Bacterial and protist community changes during a phytoplankton bloom

John K. Pearman, Laura Casas Castano, Tony Merle, Craig Michell, Xabier Irigoien

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study aims to characterize the change in the composition and structure of the bacterial and microzooplankton planktonic communities in relation to the phytoplankton community composition during a bloom. High-throughput amplicon sequencing of regions of the 16S and 18S rRNA gene was undertaken on samples collected during a 20 day (d) mesocosm experiment incorporating two different nutrient addition treatments [Nitrate and Phosphate (NPc) and Nitrate, Phosphate and Silicate (NPSc)] as well as a control. This approach allowed us to discriminate the changes in species composition across a broad range of phylogenetic groups using a common taxonomic level. Diatoms dominated the bloom in the NPSc treatment while dinoflagellates were the dominant phytoplankton in the control and NPc treatment. Network correlations highlighted significant interactions between OTUs within each treatment including changes in the composition of Paraphysomonas OTUs when the dominant Chaetoceros OTU switched. The microzooplankton community composition responded to changes in the phytoplankton composition while the prokaryotic community responded more to changes in ammonia concentration.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)198-213
Number of pages16
JournalLimnology and Oceanography
Volume61
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 15 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science

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