyrosequencing analysis of 16S rRNA genes. It was verified by one-way ANOVA that the spatial variability of the bacterioplankton community composition over the whole river was stronger than the seasonal variation. Salinity was a major factor leading to spatial differentiation of the microbial community structure into riverine and estuarial parts. A high temperature influence on the seasonal bacterial community variation was only apparent within certain kinds of environments (e.g., the riverine part). Bacterial community richness and diversity both exhibited significant spatial changes, and their seasonal variations were completely different in the two environments studied here. Furthermore, riverine bacterial community assemblages were subdivided into urban and rural groups due to changes in the nutritional state of the river. In addition, the nutrient-loving group including Limnohabitans, Hydrogenophaga, and Polynucleobacter were abundant in the urbanized Haihe River, indicating the environmental factors in these anthropogenic waterbodies heavily influence the core freshwater community composition.

Oceanic fronts: transition zones for bacterioplankton community composition.

Oceanic fronts are widespread mesoscale features that exist in the boundary between different water masses. Despite the recognized importance of bacterioplankton (including bacteria and archaea) on the marine biogeochemical cycles and the ubiquitousness of fronts, the effect of frontal zones on the distribution of bacterioplankton community remains unknown. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing coupled with a high spatial resolution analysis of the physical properties of the water masses, we demonstrate strong shifts in bacterioplankton community composition (BCC) across the subtropical frontal zone off New Zealand. The transition between water masses resulted in a clear modification of the dominant taxa and a significant increase in community dissimilarity. Our results, linking physical oceanography and marine molecular ecology, support the strong role of oceanic frontal zones in delimiting the distribution of bacterioplankton in the ocean.

Evidence of bacterioplankton community adaptation in response to long-term mariculture disturbance.

Understanding the underlying mechanisms that shape the temporal dynamics of a microbial community has important implications for predicting the trajectory of an ecosystem’s response to anthropogenic disturbances. Here, we evaluated the seasonal dynamics of bacterioplankton community composition (BCC) following more than three decades of mariculture disturbance in Xiangshan Bay. Clear seasonal succession and site (fish farm and control site) separation of the BCC were observed, which were primarily shaped by temperature, dissolved oxygen and sampling time. However, the sensitive bacterial families consistently changed in relative abundance in response to mariculture disturbance, regardless of the season. Temporal changes in the BCC followed the time-decay for similarity relationship at both sites. Notably, mariculture disturbance significantly (P < 0.001) flattened the temporal turnover but intensified bacterial species-to-species interactions. The decrease in bacterial temporal turnover under long-term mariculture disturbance was coupled with a consistent increase in the percentage of deterministic processes that constrained bacterial assembly based on a null model analysis. The results demonstrate that the BCC is sensitive to mariculture disturbance; however, a bacterioplankton community could adapt to a long-term disturbance via attenuating temporal turnover and intensifying species-species interactions. These findings expand our current understanding of microbial assembly in response to long-term anthropogenic disturbances.

Dissolved Organic Nitrogen Inputs from Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents Increase Responses of Planktonic Metabolic Rates to Warming

Increased anthropogenic pressures on coastal marine ecosystems in the last century are threatening their biodiversity and functioning. Global warming and increases in nutrient loadings are two major stressors affecting these systems. Global warming is expected to increase both atmospheric and water temperatures and increase precipitation and terrestrial runoff, further increasing organic matter and nutrient inputs to coastal areas. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentrations frequently exceed those of dissolved inorganic nitrogen in aquatic systems. Many components of the DON pool have been shown to supply nitrogen nutrition to phytoplankton and bacteria. Predictions of how global warming and eutrophication will affect metabolic rates and dissolved oxygen dynamics in the future are needed to elucidate their impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Here, we experimentally determine the effects of simultaneous DON additions and warming on planktonic community metabolism in the Baltic Sea, the largest coastal area suffering from eutrophication-driven hypoxia. Both bacterioplankton community composition and metabolic rates changed in relation to temperature. DON additions from wastewater treatment plant effluents significantly increased the activation energies for community respiration and gross primary production. Activation energies for community respiration were higher than those for gross primary production. Results support the prediction that warming of the Baltic Sea will enhance planktonic respiration rates faster than it will for planktonic primary production. Higher increases in respiration rates than in production may lead to the depletion of the oxygen pool, further aggravating hypoxia in the Baltic Sea.

Marine bacterial community structure resilience to changes in protist predation under phytoplankton bloom conditions.

To test whether protist grazing selectively affects the composition of aquatic bacterial communities, we combined high-throughput sequencing to determine bacterial community composition with analyses of grazing rates, protist and bacterial abundances and bacterial cell sizes and physiological states in a mesocosm experiment in which nutrients were added to stimulate a phytoplankton bloom. A large variability was observed in the abundances of bacteria (from 0.7 to 2.4 × 10(6) cells per ml), heterotrophic nanoflagellates (from 0.063 to 2.7 × 10(4) cells per ml) and ciliates (from 100 to 3000 cells per l) during the experiment (∼3-, 45- and 30-fold, respectively), as well as in bulk grazing rates (from 1 to 13 × 10(6) bacteria per ml per day) and bacterial production (from 3 to 379 μg per C l per day) (1 and 2 orders of magnitude, respectively). However, these strong changes in predation pressure did not induce comparable responses in bacterial community composition, indicating that bacterial community structure was resilient to changes in protist predation pressure. Overall, our results indicate that peaks in protist predation (at least those associated with phytoplankton blooms) do not necessarily trigger substantial changes in the composition of coastal marine bacterioplankton communities.

Inter-taxonomic differences in bacterioplankton community assembly in oligotrophic mountain lakes of east Japan

AME Aquatic Microbial Ecology Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials AME 75:251-257 (2015) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01760 Inter-taxonomic differences in bacterioplankton community assembly in oligotrophic mountain lakes of east Japan Masanori Fujii1, Toshihide Hirao1,*, Hisaya Kojima2, Manabu Fukui2 1The University of Tokyo Chichibu Forest, 1-1-49 Hinoda-machi, Chichibu, Saitama 368-0034, Japan 2Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-19, Nishi-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0819, Japan *Corresponding author: hirao@uf.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp ABSTRACT: We examined bacterioplankton community composition (BCC) in 27 oligotrophic freshwater lakes with similar environments, located in the mountainous regions of eastern Japan. We determined BCC by the relative sequence abundance of each taxon using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) targeting the 16S rRNA gene region. Using multiple regression analyses, we investigated the relative importance of environmental and geospatial processes on community assembly of the general bacterioplankton, as well as of the taxonomic groups Betaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Both processes had significant relationships with community assembly. In particular, environmental processes were relevant, however small the variations among study sites. Community composition of Betaproteobacteria was mainly correlated with environmental factors, whereas that of Bacteroidetes was primarily associated with geospatial variables, such as the presence of Tsugaru Strait as a geographic barrier. Thus, inter-taxonomic differences are significant in assessing relationships of environmental and geospatial processes with freshwater BCC. Finally, our study provides evidence that biogeographic events are potentially significant for the distribution and diversity of microorganisms, as is the case with macroorganisms. These perspectives should be taken into consideration in order to fully understand bacterial community assembly. KEY WORDS: Dispersal limitation · Environmental filtering · Geographic barrier · Metacommunity · Microbial biogeography Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Fujii M, Hirao T, Kojima H, Fukui M (2015) Inter-taxonomic differences in bacterioplankton community assembly in oligotrophic mountain lakes of east Japan. Aquat Microb Ecol 75:251-257. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01760 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AME Vol. 75, No. 3. Online publication date: July 20, 2015 Print ISSN: 0948-3055; Online ISSN: 1616-1564 Copyright © 2015 Inter-Research.

River bacterioplankton community responses to a high inflow event

Microbes drive chemical cycling and productivity within river ecosystems, but their influence may shift when intense allochthonous inputs accompany high freshwater inflow (flood) events. Investigating how floods influence microbial processes is fundamentally important for our understanding of river ecology, but is generally overlooked. We analysed bacterioplankton com- munity composition (BCC) and abundance over 4 mo following an enormous flood event in the Hunter River, Australia, that resulted in a major fish kill. Concentrations of dissolved organic car- bon (DOC) and inorganic nutrients (N and P) were up to 3 times higher during the flood event compared to prior and subsequent months. Bacterial cell abundances were up to 10 times higher at impacted sites during the flood event. Using Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis we found significant shifts in BCC between the flood impacted month and subsequent months (p < 0.05). Distance linear modelling indicated that DOC and dissolved N and P correlated most strongly with BCC patterns during the high inflow, whereas community dynamics correlated most strongly with nitrogen oxides and ammonium during the river's recovery phase. 16S rRNA ampli- con pyrosequencing revealed that common soil-associated and facultative anaerobic genera of Proteobacteria were most dominant during the flood period, suggesting that a proportion of the bacterial community observed during this event were potentially inactive soil microbes trans- ported into the river via terrestrial runoff. During the recovery period, Cyanobacteria and fresh- water-associated genera of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria became dominant in 16S rRNA pyrosequencing profiles. These observations indicate that allochthonous nutrients delivered via floods can significantly stimulate bacterial growth, underpinning substrate-controlled succession of bacterial communities and ultimately shaping the ecology within river ecosystems.

Distribution patterns of bacterioplankton in the oligotrophic south-eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The spatial variability in the composition of bacterioplankton communities from the Levantine basin off the Israeli coast (south-eastern Mediterranean Sea) was studied using water samples from nine stations down to 1880 m depth. An nMDS (non-metric multidimensional scaling) ordination plot of ARISA (automated rRNA intergenic spacer analyses) fingerprints performed on 39 water samples revealed three groups of communities based on depth (epi, meso and bathypelagial waters), while the stations' geographical location did not seem to have an effect on the distribution of bacterioplankton assemblages. Interestingly, communities from the two deep pelagic zones were further grouped depending on the three prevailing water masses in the Levantine basin, and depth, salinity, temperature and silicic acid were significantly related to the variations of the bacterial community compositions. Cloning of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of dominant ARISA peaks showed that abundant bacteria in all depths were ubiquitous uncultured Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria. The results further indicate that distinct microbial community profiles in the Levantine basin are associated with prevailing water masses that have formed due to different physico-chemical parameters and thus might act as physical barriers rather than physiological discriminators, as has been suggested in studies from other ocean regions.

Consequences of increased terrestrial dissolved organic matter and temperature on bacterioplankton community composition during a Baltic Sea mesocosm experiment

Predicted increases in runoff of terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOM) and sea surface temperatures implicate substantial changes in energy fluxes of coastal marine ecosystems. Despite marine bacteria being critical drivers of marine carbon cycling, knowledge of compositional responses within bacterioplankton communities to such disturbances is strongly limited. Using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing, we examined bacterioplankton population dynamics in Baltic Sea mesocosms with treatments combining terrestrial DOM enrichment and increased temperature. Among the 200 most abundant taxa, 62 % either increased or decreased in relative abundance under changed environmental conditions. For example, SAR11 and SAR86 populations proliferated in combined increased terrestrial DOM/temperature mesocosms, while the hgcI and CL500-29 clades (Actinobacteria) decreased in the same mesocosms. Bacteroidetes increased in both control mesocosms and in the combined increased terrestrial DOM/temperature mesocosms. These results indicate considerable and differential responses among distinct bacterial populations to combined climate change effects, emphasizing the potential of such effects to induce shifts in ecosystem function and carbon cycling in the future Baltic Sea.

Redox-specialized bacterioplankton metacommunity in a temperate estuary.

This study explored the spatiotemporal dynamics of the bacterioplankton community composition in the Gulf of Finland (easternmost sub-basin of the Baltic Sea) based on phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences acquired from community samples via pyrosequencing. Investigations of bacterioplankton in hydrographically complex systems provide good insight into the strategies by which microbes deal with spatiotemporal hydrographic gradients, as demonstrated by our research. Many ribotypes were closely affiliated with sequences isolated from environments with similar steep physiochemical gradients and/or seasonal changes, including seasonally anoxic estuaries. Hence, one of the main conclusions of this study is that marine ecosystems where oxygen and salinity gradients co-occur can be considered a habitat for a cosmopolitan metacommunity consisting of specialized groups occupying niches universal to such environments throughout the world. These niches revolve around functional capabilities to utilize different electron receptors and donors (including trace metal and single carbon compounds). On the other hand, temporal shifts in the bacterioplankton community composition at the surface layer were mainly connected to the seasonal succession of phytoplankton and the inflow of freshwater species. We also conclude that many relatively abundant populations are indigenous and well-established in the area.

Transplant experiments uncover Baltic Sea basin-specific responses in bacterioplankton community composition and metabolic activities.

Anthropogenically induced changes in precipitation are projected to generate increased river runoff to semi-enclosed seas, increasing loads of terrestrial dissolved organic matter and decreasing salinity. To determine how bacterial community structure and functioning adjust to such changes, we designed microcosm transplant experiments with Baltic Proper (salinity 7.2) and Bothnian Sea (salinity 3.6) water. Baltic Proper bacteria generally reached higher abundances than Bothnian Sea bacteria in both Baltic Proper and Bothnian Sea water, indicating higher adaptability. Moreover, Baltic Proper bacteria growing in Bothnian Sea water consistently showed highest bacterial production and beta-glucosidase activity. These metabolic responses were accompanied by basin-specific changes in bacterial community structure. For example, Baltic Proper Pseudomonas and Limnobacter populations increased markedly in relative abundance in Bothnian Sea water, indicating a replacement effect. In contrast, Roseobacter and Rheinheimera populations were stable or increased in abundance when challenged by either of the waters, indicating an adjustment effect. Transplants to Bothnian Sea water triggered the initial emergence of particular Burkholderiaceae populations, and transplants to Baltic Proper water triggered Alteromonadaceae populations. Notably, in the subsequent re-transplant experiment, a priming effect resulted in further increases to dominance of these populations. Correlated changes in community composition and metabolic activity were observed only in the transplant experiment and only at relatively high phylogenetic resolution. This suggested an importance of successional progression for interpreting relationships between bacterial community composition and functioning. We infer that priming effects on bacterial community structure by natural episodic events or climate change induced forcing could translate into long-term changes in bacterial ecosystem process rates.

Quantifying the effects of geographical and environmental factors on distribution of stream bacterioplankton within nature reserves of Fujian, China.

Bacterioplankton are important components of freshwater ecosystems and play essential roles in ecological functions and processes; however, little is known about their geographical distribution and the factors influencing their ecology, especially in stream ecosystems. To examine how geographical and environmental factors affect the composition of bacterioplankton communities, we used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and clone sequencing to survey bacterioplankton communities in 31 samples of streamwater from seven nature reserves in Fujian province, southeast China. Our results revealed that dominant bacterioplankton communities exhibited a distinct geographical pattern. Further, we provided evidence for distance decay relationships in bacterioplankton community similarity and found similar community gradients in response to elevation and latitude. Both redundancy analyses and Mantel tests showed that bacterioplankton community composition was significantly correlated with both environmental (electrical conductivity, total phosphorus, and PO4-P) and geographical factors (latitude, longitude, and elevation). Variance partitioning further showed that the joint effect of geographical and environmental factors explained the largest proportion of the variation in distribution of bacterioplankton communities (13.6 %), followed by purely geographical factors (11.2 %), and purely environmental factors (0.6 %). The Betaproteobacteria were the most common taxa in the streams, followed by Firmicutes and Gammaproteobacteria. Therefore, our results suggest that the biogeographical patterns of stream bacterioplankton communities across the Fujian nature reserves are more influenced by geographical factors than by local physicochemical properties.

Phylogenetic shifts of bacterioplankton community composition along the Pearl Estuary: the potential impact of hypoxia and nutrients.

The significance of salinity in shaping bacterial communities dwelling in estuarine areas has been well documented. However, the influences of other environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen and nutrients in determining distribution patterns of both individual taxa and bacterial communities inhabited local estuarine regions remain elusive. Here, bacterioplankton community structures of surface and bottom waters from eight sites along the Pearl Estuary were characterized with 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. The results showed significant differences of bacterioplankton community between freshwater and saltwater sites, and further between surface and bottom waters of saltwater sites. Synechococcus dominated the surface water of saltwater sites while Oceanospirillales, SAR11 and SAR406 were prevalent in the bottom water. Betaproteobacteria was abundant in freshwater sites, with no significant difference between water layers. Occurrence of phylogenetic shifts in taxa affiliated to the same clade was also detected. Dissolved oxygen explained most of the bacterial community variation in the redundancy analysis targeting only freshwater sites, whereas nutrients and salinity explained most of the variation across all samples in the Pearl Estuary. Methylophilales (mainly PE2 clade) was positively correlated to dissolved oxygen, whereas Rhodocyclales (mainly R.12up clade) was negatively correlated. Moreover, high nutrient inputs to the freshwater area of the Pearl Estuary have shifted the bacterial communities toward copiotrophic groups, such as Sphingomonadales. The present study demonstrated that the overall nutrients and freshwater hypoxia play important roles in determining bacterioplankton compositions and provided insights into the potential ecological roles of specific taxa in estuarine environments.

Environmental rather than spatial factors structure bacterioplankton communities in shallow lakes along a > 6000 km latitudinal gradient in South America.

Metacommunity studies on lake bacterioplankton indicate the importance of environmental factors in structuring communities. Yet most of these studies cover relatively small spatial scales. We assessed the relative importance of environmental and spatial factors in shaping bacterioplankton communities across a > 6000 km latitudinal range, studying 48 shallow lowland lakes in the tropical, tropicali (isothermal subzone of the tropics) and tundra climate regions of South America using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Bacterioplankton community composition (BCC) differed significantly across regions. Although a large fraction of the variation in BCC remained unexplained, the results supported a consistent significant contribution of local environmental variables and to a lesser extent spatial variables, irrespective of spatial scale. Upon correction for space, mainly biotic environmental factors significantly explained the variation in BCC. The abundance of pelagic cladocerans remained particularly significant, suggesting grazer effects on bacterioplankton communities in the studied lakes. These results confirm that bacterioplankton communities are predominantly structured by environmental factors, even over a large-scale latitudinal gradient (6026 km), and stress the importance of including biotic variables in studies that aim to understand patterns in BCC.

The influence of light and water mass on bacterial population dynamics in the Amundsen Sea Polynya

Abstract Despite being perpetually cold, seasonally ice-covered and dark, the coastal Southern Ocean is highly productive and harbors a diverse microbiota. During the austral summer, ice-free coastal patches (or polynyas) form, exposing pelagic organisms to sunlight, triggering intense phytoplankton blooms. This strong seasonality is likely to influence bacterioplankton community composition (BCC). For the most part, we do not fully understand the environmental drivers controlling high-latitude BCC and the biogeochemical cycles they mediate. In this study, the Amundsen Sea Polynya was used as a model system to investigate important environmental factors that shape the coastal Southern Ocean microbiota. Population dynamics in terms of occurrence and activity of abundant taxa was studied in both environmental samples and microcosm experiments by using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes. We found that the BCC in the photic epipelagic zone had low richness, with dominant bacterial populations being related to taxa known to benefit from high organic carbon and nutrient loads (copiotrophs). In contrast, the BCC in deeper mesopelagic water masses had higher richness, featuring taxa known to benefit from low organic carbon and nutrient loads (oligotrophs). Incubation experiments indicated that direct impacts of light and competition for organic nutrients are two important factors shaping BCC in the Amundsen Sea Polynya.

Quick stimulation of Alcanivorax sp. by bioemulsificant EPS₂₀₀₃ on microcosm oil spill simulation.

Oil spill microcosms experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of bioemulsificant exopolysaccharide (EPS₂₀₀₃) on quick stimulation of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. Early hours of oil spill, were stimulated using an experimental seawater microcosm, supplemented with crude oil and EPS₂₀₀₃ (SW+OIL+EPS₂₀₀₃); this system was monitored for 2 days and compared to control microcosm (only oil-polluted seawater, SW+OIL). Determination of bacterial abundance, heterotrophic cultivable and hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were carried out. Community composition of marine bacterioplankton was determined by 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. Data obtained indicated that bioemulsificant addition stimulated an increase of total bacterial abundance and, in particular, selection of bacteria related to Alcanivorax genus; confirming that EPS₂₀₀₃ could be used for the dispersion of oil slicks and could stimulate the selection of marine hydrocarbon degraders thus increasing bioremediation process.

Dissolved organic carbon and relationship with bacterioplankton community composition in 3 lake regions of Lake Taihu, China.

To clarify the relationships between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and bacterioplankton community composition (BCC), a 1-year survey (June 2009 - May 2010) was conducted in 3 regions of Lake Taihu (Meiliang Bay, Lake Center, and Eastern Taihu), China. Polymerase chain reaction - denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the composition and heterogeneity of the bacterioplankton community. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to explore the relationships between DOC concentration and BCC. We found a significant negative correlation between DOC concentration and bacterioplankton community diversity (as measured by the Shannon-Wiener index (H')). The results show that spatial variation in the bacterioplankton population was stronger than the seasonal variation and that DOC concentration influences BCC in Lake Taihu. DOC concentration, followed by macrophyte biomass, water turbidity, and phytoplankton biomass were the most influential factors that account for BCC changes in Lake Taihu. More detailed studies on the relationship between DOC concentration and BCC should focus on differences in DOC concentrations and quality among these lake regions. DOC had a significant impact on BCC in Meiliang Bay. The relationship between DOC and BCC in the 2 other regions studied (Lake Center and Eastern Taihu) was weaker. The results of this study add to our understanding of the BCC in eutrophic lakes, especially regarding the role of the microbial loop in lake ecosystems.