Wuchang Zhang

Temporal distribution of bacterial community structure in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and the adjacent East China Sea

Bacterial community structure and the effects of environmental factors on the microbial community distribution were investigated in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and its adjacent area in the East China Sea (ECS) in June, August and October, 2006. Profiles of bacterial communities were generated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA genes followed by DNA sequence analysis. The dominant bacterial groups were affiliated to Gammaproteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacteria-Bacteroides (CFB), Deltaproteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Firmicutes, which were mostly from the marine seawater ecosystem. Effects of environmental factors on the bacterial community distribution were analyzed by the ordination technique of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The environmental factors significantly influencing bacterial community structure were different in the three months; dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and temperature in June and nitrite in August. No environmental variables displayed significant influence on the bacterial community at the 5% level in October. The seasonal environmental heterogeneity in the Changjiang Estuary and the adjacent ECS, such as seasonal hydrodynamic conditions and riverine input of nutrients, might be the reason for the difference in the key environmental factors determining the bacterial community in the three months.

Can tintinnids be used for discriminating water quality status in marine ecosystems

Ciliated protozoa have many advantages in bioassessment of water quality. The ability of tintinnids for assessing water quality status was studied during a 7-yearcycle in Jiaozhou Bay of the Yellow Sea, northern China. The samples were collected monthly at four sites with a spatial gradient of environmental pollution. Environmental variables, e.g., temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a (Chl a), dissolved inorganic nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), and soluble active silicate (SRSi), were measured synchronously for comparison with biotic parameters. Results showed that: (1) tintinnid community structures represented significant differences among the four sampling sites; (2) spatial patterns of the tintinnid communities were significantly correlated with environmental variables, especially SRSi and nutrients; and (3) the community structural parameters and the five dominant species were significantly correlated with SRSi and nutrients. We suggested that tintinnids may be used as a potential bioindicator for discriminating water quality status in marine ecosystems.

Picoplankton distribution in different water masses of the East China Sea in autumn and winter

Picoplankton distribution was investigated in different water masses of the East China Sea in November, 2006 and February, 2007. The autumn and winter cruises crossed three major water masses: the coastal water mass (CWM), the mixed water mass (MWM), which forms on the continental shelf, and the Kuroshio water mass (KWM). Picoplankton composition was resolved into four main groups by flow cytometry, namely Synechococcus, Prochlorococcus, picoeukaryotes, and heterotrophic bacteria. The average abundances of Synechococcus, picoeukaryotes, and heterotrophic bacteria were (0.63±10.88)×103, (1.61±1.16)×103, (3.39±1.27)×105 cells/mL in autumn and (6.45±8.60)×103, (3.23±2.63)×103, (3.76±1.37)×105 cells/mL in winter, respectively. Prochlorococcus was not found in the CWM and seldom observed in surface samples in either season. However, Prochlorococcus was observed in the MWM and KWM (approximately 103 cells/mL) in both autumn and winter. Synechococcus distribution varied considerably among water masses, with the highest levels in KWM and lowest levels in CWM. The depth-averaged integrated abundance of Synechococcus was approximately 5-fold higher in KWM than in CWM, which may be due primarily to water temperature. In the MWM, Synechococcus was resolved as two subgroups; the presence of both subgroups was more common in autumn. Picoeukaryote abundance varied less among water masses than Synechococcus, and heterotrophic bacteria depth-averaged integrated abundance exhibited the smallest seasonal variations with respect to water mass. Correlation analysis showed that relationships between picoplankton abundances and environmental factors (temperature, nutrients, and chlorophyll a) differed among the three water masses, suggesting that the three water masses have different effects on picoplankton distribution (particularly Synechococcus).

Temporal distribution of the archaeal community in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and the adjacent East China Sea as determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and multivariate analysis

The archaeal community and the effects of environmental factors on microbial community distribution were investigated at five sampling sites in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and the adjacent East China Sea in June, August, and October 2006. Profiles of the archaeal communities were generated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rRNA genes followed by DNA sequence analysis, and the results were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis band patterns were analyzed by cluster analysis to assess temporal changes in the genetic diversity of the archaeal communities. Most of the October samples grouped together separately from those of June and August. Analysis of DNA sequences revealed that the dominant archaeal groups in the Changjiang Estuary hypoxia area and the adjacent East China Sea were affiliated with Euryarchaeota (mainly marine group II) and Crenarchaeota. The effects of environmental factors on the archaeal community distribution were analyzed by the ordination technique of canonical correspondence analysis. Salinity had a significant effect on the archaeal community composition.

Changes in AFLP and SSR DNA polymorphisms induced by short-term space flight of rice seeds

Differences of both amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) polymorphisms were compared between the 60-d-old rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. DH7) and F3 rice plants (SP3) derived from seed, which endured a 7-d-space flight in March 2002. Total leaf AFLP DNA bands amplified from 22 primer pairs were 537 in DH7, whereas 562 in SP3. From the total 267 SSR DNA bands generated by 267 primer pairs, 39 were polymorphic with 22 larger (56 %) or 17 smaller (44 %) fragment size bands. The greatest numbers of AFLP DNA bands were amplified by primer E1M1 in DH7 (33) and E3M1 in SP3 (35), whilst the least by E4M3 in DH7 (14) and E5M2 in SP3 (16).

Boreal Tintinnid Assemblage in the Northwest Pacific and Its Connection with the Japan Sea in Summer 2014

Tintinnids are planktonic ciliates that play an important role in marine ecosystem. According to their distribution in the world oceans, tintinnid genera were divided into several biogeographical types such as boreal, warm water, austral and neritic. Therefore, the oceanic tintinnid assemblage could be correspondingly divided into boreal assemblage, warm water assemblage and austral assemblage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of boreal tintinnid assemblage in the Northwest Pacific and the Arctic, and to identify the connection between boreal tintinnid assemblage and neighboring assemblages. Surface water samples were collected along a transect from the East China Sea to the Chukchi Sea in summer 2014. According to the presence of boreal genera and warm water genera, three tintinnid assemblages (the East China Sea neritic assemblage, the Japan Sea warm water assemblage, and the boreal assemblage) were identified along the transect. The boreal assemblage extended from the Chukchi Sea to the waters north of the Sōya Strait. Densities peaks occurred at stations in the two branches of the Alaska Current and decreased both northward and southward. The densities were <10 ind./dm3 at most stations in Arctic region. The dominant genera (Acanthostomella, Codonellopsis, Parafavella, and Ptychocylis) accounted for 79.07±29.67% (n = 49) of the abundance in the boreal assemblage. The densities of the dominant genera covaried with strongly significant positive correlations. Tintinnids with lorica oral diameter of 22–26 μm and 38–42 μm were dominant and contributed 67.35% and 15.13%, respectively, to the total abundance in the boreal assemblage. The distribution and densities of tintinnids in the study area suggest that the Sōya Strait might be a geographical barrier for tintinnids expansion.

The detection of magnetotactic bacteria in deep sea sediments from the east Pacific Manganese Nodule Province

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are distributed ubiquitously in sediments from coastal environments to the deep sea. The Pacific Manganese Nodule Province contains numerous polymetallic nodules mainly composed of manganese, iron, cobalt, copper and nickel. In the present study we used Illumina MiSeq sequencing technology to assess the communities of putative MTB in deep sea surface sediments at nine stations in the east Pacific Manganese Nodule Province. A total of 402 sequence reads from MTB were classified into six operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Among these, OTU113 and OTU759 were affiliated with the genus Magnetospira, OTU2224 and OTU2794 were affiliated with the genus Magnetococcus and Magnetovibrio, respectively, OTU3017 had no known genus affiliation, and OTU2556 was most similar to Candidatus Magnetananas. Interestingly, OTU759 was widely distributed, occurring at all study sites. Magnetism measurements revealed that all sediments were dominated by low coercivity, non-interacting single domain magnetic minerals. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the magnetic minerals were magnetosomes. Our data suggest that diverse putative MTB are widely distributed in deep sea surface sediments from the east Pacific Manganese Nodule Province.

Phylogenetic analysis of epibacterial communities on the surfaces of four red macroalgae

Macroalgal surfaces are prone to being attached by bacteria. Epibacterial community structures on marine macroalgae are host-specific but temporally and spatially variable. In this study, we investigated the structure of epibacterial communities on the surfaces of four red macroalgae, Gracilaria lemaneiformis, Gloiopeltis furcata, Mazzaella sp. and Porphyra yezoensis, by analyzing the sequences of 16S rRNA gene libraries. Healthy individuals of all macroalgae species were collected in winter from a farm at Dalian, China. The results showed that the epibacterial communities were mainly dominated by α-Proteobacteria, γ-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Deinococcus-Thermus, Spirochaetes and ɛ-Proteobacteria were also found. The majority of cloned sequences shared the greatest similarity to those of culturable organisms. A large portion of sequences from the α-Proteobacteria homed in Roseobacter clade, i.e., genera Ahrensia, Roseovarius, Litoreibacter, Octadecabacter, Thaiassobacter and Sulfitobacter, while members of Bacteroidetes mainly belonged to family Flavobacteriaceae. The cloned sequences could be separated into 66 OTUs at 0.01 distance value, and rare common OTUs were found among libraries. At genus level, Pseudoalteromonas dominated Gr. lemaneiformis and Gl. furcata libraries, accounting for 72.2% and 47.3%, respectively. Sulfitobacter dominated P. yezoensis library, accounting for 35.4%. A previously undefined cluster within Deinococcus-Thermus dominated Mazzaella sp. library, accounting for 24.6% of the all. These results indicated that a broad range of bacteria inhabited the surfaces of these macroalgae.