Microbial diversity in polluted harbor sediments I: Bacterial community assessment based on four clone libraries of 16S rDNA

Bacteria, as the most abundant sediment organism, play a major role in the fate of pollutants. Therefore, many pollutant-related bacteria have been studied in harbor sediments, yet the entire bacterial profiles have not been reported. The bacterial diversity and community structures from sediments in Victoria Harbor (Hong Kong), including two polluted (VH and VHW) and two adjacent (open oceanic, TLC; estuary discharge affected, PC) sites, were characterized by analyses of four 16S rDNA clone libraries. Upon comparisons of RFLP patterns from 254 clones in the libraries, 178 unique phylotypes were retrieved. LIBSHUFF and Rarefaction analyses indicated that the sediment bacterial communities at the four sites showed high 16S rDNA richness and were significantly different from each other. Phylogenetic analysis of full-length 16S rDNA revealed 19 bacterial phyla in Victoria Harbor sediments. γ- and δ-proteobacteria, holophaga/acidobacteria, and planctomycetales were recorded in all the libraries. In addition, γ- and δ-proteobacteria were dominant at all sites (33.33–11.67%). Besides these two phyla, ε-proteobacteria, firmicutes, aminobacterium, holophaga/acidobacteria and bacteroidetes were judged to be major components of a given library since they constituted 10% or more of the total OTUs of the given library. The cyanobacteria, verrucomicrobia, β-proteobacteria, aminobacterium, chlorofiexi, and candidate division OP1, OP8 were detected in minor proportions in various libraries. A portion of the clones were only distantly related to sequences in the GenBank, suggesting bacteria in Victoria Harbor sediments were unique and diversified.     

Bacterial community succession in response to dissolved organic matter released from live jellyfish

Jellyfish blooms have increased worldwide, and the outbreaks of jellyfish population not only affect the food web structures via voracious predation but also play an important role in the dynamics of nutrients and oxygen in planktonic food webs. However, it remains unclear whether specific carbon compounds released through jellyfish metabolic processes have the potential to shape bacterial community composition. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the compositional succession of the bacterioplankton community in response to the dissolved organic matter (DOM) released by the live Scyphomedusae Cyanea lamarckii and Chrysaora hysoscella collected from Helgoland Roads of the North Sea. The bacterial community was significantly stimulated by the DOM released form live jellyfish and different dominant phylotypes were observed for these two Scyphomedusae species. Furthermore, the bacterial community structures in the different DOM sources, jellyfish-incubated media, Kabeltonne seawater, and artificial seawater (DOM-free) were significantly different, as revealed by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis fingerprints. Catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH) revealed a rapid species-specific shift in bacterial community composition. Gammaproteobacteria dominated the community instead of the Bacteroidetes community for C. lamarckii, whereas Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes dominated the community for C. hysoscella. The significant differences in the bacterial community composition and succession indicate that the components of the DOM released by jellyfish might differ with jellyfish species.     

斜带髭鲷养殖群体遗传多样性RAPD分析

采用随机扩增多态性DNA（RAPD）技术对广东饶平海水网箱养殖的斜带髭鲷（Hapalogenys nitens Richardson）人工苗养殖群体DNA多样性进行检测。首先从40个引物（S461～S480,S501～S520）中快速筛选出32个引物,它们均能扩增出清晰稳定的DNA片段。再将该32个引物对46尾斜带髭鲷进行RAPD分析,共检测到177个位点,其中多态位点55个（分别由18个引物获得）,占31．07％。由此得出该群体的平均多态性为31．07％,平均遗传差异度为0．089,表明该养殖群体遗传多样性水平较高。     

Changes in zooplankton diversity and distribution pattern under varying precipitation regimes in a southern temperate estuary

The influence of climate variability on the diversity and distribution patterns of zooplankton communities was investigated in the Mondego estuary (Portugal) during four consecutive years characterized by highly variable precipitation and, consequently, river flow regime. Monthly samples were collected along the estuarine gradient at five sampling stations. Seasonal, inter-annual and spatial distributions were evaluated by multivariate analyses and three diversity indices were applied (Species number, Shannon Diversity and Average Taxonomic Distinctness). A two-year drought period presented significant differences in salinity values, especially in 2005 (extreme drought event). During the study period, copepoda was the main dominant group and Acartia tonsa the most abundant species, with the exception of autumn 2006, where high abundances of the cladoceran Penilia avirostris were noticed. Multivariate analysis indicated that zooplankton communities changed from a pre- to a post-drought period indicating the influence of hydrological parameters in communities' structure. The dry period was associated with an increase in zooplankton density, a reduction in seasonality and higher abundance and prevalence of marine species throughout the year. Seasonally, winter/spring communities were distinct from those in summer/autumn. Spatially, salinity-associated differences between upstream and downstream communities were reduced during the drought years, but during the post-drought year, these differences were detected again.     

Relationships between molecular bacterial diversity and chemistry of groundwater in the Wairarapa Valley,New Zealand

Groundwater plays an important role in New Zealand water supplies and hence monitoring activities are conducted regularly. Most monitoring programmes aim to evaluate groundwater chemistry and almost completely overlook the microbial component in this ecosystem. In our present study, the bacterial community structure of groundwater in the Wairarapa Valley was examined using the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and relationships between bacterial community structure and groundwater chemistry, aquifer confinement and groundwater usage were explored. In addition, the results from this study were compared with a previous T-RFLP survey of the same area in an attempt to detect changes in bacterial community structure over time. The data obtained suggested that bacterial community structure was related to groundwater chemistry, especially to redox conditions. Species composition showed minimal variation over time if groundwater chemistry remained unchanged. These findings reflect the potential of using bacterial communities as biological indicators to evaluate the health of groundwater ecosystems. We suggest that it is important to include this type of broad bacterial diversity assessment criteria into regular groundwater monitoring activities.     

Climate variability and planktonic communities: The effect of an extreme event (severe drought) in a southern European estuary

As a consequence of climate change, flood and drought events are increasing in frequency throughout the world. Nevertheless, knowledge of the effects on zooplankton estuarine communities is still scarce. The present study aimed to examine zooplankton ecology over two contrasting environmental conditions: regular years and extreme dry years, in a shallow temperate southern European estuary, the Mondego Estuary (Portugal). Monthly samples were carried out during three consecutive years: 2003 characterized as a regular temperate year concerning precipitation and river flow, and an extremely dry period during 2004–2005. The spatial and temporal structure of the biological data was evaluated by a three-mode principal component analysis (PCA), which allowed us to distinguish three distinct ecological areas based on their biological composition and their relationship with hydrologic parameters. The severe drought in 2004–2005 was responsible for spatial shifts in the estuary regarding zooplankton community and interannual variability, with an increase in abundance and diversity during the period of low freshwater flow. This freshwater flow regime influenced the composition of the zooplankton community at the most upstream section of Mondego estuary (zone 3), with a replacement of the freshwater community by one predominantly dominated by estuarine organisms. The occurrence of such estuarine community contributed to the increase in zooplankton abundance which is ascribed to the estuarine species Acartia tonsa. The comparison with previous data obtained for this estuarine ecosystem, demonstrated the occurrence of a different scenario at times of high freshwater flow, being defined the existence of two sub-estuarine systems, the north and south arm, presenting the south one the highest values of abundance.     

Biogeochemical Variation in Dimethylsulfide, Phytoplankton Pigments and Heterotrophic Bacterial Production in the Subarctic North Pacific during Summer

Dimethylsulfide (DMS), chlorophyll a (Chl-a), accessory pigments (fucoxanthin, peridinin and 19-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin), and bacterial production (BP) were measured in the surface layer (0–100 m) of the subarctic North Pacific, including the Bering Sea, during summer (14 July–5 September, 1997). In surface sewater, the concentrations of DMS and Chl-a varied widely from 1.3 to 13.2 nM (5.1 ± 3.0 nM, mean ± S.D., n = 48) and from 0.1 to 2.4 µg L^–1 (0.6 ± 0.6 µg L^–1, n = 24), respectively. In the subarctic North Pacific, DMS to Chl-a ratios (DMS/Chl-a) were higher on the eastern side than the western side (p < 0.0001). Below the euphotic zone, DMS/Chl-a ratios were law and the correlation between DMS and Chl-a was relatively strong (r ² = 0.700, n = 27, p < 0.0001). In the euphotic zone, DMS/Chl-a ratios were higher and the correlation between DMS and Chl-a was weak (r ² = 0.128, n = 50, p = 0.01). The wide variation in DMS/Chl-a ratios would be at least partially explained by the geographic variation in the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton, because of the negative correlation between DMS/Chl-a and fucoxanthin-to-Chl-a ratios (Fuc/Chl-a) (r ² = 0.476, n = 26, p = 0.0001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between DMS and BP (r ² = 0.380, n = 19, p = 0.005). This suggests that BP did not represent DMS and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) removal by bacterial consumption but rather DMSP degradation to DMS by bacterial enzyme.     

乐清湾大型底栖动物群落及其与环境因子之间的关系

为了解和掌握乐清湾大型底栖动物群落及其与环境因子的相关性,于2015年1月、3月、5月、8月和10月开展了5个航次的大型底栖动物和环境因子的调查。结果表明,1月、3月和5月3个月份的群落结构和空间分布均较为接近,优势群落的主要特征种为薄云母蛤和不倒翁虫;8月和10月的优势群落不明显,主要群落特征种有不倒翁虫、双形拟单指虫、寡鳃齿吻沙蚕、小头虫、中蚓虫属一种等。丰度/生物量曲线(ABC曲线)分析表明5月的群落结构较稳定,1月、3月、8月和10月均处于不同程度的扰动状态,其中8月的受扰动程度最大。BVSTEP分析表明亚硝酸盐是乐清湾大型底栖动物群落各月份差异的主要环境驱动因子,盐度和氨氮分别是影响乐清湾3月和5月大型底栖动物群落结构的主要环境因子。典范对应分析(CCA)表明水温对乐清湾大型底栖群落特征种时空分布影响最大,其次是盐度、溶解氧、含氮营养盐和pH等。通过CCA排序图发现大部分群落特征种分布在含氮营养盐较低的水域,表明高浓度的含氮营养盐已经对乐清湾的大型底栖动物产生了负面影响。     

牙鲆GHR基因Promoter区微卫星序列多态性与生长性状关系的初步研究

采用牙鲆GHR基因5'端Promoter区的1个微卫星标记,对胶南和日照2个牙鲆养殖群体进行了群体遗传多样性的研究,并探索该基因多态性位点与牙鲆生长性状之间的相关性.结果表明,2个群体在该座位的等位基因数为12和9个,有效等位基因数为6.26和5.04个,多态信息含量为0.84和0.80.2个群体该座位的Hardy-Weinberg遗传偏离指数均为正值,并没有显示出杂合子缺失,但各基因型分布频率都在一定程度上偏离Hardy-Weinberg平衡(P<0.01).连锁分析中发现,在胶南群体中,IM基因型对应的个体在全重、全长、体长、头长、体高和眼径形态学数据中均是最大的;在日照群体中,BC基因型对应的个体在全重、全长、体高、尾柄高、尾柄长和眼径数据中均是最大的;而CJ基因型对应的个体在体长和头长这两组数据中是最大的.该结果为研究GHR基因的变异对鱼类生长发育的影响及探索将该基因作为生长遗传标记的可行性奠定了实验基础.