Free-living Bacterial Communities Research Articles

A microbial perspective on the local influence of Arctic rivers and estuaries on Hudson Bay (Canada)

A clear divide typically exists between freshwater and marine microbial communities, with transitional communities found in estuarine zones. The estuarine communities can derive from inflowing rivers and the sea via tidal mixing and incursions or be comprised of unique brackish species, depending on flow regimes and retention time within an estuary. Only a few studies have been carried out in the Arctic, where moderate salinities associated with the influence of seasonal ice melt could potentially favor marine microbes adapted to lower salinities in fresh-to-saltwater transition zones irrespective of river flows and tidal mixing. To test this idea, we examined early summer microbial communities in 2 western Hudson Bay (Canada) river-to-sea systems: the Churchill and Nelson river systems. Both rivers originate from the same headwaters, suggesting similar catchment conditions, but differ in geomorphology and hydroelectric diversions that induce very different flow and stratification regimes. Using amplicons of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene, we identified distinct riverine bacterial communities that were significantly different from the 2 associated estuaries and offshore communities. In the much smaller Churchill Estuary, the microbial community showed a marked influence of freshwater microbial species, along with marine influences. In contrast, in the larger high-flow Nelson River Estuary, riverine bacterioplankton were less evident in the estuary, where the marine signal was much stronger. The marine samples in both systems differed somewhat consistently with the phenology of the phytoplankton bloom in the Bay and tended to harbor distinct attached and free-living bacterial communities. Our results highlight the relevance of river flow and estuarine circulation on selection of bacterial species in estuaries, with ecological implications for food web functionality and biogeochemical cycles in the Anthropocene, where flow regimes would be affected by larger climatic variability.

Spatially resolved assembly, connectivity and structure of particle-associated and free-living bacterial communities in a high Arctic fjord.

ABSTRACTThe assembly processes that underlie the composition and connectivity of free-living (FL) and particle-associated (PA) bacterial communities from surface to deep waters remain little understood. Here, using phylogenetic null modeling, we quantify the relative influence of selective and stochastic mechanisms that assemble FL and PA bacterial communities throughout the water column in a high Arctic fjord. We demonstrate that assembly processes acting on FL and PA bacterial communities are similar in surface waters, but become increasingly distinct in deep waters. As depth increases, the relative influence of homogeneous selection increases for FL but decreases for PA communities. In addition, dispersal limitation and variable selection increase with depth for PA, but not for FL communities, indicating increased residence time of taxa on particles and less frequent decolonization. As a consequence, beta diversity of PA communities is greater in bottom than in surface waters. The limited connectivity between these communities with increasing depth leads to highly distinct FL and PA bacterial communities in bottom waters. Finally, depth-related trends for FL and PA beta diversity and connectivity in this study are consistent with previous observations in the open ocean, suggesting that assembly processes for FL and PA bacterial communities may also be distinct in other aquatic environments.

Dynamics of Free-Living and Attached Bacterial Assemblages in Skeletonema sp. Diatom Cultures at Elevated Temperatures

In the context of global warming, changes in phytoplankton-associated bacterial communities have the potential to change biogeochemical cycling and food webs in marine ecosystems. Skeletonema is a cosmopolitan diatom genus in coastal waters worldwide. Here, we grew a Skeletonema strain with its native bacterial assemblage at different temperatures and examined cell concentrations of Skeletonema sp. and free-living bacteria, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations of cultures, and the community structure of both free-living and attached bacteria at different culture stages. The results showed that elevated temperature increased the specific growth rates of both Skeletonema and free-living bacteria. Different growth stages had a more pronounced effect on community structure compared with temperatures and different physical states of bacteria. The effects of temperature on the structure of the free-living bacterial community were more pronounced compared with diatom-attached bacteria. Carbon metabolism genes and those for some specific amino acid pathways were found to be positively correlated with elevated temperature, which may have profound implications on the oceanic carbon cycle and the marine microbial loop. Network analysis revealed evidence of enhanced cooperation with an increase in positive interactions among different bacteria at elevated temperature. This may help the whole community to overcome the stress of elevated temperature. We speculate that different bacterial species may build more integrated networks with a modified functional profile of the whole community to cope with elevated temperature. This study contributes to an improved understanding of the response of diatom-associated bacterial communities to elevated temperature.

Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing reveals spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial community in a heavily polluted estuary, China.

Understanding the bacterial community structure of the river estuary could provide insights into the resident microorganisms in response to environmental pollution. In this study, the bacterial community structure of Liaohe Estuary was investigated using single-molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT). A total of 57 samples were collected and grouped according to habitat, space, season, and lifestyle. In seawater, regardless of whether it is particle-attached (PA) or free-living (FL) bacteria, the area with higher alpha diversity is the nearshore area in the dry season, while it is the midstream area in the wet season. The bacterial communities in sediment and seawater samples were different at the genus level in the nearshore area, and habitat type was the main factor. A marked difference in the bacterial community was observed in the dry season between different lifestyles but not in the wet season, which resulted from lifestyle transitions of bacterioplankton. Bacterial community varied spatially but not seasonally in sediment samples. In seawater, both FL and PA bacterial communities varied spatially during the wet season. Seasonal differences were only observed in FL bacterial community. Zn and sand were the principal determining factors of the bacterial community in the sediment, Cu and salinity were the main environmental factors for FL bacteria, and Cu, salinity, Zn and temperature were the main environmental factors for PA bacteria. Besides, the tide and nutrients were also the main drivers of the bacterial community in seawater. The indicative taxa, related to Cyanobium_PCC-6307, Pseudomonas and Vibrio, further evidenced the presence of possible bloom, crude oil and pathogen contamination. Overall, our results can contribute to the knowledge of the bacterial community and anthropogenic impacts on the Liaohe Estuary.

Characterization of particle-associated and free-living bacterial and archaeal communities along the water columns of the South China Sea

Abstract. There is a growing recognition of the role of particle-attached (PA) and free-living (FL) microorganisms in marine carbon cycle. However, current understanding of PA and FL microbial communities is largely focused on those in the upper photic zone, and relatively fewer studies have focused on microbial communities of the deep ocean. Moreover, archaeal populations receive even less attention. In this study, we determined bacterial and archaeal community structures of both the PA and FL assemblages at different depths, from the surface to the bathypelagic zone along two water column profiles in the South China Sea. Our results suggest that environmental parameters including depth, seawater age, salinity, particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved oxygen (DO) and silicate play a role in structuring these microbial communities. Generally, the PA microbial communities had relatively low abundance and diversity compared with the FL microbial communities at most depths. Further microbial community analysis revealed that PA and FL fractions generally accommodate significantly divergent microbial compositions at each depth. The PA bacterial communities mainly comprise members of Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, together with some from Planctomycetes and Deltaproteobacteria, while the FL bacterial lineages are also mostly distributed within Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, along with other abundant members chiefly from Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Marinimicrobia and Deltaproteobacteria. Moreover, there was an obvious shifting in the dominant PA and FL bacterial compositions along the depth profiles from the surface to the bathypelagic deep. By contrast, both PA and FL archaeal communities dominantly consisted of euryarchaeotal Marine Group II (MGII) and thaumarchaeotal Nitrosopumilales, together with variable amounts of Marine Group III (MGIII), Methanosarcinales, Marine Benthic Group A (MBG-A) and Woesearchaeota. However, the pronounced distinction of archaeal community compositions between PA and FL fractions was observed at a finer taxonomic level. A high proportion of overlap of microbial compositions between PA and FL fractions implies that most microorganisms are potentially generalists with PA and FL dual lifestyles for versatile metabolic flexibility. In addition, microbial distribution along the depth profile indicates a potential vertical connectivity between the surface-specific microbial lineages and those in the deep ocean, likely through microbial attachment to sinking particles.

Phylogenetic Responses of Marine Free-Living Bacterial Community to Phaeocystis globosa Bloom in Beibu Gulf, China.

Phaeocystis globosa blooms are recognized as playing an essential role in shaping the structure of the marine community and its functions in marine ecosystems. In this study, we observed variation in the alpha diversity and composition of marine free-living bacteria during P. globosa blooms and identified key microbial community assembly patterns during the blooms. The results showed that the Shannon index was higher before the blooming of P. globosa in the subtropical bay. Marinobacterium (γ-proteobacteria), Erythrobacter (α-proteobacteria), and Persicobacter (Cytophagales) were defined as the most important genera, and they were more correlated with environmental factors at the terminal stage of P. globosa blooms. Furthermore, different community assembly processes were observed. Both the mean nearest relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI) revealed the dominance of deterministic factors in the non-blooming and blooming periods of P. globosa, while the bacterial communities in marine waters after the blooms tended to be controlled by stochastic factors. Our findings revealed that the assembly of the bacterial community in marine P. globosa blooms is a complex process with mixture effects of marine microbiomes and environmental parameters.

The Relationships Between the Free-Living and Particle-Attached Bacterial Communities in Response to Elevated Eutrophication.

Exploring the relationships between free-living (FL) and particle-attached (PA) bacterial communities can provide insight into their connectivity and the partitioning of biogeochemical processes, which is crucial to understanding the elemental cycles and metabolic pathways in aquatic ecosystems. However, there is still intense debate about that whether FL and PA fractions have the same assemblage. To address this issue, we investigated the extent of similarity between FL and PA bacterial communities along the environmental gradients in Lake Wuli, China. Our results revealed that the west Lake Wuli was slightly eutrophic and the east lake was moderately and highly eutrophic. The alpha-diversity of the FL bacterial communities was significantly lower than that of the PA fraction in the west lake, whereas the alpha-diversity of the two fractions was comparable in the east lake. The beta-diversity of both communities significantly differed in the west lake, whereas it resembled that in the east lake. Moreover, functional prediction analysis highlighted the significantly larger differences of metabolic functions between the FL and PA fractions in the west lake than in the east lake. Suspended particles and carbon resource promote the similarity between the FL and PA fractions. Collectively, our result reveals a convergent succession of aquatic communities along the eutrophic gradient, highlighting that the connectivity between FL and PA bacterial communities is nutrient related.

Distinct successional patterns and processes of free‐living and particle‐attached bacterial communities throughout a phytoplankton bloom

Abstract Understanding the successional patterns of microbial communities during a phytoplankton bloom is crucial for predicting the compositional and functional stability of lake ecosystems in response to the disturbance of a bloom. Previous studies on bacterial communities associated with blooms have rarely studied the dynamics of these communities. The successional patterns of bacterial communities within different micro‐habitats (i.e. water column versus particles) and mechanisms that shape these communities that differ in composition and structure remain unclear. We selected a eutrophic urban lake to investigate the succession of bacterial communities during a bloom. We divided the bacterial communities into free‐living (FL) and particle‐attached (PA) groups based on their different lifestyles. The amplicon‐based 16S rRNA gene high‐throughput sequencing technology was used to obtain bacterial community composition and phylogenetic structure. Our study showed distinct successional patterns between FL and PA bacterial communities, and the two bacterial lifestyles showed different responses and resilience to the bloom, in terms of diversity and relative abundance of bacterial taxa. Alpha‐diversity of the PA bacterial community decreased during the bloom, whereas that of the FL bacterial community increased. More taxa in the FL bacterial community showed resilience after the disturbance than in the PA bacterial community. The influence of phytoplankton blooms on the assembly of the bacterial community can be viewed as niche selection that led to the decrease in the relative importance of stochastic processes in shaping both FL and PA bacterial communities. This study shows the ecological significance of the bacterial community response to bloom events in lakes. It also shows that assembly processes differ for bacterial communities that have different lifestyles in lake ecosystems disturbed by phytoplankton blooms.

Size-fractioned aggregates within phycosphere define functional bacterial communities related to Microcystis aeruginosa and Euglena sanguinea blooms

Phytoplankton growth and degradation are associated with bacterial communities in phycosphere. We compared the bacterial communities in two algal blooms (Microcystis aeruginosa and Euglena sanguinea). In particular, large particle-associated, small particle-associated, and free-living bacteria were collected in succession using membranes with three different pore sizes (10 µm, 1 µm, and 0.22 µm) in this study. The results showed that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla in both blooms. Significant differences in the structure, function, and assembly were observed between large particle-associated and free-living bacterial community in both blooms. Specifically, relative abundance of Roseomonas was higher in the large-size (> 10 µm) aggregates, while Candidate_division_TM7 and Candidate_division_SR1 were more abundant in the free-living bacterial community (0.22–1 µm). The large particle-associated bacterial community was mainly driven by heterogeneous selection and dispersal limitation, whereas the small particle-associated and free-living bacterial communities were mostly determined by dispersal limitation. Besides, some specific bacterial subgroups were found between M. aeruginosa and E. sanguinea blooms. Chlorobi, Chloroflexi, and Fusobacteria were abundant in the M. aeruginosa blooms, whereas Deinococcus–Thermus was abundant in the E. sanguinea blooms. Those specific bacteria provide competitive advantages for the dominated algae. Altogether, these findings indicate that the phycosphere of bloom-forming algae provides different ecological niches where different functional bacterial groups can adapt.

Microhabitats are associated with diversity-productivity relationships in freshwater bacterial communities.

Eukaryotic communities commonly display a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) but the results have been mixed when assessed in bacterial communities. Habitat heterogeneity, a factor in eukaryotic BEFs, may explain these variable observations but it has not been thoroughly evaluated in bacterial communities. Here, we examined the impact of habitat on the relationship between diversity assessed based on the (phylogenetic) Hill diversity metrics and heterotrophic productivity. We sampled co-occurring free-living (more homogenous) and particle-associated (more heterogeneous) bacterial habitats in a freshwater, estuarine lake over three seasons: spring, summer and fall. There was a strong, positive, linear relationship between particle-associated bacterial richness and heterotrophic productivity that strengthened when considering dominant taxa. There were no observable BEF trends in free-living bacterial communities for any diversity metric. Biodiversity, richness and Inverse Simpson's index, were the best predictors of particle-associated production whereas pH was the best predictor of free-living production. Our findings show that heterotrophic productivity is positively correlated with the effective number of taxa and that BEF relationships are associated with microhabitats. These results add to the understanding of the highly distinct contributions to diversity and functioning contributed by bacteria in free-living and particle-associated habitats.

The potential impact of bacterial communities exposed to crude oil and light on the growth of the harmful algal blooming species Karenia brevis (Dinophyceae)

Phytoplankton blooms have been occasionally observed to occur after oil spills, and changes in bacterial communities (BC) associated with phytoplankton are known to affect phytoplankton growth. In the present study, to examine the effects of BC exposed to crude oil on phytoplankton blooms, established free-living (FL) BC in Karenia brevis (Dinophyceae) culture were collected and then exposed to crude oil under light or dark conditions. These exposed FL BC were then added to K. brevis culture to investigate the effects on growth rate of this dinoflagellate. Enhanced growth of K. brevis was observed following addition of FL (24.7%) BC exposed to crude oil and light. Whereas BC grown with crude oil in the dark did not enhance growth, and BC without treatment showed a slight growth inhibition (13–15%) of K. brevis. In addition, the growth-promoting effect had a positive correlation with the inoculated bacterial density; the treatment with a higher (~1.5 times) density of FL (42.9%) BC that were exposed to crude oil and light showed an increase in the growth-promoting effect. Taken together, BC exposed to crude oil and light may play an important role in enhancement of K. brevis growth.

Comparison of community composition between Microcystis colony-attached and free-living bacteria, and among bacteria attached with Microcystis colonies of various sizes in culture

A better understanding of the distribution pattern of bacterial community in the Microcystis phycosphere will aid in elucidating the role of bacteria in the formation of cyanobacterial bloom. In the present study, we aimed to compare community composition between Microcystis colony-attached and free-living bacteria, as well as among bacteria attached with Microcystis colonies of various sizes in culture. In the exponentially growing cyanobacterial cultures, Proteobacteria was the most dominant phylum in each colony-attached bacterial community, whereas Bacteroidetes was the most dominant phylum in each free-living bacterial community. The analysis using an indirect PCA model and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index indicated that the dissimilarity between colony-attached and free-living bacterial communities was greater in the exponentially growing cyanobacterial cultures, and it became smaller in the stationary cultures of Microcystis. In the exponential growth phase of Microcystis, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in colony-attached bacterial communities tended to decrease with decreasing colony size, whereas the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes in colony-attached bacterial communities tended to increase. In the exponential growth phase of Microcystis, the community composition dissimilarity among bacteria attached with Microcystis colonies of various sizes could be ranked in a descending order as follows: > 100 µm versus 100 µm versus 50–100 µm. Our data indicated that the community composition of Microcystis colony-attached bacteria was different from that of free-living bacteria, and the colony size of Microcystis played an important role in structuring the community composition of Microcystis-attached bacteria.

Biogeography of the free-living and particle-attached bacteria in Tibetan lakes.

The free-living (FL) and particle-attached (PA) bacteria have different dispersal potentials and ecological roles in aquatic ecosystems. However, our knowledge of their diversity and regional biogeographic patterns in high-altitude alpine lakes is limited. In this study, to investigate the diversity and geographic patterns of the FL and PA bacterial communities and to quantify the relative influence of environmental filtering and dispersal limitation in shaping the FL and PA bacterial communities, we collected surface water samples from 26 lakes over 1000 kilometers on the Tibetan Plateau. The majority of sequences exclusively in the FL bacteria were Actinobacteria (29.4%), Proteobacteria (27.7%) and Bacteroidetes (21.6%), while sequences exclusively in the PA bacteria were dominated by Proteobacteria (57.9%). The α-diversity indices, including Shannon index and Pielou's evenness, were significantly lower in the FL bacteria than that in PA bacteria. The surrounding soils as an important potential source contributed more to the diversity of the PA bacteria than the FL bacteria. Both of the FL and PA bacterial communities exhibited a significant regional distance-decay pattern. Environmental filtering and dispersal limitation were significantly related to the spatial variation of the FL and PA bacterial communities, whereas the environmental filtering/dispersal limitation effect ratio was higher in the FL bacterial communities. Our study is the first to describe the regional-scale spatial variability and to identify the factors that drive regional variability of the FL and PA bacterial communities in Tibetan lakes.

Characterization of bacterioplankton communities and quantification of organic carbon pools off the Galapagos Archipelago under contrasting environmental conditions.

Bacteria play a crucial role in the marine carbon cycle, contributing to the production and degradation of organic carbon. Here, we investigated organic carbon pools, aggregate formation, and bacterioplankton communities in three contrasting oceanographic settings in the Galapagos Archipelago. We studied a submarine CO2 vent at Roca Redonda (RoR), an upwelling site at Bolivar Channel (BoC) subjected to a weak El Niño event at the time of sampling in October 2014, as well as a site without volcanic or upwelling influence at Cowley Islet (CoI). We recorded physico-chemical parameters, and quantified particulate and dissolved organic carbon, transparent exopolymeric particles, and the potential of the water to form larger marine aggregates. Free-living and particle-attached bacterial communities were assessed via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Both RoR and BoC exhibited temperatures elevated by 1–1.5 °C compared to CoI. RoR further experienced reduced pH between 6.8 and 7.4. We observed pronounced differences in organic carbon pools at each of the three sites, with highest dissolved organic carbon concentrations at BoC and RoR, and highest particulate organic carbon concentrations and aggregate formation at BoC. Bacterioplankton communities at BoC were dominated by opportunistic copiotrophic taxa, such as Alteromonas and Roseobacter, known to thrive in phytoplankton blooms, as opposed to oligotrophic taxa dominating at CoI, such as members of the SAR11 clade. Therefore, we propose that bacterial communities were mainly influenced by the availability of organic carbon at the investigated sites. Our study provides a comprehensive characterization of organic carbon pools and bacterioplankton communities, highlighting the high heterogeneity of various components of the marine carbon cycle around the Galapagos Archipelago.

Vicinal land use change strongly drives stream bacterial community in a tropical montane catchment.

Impact of land use (LU) change on stream environmental conditions and the inhabiting bacterial community remains rarely investigated, especially in tropical montane catchments. We examined the effects of LU change and its legacy along a tropical stream by comparing seasonal patterns of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) / colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in relation to variations in structure, diversity and metabolic capacities of particle-attached (PA) and free-living (FL) bacterial communities. We hypothesized that despite seasonal differences, hydrological flows that accumulate allochthonous carbon along the catchment are a major controlling factor of the bacterial community. Surprisingly, local environmental conditions that were largely related to nearby LU and the legacy of LU change were more important for stream bacterial diversity than hydrological connectivity. DOC was strongly correlated with PA richness and diversity. The legacy of LU change between teak plantation and annual crops induced high DOC and high diversity and richness of PA in the adjacent waters, while banana plantations were associated with high diversity of FL. The community structures of both PA and FL differed significantly between seasons. Our results highlight the importance of vicinal LU change and its legacy on aquatic bacterial communities in mixed used tropical watersheds.

Composition and diversity of cyanobacteria-associated and free-living bacterial communities during cyanobacterial blooms

Lakes undergoing cyanobacterial blooms often exhibit differences between free-living (FL) and cyanobacteria-associated (CA) bacterial assemblages, but previous studies have not compared distinct FL and CA communities across multiple lakes. This project investigated whether FL and CA communities differ from each other in consistent ways across lakes. FL and CA communities were collected from three Ohio (USA) lakes on two sampling dates during cyanobacterial blooms. High-throughput sequencing was used to characterize the communities, and comparisons were made of the composition and diversity of FL and CA communities within and across lakes. Diversity estimates did not vary significantly among lakes nor between CA and FL assemblages. The taxonomic composition of CA communities differed significantly from that of FL communities in Buckeye and Harsha Lakes and in Maumee Bay on one of two sampling dates. CA communities from Buckeye and Harsha Lakes were more similar to each other than to their respective FL communities. Community composition in Maumee Bay on August 18 did not differ between FL and CA habitats. As the bloom progressed, the FL community remained similar in composition to samples collected on August 18, while the CA community became significantly dissimilar. This study is the first cross-lake comparisons of CA and FL communities, uncovering the impacts of habitat type, lake, and sampling date in determining community composition.

Depth-Resolved Distribution of Particle-Attached and Free-Living Bacterial Communities in the Water Column of the New Britain Trench.

Particle-attached (PA) and free-living (FL) microorganisms play significant but different roles in mineralization of organic matter (OM) in the ocean. Currently, little is known about PA and FL microbial communities in bathyal and abyssal pelagic waters, and understanding of their diversity and distribution in the water column and their interactions with environmental factors in the trench area is limited. We investigated for the first time the variations of abundance and diversities of the PA and FL bacterial communities in the epi-, bathy-, and abyssopelagic zones of the New Britain Trench (NBT). The PA communities showed decreasing species richness but increasing relative abundance with depth, suggesting the increasing ecological significance of the PA bacteria in the deep ocean. The abundance and diversity of PA and FL bacterial communities in the NBT water column appeared to be shaped by different sets of environment factors, which might be related to different micro-niches of the two communities. Analysis on species distribution suggested that the differences between PA and FL bacteria communities mainly resulted from the different relative abundance of the “shared taxa” in the two types of communities. These findings provide valuable information for understanding the relative ecological roles of the PA and FL bacterial communities and their interactions with environmental factors in different pelagic zones along the vertical profile of the NBT water column.

Effects of growth phase and nitrogen limitation on biochemical composition of two strains of Tisochrysis lutea

Standard and mutant Tisochrysis lutea strains were grown in batch culture for 10days under nitrogen (N)-replete and N-reduced conditions to determine the effects of N supply in culture medium and growth phase on microalgal physiology and biochemistry. These two T. lutea strains were compared in terms of growth, morphology, associated free-living bacterial community, viability, intracellular lipid content (as measured by Bodipy staining), chlorophyll autofluorescence, and biochemical composition, with a focus on lipid class and fatty acid compositions. The standard strain (T) reached higher cell counts regardless of N supply in culture medium. In both T. lutea strains, microalgal final cell density was significantly lower in N-reduced medium. Carbohydrates were enhanced at stationary phase in both strains, regardless of N supply. The oleaginous strain (T+) accumulated triacylglycerols; whereas, the standard strain T accumulated alkenones as reserve lipids, especially in N-reduced medium and stationary phase. Each T. lutea strain exhibited an intrinsic specific FA profile in neutral lipids (NL) and, to a lesser extent, in polar lipids (PL) independent of N supply and growth phase. T+ contained more saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (especially 14:0 and 18:1n-9), but less polyunsaturated fatty acids (18:4n-3 and 22:6n-3) than T. Overall, growth phase induced more changes in fatty acid profiles of both T. lutea strains in NL and PL than N supply in culture medium.

Differences in free-living and particle-associated bacterial communities and their spatial variation in Kongsfjorden, Arctic

High throughput V3-16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data was used for evaluating differences between free-living (FL, <1.2-0.2 μm) and particle-associated (PA, >1.2 μm) bacterial communities, and their spatial variation between inner fjord (IF) and outer fjord (OF) of Kongsfjorden. A total of 4,454,142 high quality sequences obtained clustered into 32,058 OTUs. A majority of these sequences were affiliated with Proteobacteria (59.8%), followed by Bacteroidetes (29.02%), Firmicutes (5.9%), Actinobacteria (2.84%), Cyanobacteria (1.04%), and others (1.4%). The highest bacterial diversity was recorded in the inner fjord free-living (IF_FL) fraction whilst the lowest was observed in the outer fjord free-living (OF_FL) fraction. There was a clear spatial variation among FL bacterial communities, while PA communities remained similar at both sampling locations. The free-living bacterial community differs from particle-associated community and had relatively higher abundance (>4-fold) of Alteromonas and Pseudoalteromonas, while PA community was relatively more enriched with Balneatrix, Ulvibacter, Formosa, Candidatus Planktomarina, Sulfitobacter, Loktanella, members of SAR116, and Acidimicrobiales. In addition, two major bacterial taxa, Polaribacter and SAR11, co-occurred in both FL and PA fractions with varied proportions in IF and OF. These results suggest co-occurrence of PA specialist as well as generalist bacterial groups in Kongsfjorden. Further, high bacterial diversity in the IF_FL fraction indicates possible role of glacial inputs in modulating diversity of free-living bacterial community in Kongsfjorden.

Enhanced crude oil biodegradative potential of natural phytoplankton-associated hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria.

Phytoplankton have been shown to harbour a diversity of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCB), yet it is not understood how these phytoplankton-associated HCB would respond in the event of an oil spill at sea. Here, we assess the diversity and dynamics of the bacterial community associated with a natural population of marine phytoplankton under oil spill-simulated conditions, and compare it to that of the free-living (non phytoplankton-associated) bacterial community. While the crude oil severely impacted the phytoplankton population and was likely conducive to marine oil snow formation, analysis of the MiSeq-derived 16S rRNA data revealed dramatic and differential shifts in the oil-amended communities that included blooms of recognized HCB (e.g., Thalassospira, Cycloclasticus), including putative novel phyla, as well as other groups with previously unqualified oil-degrading potential (Olleya, Winogradskyella, and members of the inconspicuous BD7-3 phylum). Notably, the oil biodegradation potential of the phytoplankton-associated community exceeded that of the free-living community, and it showed a preference to degrade substituted and non-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Our study provides evidence of compartmentalization of hydrocarbon-degrading capacity in the marine water column, wherein HCB associated with phytoplankton are better tuned to degrading crude oil hydrocarbons than that by the community of planktonic free-living bacteria.