Quantitative relationship between flagellate abundance and suspended particle density in Huanghai Sea and East China Sea in summer

1 IntroductionInthepast30a, withthewidespread acceptanceof the im portant role played by m icroorganisms inaquaticsystems, thestructure, functionandtheirim -plications ofm icrobialloop have becom e a focus ofattention on m arine ecological studies (Sherr …     

Heterotrophic flagellates in the littoral and sublittoral zones of the southeast part of the Pechora Sea

For the first time, data on the heterotrophic flagellate fauna in the littoral and the sublittoral zones of the southeastern part of the Pechora Sea were obtained. Sixty-six heterotrophic flagellate species were found in the study region: 48 and 42 species were found on the shelf and in the intertidal zone, respectively. The most common species were Cafeteria roenbergensis, Paraphysomonas sp., Ancyromonas sigmoides, Cafeteria minuta, Actinomonas mirabilis, and Spumella sp. The littoral fauna of the heterotrophic flagellates was more peculiar than the sublittoral fauna and equally rich. In the region studied, the community can be divided into two types: (a) the predominantly littoral community characterized by a special composition of the dominant species and by high similarity between its local varieties and (b) the heterogeneous predominantly sublittoral community characterized by a lack of a complex of particular species. The local diversity of the heterotrophic flagellate community was low (on the average, 4.5 species per one sample 1 cm³ in volume). The overall distribution pattern of the flagellates was extremely heterogeneous. The large amount of species that were encountered only once causes a great variability in the species structure from one station to another. The total number of the species monotonously increased with the growth in the number of samples and no manifested saturation of the cumulative curve was reached. This indicates the potentially greater diversity of the heterotrophic flagellate species in the region studied.     

Long lifetimes of β-glucosidase,leucine aminopeptidase,and phosphatase in Arctic seawater

The active lifetime of extracellular enzymes is a critical determinant of the effectiveness of enzyme production as a means for heterotrophic marine microbes to obtain organic substrates. Here, we report lifetimes of three classes of extracellular enzyme in Arctic seawater. We also investigated the relative importance of photochemical processes and particle-associated processes in inactivating extracellular enzymes. Enzyme inactivation in filtered seawater was slow, with apparent half-lives of enzyme activities on the order of hundreds of hours. The presence of particles (including cells) did not significantly change inactivation rates, suggesting that the long half-lives observed in filtered seawater were realistic for enzymes in unfiltered seawater. Phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase were susceptible to photoinactivation, but only under high intensity UV-B and UV-C illumination; there was no evidence for increased inactivation rates under natural illumination at our study site in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. Comparison of inactivation rates of commercially-obtained enzymes from non-marine sources with the extracellular enzymes naturally present in Arctic seawater suggests that the natural enzymes contain structural features that confer longer lifetimes, consistent with observations reported by others from a range of field sites that cell-free enzymes can contribute a substantial fraction of total hydrolytic activity in the water column.     

Collection and detection of natural iron-binding ligands from seawater

Iron (Fe) is an essential element for the biochemical and physiological functioning of terrestrial and oceanic organisms, including phytoplankton, which are responsible for the primary productivity in the world's oceans. However, due to the low solubility of Fe in seawater, phytoplankton are often limited by their inability to incorporate enough Fe to allow for optimal growth rates in regions with dissolved Fe concentrations below 1 nM. It has been postulated that certain phytoplankton may produce compounds to facilitate the uptake of Fe from seawater to overcome this limitation. Dissolved Fe in the oceans is overwhelmingly complexed (>99%) by strong organic ligands that may control the uptake of Fe by microbiota; however, the identity, origin, and chemical characteristics of these organic chelates are largely unknown. Although it has been implied that some components of natural Fe-binding ligands are siderophores, no direct analyses of such compounds from natural seawater have been conducted. Here, we present a simple solid-phase extraction technique employing Biobeads SM-2 and Amberlite XAD-16 resins for concentrating naturally occurring dissolved iron-binding compounds from large volumes (>200 l) of seawater. Additionally, we report on the first successful determination of molecular weight size classes and preliminary iron-binding functional group characterization within those size classes for isolates collected from the surface and below the photic zone (150 m) in the central California coastal upwelling system. Electrochemical analyses using competitive ligand equilibration/adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CLE-ACSV) showed that isolated compounds had conditional Fe-binding affinities (with respect to inorganic iron—Fe′) of K_FeL,Fe′^cond=10^11.5–10^11.9 M⁻¹, similar to purified marine siderophores produced in laboratory cultures and to the ambient Fe-binding ligands observed in seawater. In addition, 63% of the extracted compounds from surface-collected samples fall within the defined size range of siderophores (300–1000 Da). Hydroxamate or catecholate Fe-binding functional groups were present in each compound for which Fe binding was detected. These results illustrate that the functional groups previously shown to be present in marine and terrestrial siderophores extracted and purified from laboratory cultures are also present in the natural marine environment. These data provide evidence that a significant fraction of the organic Fe-binding compounds we collected contain Fe-binding functional groups consistent with biologically produced siderophores. These results provide further insight into characteristics of the Fe-binding ligands that are thought to be important in controlling the biological availability of Fe in the oceans.     

AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF MINE TAILINGS ON THE EUPHOTIC ZONE OF A PELAGIC ECOSYSTEM

A computer analysis was performed on experimental results obtained when mine tailings were added to seawater. The Mixed Upper-Layer Ecotrophie Simulation (MULES) model was tested by changing the extinction coefficient and the abundance of heterotrophic zooflagellates. Increasing the extinction coefficient resulted in a delay of phytoplankton growth, an increase in zooplankton standing stock and better growth of autotrophic flagellates compared with diatoms. Zooflagellates in the ecosystem influence the growth of zooplankton; secondary production by zooplankton was markedly depressed at low levels of zooflagellates. These results are believed to be of general significance for the diagnosis of suspended sediment effects on planktonic ecosystems.     

Composition of the inorganic fraction of the particulate organic matter in seawater

Na, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, and Mn have been measured in both naturally occurring particulate matter and artificially created aggregates taken from water from the Nova Scotian coastal region and from the North Atlantic Ocean. The order of concentration of these elements is the same in both the aggregates and the natural particulate matter as it is in seawater. There is an inverse relationship between depth of the water and the amount of inorganic matter in artificially created aggregates, while a direct relationship is found with the naturally occurring particles. This direct relationship may reflect the utilization of organic material in the surface waters. Iron and manganese are enriched in both kinds of particles.     

Degradation of phytoplankton-derived organic matter: Implications for carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry in coastal ecosystems

Experiments were conducted using seawater from the Oregon continental shelf to determine: (1) rates of phytoplankton-derived particulate organic matter (POM) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) degradation by natural microbial communities, and (2) whether inorganic nutrients or flagellate grazing limit the bacterial response to, and subsequent degradation of, the DOM. In the initial seawater samples, nutrients were depleted and organic matter concentrations were elevated above concentrations found in upwelled water, indicative of recent bloom conditions. In whole water treatments incubated for 3 d, an average of 24% of the total organic C and 33% of the POC was degraded, with some portion of the POC being converted to DOC. In treatments incubated after POM was removed by filtration, DOC degradation was initially rapid and then proceeded at a slower rate. After 3 d, an average of 41% of the DOC was degraded. Selective degradation of the C-component of both the POM and DOM relative to the N-component was observed. Reductions in flagellate grazing resulted in increases in bacterial abundance and enhanced DOC degradation, while inorganic nutrient amendments had little effect. Overall, these results suggest that a fraction of the phytoplankton-derived POM and DOM can be rapidly degraded, contributing to oxygen consumption on the continental shelf. The long degradation time of a less labile DOC fraction relative to potential offshelf transport mechanisms suggests that Oregon's coastal waters may be a source of DOC to adjacent offshore waters of the North Pacific.     

夏季黄海、东海鞭毛虫的丰度与悬浮颗粒物的关系

对2001年8月黄海中部和南部以及东海北部海洋鞭毛虫的丰度及其与悬浮颗粒物的数量关系进行了研究,发现调查区域内的鞭毛虫丰度为44~12 600个/cm3,它们在悬浮颗粒中所占的比例可达60%以上.悬浮颗粒物的粒径谱可以分为平缓型、驼峰型、浮游生物型和混合型.鞭毛虫丰度的变化与悬浮颗粒物的数量分布具有相似的变化趋势,整体上来说,两者数量的相关性显著,而不同的粒径谱类型中,两者的关系有不同的特点.对两者的数量关系进行了初步的探讨,并为今后海域生态调查中鞭毛虫丰度的快速估计提供一条新的途径.     

Abundance and biomass of heterotrophic microbes in the Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

1Introduction Heterotrophicmicrobesarenowconsideredtobe significantcomponentsofthestructureandfunctionof marinepelagicecosystems.Heterotrophicbacteriacon- stituteamajorpoolofbiomassinopenecosystem (WilhelmandSuttle,1999).Theyconsumealargepor- tionofprimaryproduction(Li,1998;Sherryetal., 2002;Lietal.,2004),andtheymineralizemostofthe dissolvedorganiccarbonthattheyconsume(Azamet al.,1983;Richetal.,1997;Azam,1998).Therolesof planktonicprotists,suchasheterotrophicflagellates andciliates,inmicro…     

Production of an extracellular copper-binding compound by the heterotrophic marine bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus

The heterotrophic marine bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus was shown to produce extracellular copper-binding compound (s) when exposed to copper in a seawater medium. Fractionation and analysis of copper, and methionine incorporation in culture supernatant fractions showed that the copper-binding compound coeluted with material which was radiolabeled with ³⁵S methionine. This suggests that the copper-binding compound may be proteinaceous. Analysis of label incorporation from ¹⁴C glucose into the fraction containing the copper-binding compound indicated that it was produced actively by the cells during recovery from copper toxicity, and was not present because of non-specific release by lysed bacterial cells. Concentrated supernatants from control and copper-challenged cultures contained two compounds which could be marginally resolved by size exclusion HPLC (26 kD and 28 kD), and which were produced at about a ten-fold higher level in copper-challenged cultures than in controls. These data indicate that the bacteria respond to toxic copper levels by excretion of a ca. 28 kD compound (s), which serves to detoxify copper in the medium by formation of organic copper complexes.The data suggest a potential role for macromolecules excreted by heterotrophic bacteria in control of copper ion activity in seawater. The production of copper-complexing compounds in response to copper represents a mechanism through which bacteria may directly influence the speciation of metal ions in seawater.     

Heterotrophic microbial communities on the water-sediment boundary in the Kara Sea

The qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the heterotrophic microbial communities (bacteria, flagellates, and ciliates) in the thin water-sediment layer in the Kara Sea are analyzed. The bacterial abundance correlated with the concentration of organic matter, whereas their size depended on the abundance of heterotrophic flagellates. The number of species of heterotrophic flagellates increased with the increase in the bacterial number. A positive relationship between the bacterial abundance and the ration of heterotrophic flagellates was observed at the offshore stations, probably due to the grazing pressure. The density of the ciliates on the soft silty and sandy-silty sediments was extremely low. The share of upstream filter feeding ciliate species increased with the increase in the abundance of the flagellates, probably due to the shift to less selective feeding strategies at higher values of the food concentrations. The classification of the heterotrophic microbial communities in the surface sediment layer has revealed two distinct types of the communities. The river communities are rich in species and are characterized by the high abundance of microorganisms. They are gradually replaced by marine communities at the salinity of 9%.     

Production of chromophoric dissolved organic matter by Sargasso Sea microbes

Time series of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) light absorption coefficients indicate a local origin for a large fraction of the CDOM in the upper water column of the Sargasso Sea. In the present study, we demonstrate that CDOM is produced in bacterial culture experiments using Sargasso Sea water and naturally occurring microbial assemblages. Seawater cultures were prepared and grown at in situ temperatures in the dark for periods of weeks. Selected cultures were treated with amendments including inorganic nutrients, glucose, phytoplankton exudates, and zooplankton excretia. In all experiments, when bacterial biomass increased, CDOM increased during the first week of the experiment, followed by a decrease over a longer period of time. Cultures amended with both glucose and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus produced more CDOM than controls or cultures amended with glucose or inorganic nutrients alone. However, when complex DOM substrates (derived from phytoplankton or zooplankton cultures) were added to seawater cultures, there was a net accumulation of CDOM over the course of the experiments. These data suggest that, in addition to microbial growth, the quality of the substrate plays an important role in net CDOM production. ‘New’ CDOM produced in culture was spectroscopically similar to CDOM appearing below the surface during summer stratification. The results of the present study support a new paradigm for CDOM in the open ocean, which allows for local origin and significant dynamics. Appreciation of CDOM dynamics will, in turn, add to our understanding of microbial productivity, photochemical rate processes, and ultraviolet radiation availability in the global ocean.     

Hydrocarbon effects on fouling assemblages: the importance of taxonomic differences, seasonal, and tidal variation

Effects of hydrocarbon-contaminated substrata on recruitment of three species of fouling organisms were studied along the Louisiana gulf coast. Clay tiles (232 cm2) were exposed to crude oil, 10% water soluble fraction of crude oil, or 25 g/kg artificial seawater, and placed out at two locations, in two seasons, and at two tidal levels in an estuary near Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Bryozoan (Membranipora savartii) recruitment was significantly reduced in all experiments on crude oil-exposed tiles. However, oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and barnacles (Balanus eburneus) exhibited recruitment facilitation, and oysters grew to larger size, on crude oil-exposed tiles in 1-4 of the five experiments. When oyster larvae were exposed to the same treatments in the laboratory, settlement was, however, significantly depressed on crude oil-exposed tiles as compared with controls, although oyster size was larger on crude-oil exposed tiles. Recruitment on tiles exposed to the water soluble fraction of crude oil was similar to control tiles in nearly all experiments for all taxa. We suggest naturally occurring biofilms (which hydrocarbons facilitate) may promote or inhibit recruitment, depending on the taxon, because hydrocarbons facilitated recruitment only in field experiments, not in lab experiments without biofilms. However, stronger currents in the field experiments may have more rapidly diluted hydrocarbons, and hydrocarbon effects were not large in comparison with natural seasonal and tidal variation in recruitment.     

Microbial Biomass Dynamics Along a Trophic Gradient at the Atlantic Barrier Reef off Belize (Central America)

Abstract. Recent findings indicate that heterotrophic bacteria and not phytoplankton are the most numerous biomass components even in the euphotic zone of oligotrophic, open oceans. In this study it was hypothesized that the microbial biomass components change within a few hundred meters as oligotrophic water flows across the reef and becomes enriched with nutrients. Along a trophic gradient, four stations at the Atlantic Barrier Reef off Belize (Central America) were sampled for microbial biomass components. Phytoplankton biomass (measured as chlorophyll a) ranged from the most oligotrophic station (St. 1) to the most eutrophic station (St. 4) from 6.9–415.5 μg CI"' (assuming a C:chl a ratio of 30): heterotrophic bacterial biomass increased 4-fold (from 10.1–46.4μg C 1^-1), heterotrophic nanoflagellate (HNAN) biomass increased from 4.6-19ug C 1^-1, and cyanobacteria from 0.9-4.5 μg C-1^-1. Production estimates derived from seawater cultures revealed a 5-fold increase in bacterial production from the oligotrophic station (3.7 ug C 1^-1 d^-1) to the eutrophic St. 4 (17.8ug C-1-d1^-1)- Cyanobacterial production rose from 1.1–3.5ug C-1–d^-1 and HNAN production from 0.65-1.13 μg C-1^-1 -d^-1. While cyanobacteria contributed between 13 and 20% to the autotrophic plankton component in the oligotrophic waters, their contribution dropped to about 1 % at the eutrophic stations.     

仿刺参(Apostichopus japonicus)肠道菌群的地域性差异与共性研究

作为高附加值水产养殖物种,仿刺参(Apostichopusjaponicus)的病害和病原微生物研究受到人们关注,但对其共生菌群组成、地域性差异及与水体环境间交流等方面的研究仍十分有限。本研究收集了来自中国、日本和韩国共786例仿刺参肠道、水体和沉积物的16SrRNA基因高通量测序数据,比较细菌群落组成以探寻仿刺参肠道微生物与环境和地域之间的关系。分析结果显示,尽管仿刺参肠道、水体和沉积物中各细菌组分的比例不同,但共有菌属甚多,表明仿刺参可以从外界环境大量获取微生物。与水体和沉积物的样本类型相比,仿刺参肠道微生物多样性最低且所含菌属的种类最少,进一步提示仿刺参肠道对外界来源的微生物进行了富集和筛选,其中变形细菌门(Proteobacteria)、假单胞菌属(Pseudomonas)、嗜冷杆菌属(Psychrobacter)和利斯顿氏菌属(Listonella)的富集尤为明显。中国、日本和韩国来源的仿刺参肠道微生物Alpha多样性无显著差异,但主坐标分析将它们聚为不同的簇,且各自拥有独特的细菌门类。比较中国渤海和黄海两个海区的仿刺参肠道菌群获得了相似的结果,体现出广泛的地域性差异。基于细菌分类的功能预测发现三个国家仿刺参肠道微生物均具有发酵、化能异养和需氧化能异养功能,表明共生菌群在功能上存在共性,并可能对宿主生理产生相同的作用。本研究揭示了仿刺参肠道微生物在不同地域之间存在明显差异,并且与水体环境之间存在着密切的联系,能够为仿刺参共生微生物及其与宿主健康的相关性研究提供基础性资料,并可能在自然循环过程和渔业资源保护过程中发挥作用。     

海洋浮游细菌生长率和被摄食的研究综述

海洋浮游细菌利用海水中的溶解有机碳合成自身物质,是海洋浮游生态系统的二次生产者。微型浮游动物是细菌的主要摄食者,也是细菌生产向较高营养级传递的中介。研究海洋浮游细菌的生长率和被(微型浮游动物的)摄食率对理解海洋浮游生态系统的功能具有重要作用。本文综述了利用改变海水中生物类群组成(或功能)的培养方法研究海洋浮游细菌生长率和被摄食率的历程和现状,为我国的同类研究提供借鉴。改变海水中生物类群组成(或功能)进行培养的方法有海水分粒级培养、海水稀释培养和添加选择性抑制剂培养。这些方法各有其局限性,应用并不广泛。细菌及其主要摄食者异养鞭毛虫群落在自然海区和实验室内都有生长周期,鞭毛虫的生长周期落后于细菌,因此细菌的生长率有时会小于被摄食率,有时会大于被摄食率。我国这方面的研究相对落后,应值得引起重视,建议从海水稀释培养法入手开展相关研究。     

An experimental study of microflagellate bacterivory: further evidence for the importance and complexity of microplanktonic interactions

By simulating an upwelling event in a laboratory microcosm, it was possible to promote the development of a natural and diverse planktonic community. An initial bacterioplankton community which developed in response to phytoplankton growth was dominated by small coccoid forms (0,14–0,2 μm³) of the genera Vibrio and Pseudomonas. This group was heavily exploited by the heterotrophic microflagellate Pseudobodo sp. (30 μm³). Later, the bacterioplankton community was dominated by large rods (0,7 μm³) which the flagellates seemed unable to exploit. A Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model fitted to the observed data indicated that the flagellates consumed 2,4 times their carbon body mass per day or 19 bacteria·flagellate^?1·h^?1 when prey were not limiting. Clearance rates were inversely proportional to prey density and ingestion rate, ranging from 2 × 10^?3 to 20 × 10^?3) μ?·flagellate^?1·h^?1. At typical field densities of bacteria and heterotrophic flagellates in the southern Benguela region, between 5 and 30 percent of the water column could be cleared per day. Specific growth rates of the flagellates were positively related to prey density, the maximal rate being 0,84 · d^?1. Their initially faster growth rates allowed bacteria to increase in numbers despite predation. The growth yield of the flagellates (34–36 per cent) was also positively related to food density. Such low values suggest inefficient transfer of carbon to higher trophic orders but considerable nitrogen regeneration. Nitrogen excretion rates were approximately 6–7 μg N·mg dry weight^?1·h^?1, comparable to other flagellates but faster than ciliates. These rates are comparable with in situ measurements of NH⁺₄-N excretion in pycnoclinal regions based on ¹⁵N isotope studies but are only about 20 per cent of measured rates in surface waters. This is interpreted to mean that, in pycnoclinal regions where the relative input of "new" nitrogen is high, there are few regenerative steps and the model describes them satisfactorily. In surface waters, observed rates of excretion can only be accounted for by many regenerative steps in a highly complex food chain in which the cumulative total of nitrogen excretion at each step amounts to that based on ¹⁵N labelling studies.     

Cellular iron contents of plankton during the Southern Ocean Iron Experiment (SOFeX)

Iron (Fe) availability limits phytoplankton biomass and production in large regions of the Southern Ocean and influences community composition and size structure, which may affect C export and other system-level functions. To improve our understanding of Fe partitioning within communities and the response of different components to fertilization, we assessed the cellular Fe contents of individual diatoms, autotrophic flagellates, and heterotrophic flagellates during the recent Southern Ocean Fe Experiment using synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (SXRF). Dual ⁵⁵Fe/¹⁴C radioisotope incubations were also conducted to estimate Fe:C ratios in size-fractionated plankton. Cellular Fe quotas determined by the two techniques were in close agreement when low amounts of ⁵⁵Fe (0.2 nM) were added, but ⁵⁵Fe additions of 2 nM resulted in 2–3-fold higher quotas. SXRF assessments of cellular Fe quotas (normalized to C) were generally in good agreement with prior bulk analyses of natural assemblages, but revealed compositional differences among protistan taxa not previously detected. Mean Fe:C ratios for diatoms, autotrophic flagellates, and heterotrophic flagellates from unfertilized waters were 6.0, 8.7, and 14.1 μmol mol C⁻¹, respectively. Smaller cells had higher Fe:C ratios than larger cells. Fertilization enhanced Fe quotas in all cell types, with mean Fe:C ratios increasing approximately 4-fold (from about 10 to about 40 μmol mol C⁻¹) after two Fe additions. This study provides some of the first measurements of Fe quotas in phytoplankton cells from natural communities and the first measurements of Fe quotas in natural protozoa.     

Release of dissolved amino acids by flagellates and ciliates grazing on bacteria

Release of amino acids was examined in the laboratory in the form of dissolved primary amine (DPA) by two marine planktonic protozoa (the oligotrichous ciliate, Strombidium sulcatum and the aplastidic flagellate Pseudobodo sp.) grazing on bacteria. DPA release rates were high (19–25 × 10⁻⁶ and 1.8–2.3 × 10⁻⁶ μmol DPA cell⁻¹ h⁻¹ for flagellates and ciliates, respectively) during the exponential phase, when the ingestion rates were maximum. Release rates were lower during the other growth phases. The release of DPA accounted for 10 % (flagellates) and 16 % (ciliates) of the total nitrogen ingested. Our data suggest that the release of DPA by protozoa could play an important role in supporting bacterial and consequently autotrophic pico- and nanoplankton growth, especially in oligotrophic waters, where the release of phytoplanktonic dissolved organic matter is low.