Microbial community day-to-day dynamics during a spring algal bloom event in a tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir

Bingyuan Tan; Pengfei Hu; Xiaoxu Niu; Xing Zhang; Jiakun Liu; Thijs Frenken; Paul B. Hamilton; G. Douglas Haffner; S. Rao Chaganti; Amechi S. Nwankwegu; Lei Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156183

Microbial community day-to-day dynamics during a spring algal bloom event in a tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir

Bingyuan Tan, Pengfei Hu, Xiaoxu Niu, Xing Zhang, Jiakun Liu, Thijs Frenken^* (Corresponding author), Paul B. Hamilton^* (Corresponding author), G. Douglas Haffner^* (Corresponding author), S. Rao Chaganti^* (Corresponding author), Amechi S. Nwankwegu, Lei Zhang^* (Corresponding author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

NIOO - Aquatic Ecology (AqE)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The microbial food-loop is critical to energy flow in aquatic food webs. We tested the hypothesis that species composition and relative abundance in a microbial community would be modified by the development of toxic algal blooms either by enhanced carbon production or toxicity. This study tracked the response of the microbial community with respect to composition and relative abundance during a 7-day algal bloom event in the Three Gorges Reservoir in May 2018. Chlorophyll a biomass, microscopic identification and cell counting of algae and algal abundance (ind. L⁻¹) and carbon, nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus and nitrogen, dissolved total phosphorus and nitrogen), and DNA high throughput sequencing were measured daily. Algal density (1.2 × 10⁹ ind. L⁻¹) and Chlorophyll a (219 μg L⁻¹) peaked on May 20th–21st, when the phytoplankton community was dominated by Chlorella spp. and Microcystis spp. The concentrations of both dissolved total nitrogen and phosphorus declined during the bloom period. Based on DNA high throughput sequencing data, the relative abundance of eukaryotic phytoplankton, microzooplankton (20–200 μm), mesozooplankton (>200 μm), and fungal communities varied day by day while the prokaryotic community revealed a more consistent structure. Enhanced carbon production during the bloom was closely associated with increased heterotrophic microbial composition in both the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities. A storm event, however, that caused surface cooling and deep mixing of the water column greatly modified the composition and relative abundance of species in the microbial loop. The high temporal variability and dynamics observed in this study suggest that many factors, and not just algal blooms, were interacting to determine the composition and relative abundance of species of the microbial loop.

Original language	English
Article number	156183
Pages (from-to)	156183
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	839
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156183
Publication status	Published - 15 Sept 2022

Keywords

Algal bloom
Aquatic microbial loop
Eukaryotes
Prokaryotes
Three Gorges Reservoir
Water quality and environmental factors

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Tan, B., Hu, P., Niu, X., Zhang, X., Liu, J., Frenken, T., Hamilton, P. B., Haffner, G. D., Chaganti, S. R., Nwankwegu, A. S., & Zhang, L. (2022). Microbial community day-to-day dynamics during a spring algal bloom event in a tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir. Science of the Total Environment, 839, 156183. Article 156183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156183

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abstract = "The microbial food-loop is critical to energy flow in aquatic food webs. We tested the hypothesis that species composition and relative abundance in a microbial community would be modified by the development of toxic algal blooms either by enhanced carbon production or toxicity. This study tracked the response of the microbial community with respect to composition and relative abundance during a 7-day algal bloom event in the Three Gorges Reservoir in May 2018. Chlorophyll a biomass, microscopic identification and cell counting of algae and algal abundance (ind. L−1) and carbon, nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus and nitrogen, dissolved total phosphorus and nitrogen), and DNA high throughput sequencing were measured daily. Algal density (1.2 × 109 ind. L−1) and Chlorophyll a (219 μg L−1) peaked on May 20th–21st, when the phytoplankton community was dominated by Chlorella spp. and Microcystis spp. The concentrations of both dissolved total nitrogen and phosphorus declined during the bloom period. Based on DNA high throughput sequencing data, the relative abundance of eukaryotic phytoplankton, microzooplankton (20–200 μm), mesozooplankton (>200 μm), and fungal communities varied day by day while the prokaryotic community revealed a more consistent structure. Enhanced carbon production during the bloom was closely associated with increased heterotrophic microbial composition in both the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities. A storm event, however, that caused surface cooling and deep mixing of the water column greatly modified the composition and relative abundance of species in the microbial loop. The high temporal variability and dynamics observed in this study suggest that many factors, and not just algal blooms, were interacting to determine the composition and relative abundance of species of the microbial loop.",

keywords = "Algal bloom, Aquatic microbial loop, Eukaryotes, Prokaryotes, Three Gorges Reservoir, Water quality and environmental factors",

author = "Bingyuan Tan and Pengfei Hu and Xiaoxu Niu and Xing Zhang and Jiakun Liu and Thijs Frenken and Hamilton, {Paul B.} and Haffner, {G. Douglas} and Chaganti, {S. Rao} and Nwankwegu, {Amechi S.} and Lei Zhang",

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T1 - Microbial community day-to-day dynamics during a spring algal bloom event in a tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir

AU - Tan, Bingyuan

AU - Hu, Pengfei

AU - Niu, Xiaoxu

AU - Zhang, Xing

AU - Liu, Jiakun

AU - Frenken, Thijs

AU - Hamilton, Paul B.

AU - Haffner, G. Douglas

AU - Chaganti, S. Rao

AU - Nwankwegu, Amechi S.

AU - Zhang, Lei

N1 - 7481, AqE

PY - 2022/9/15

Y1 - 2022/9/15

N2 - The microbial food-loop is critical to energy flow in aquatic food webs. We tested the hypothesis that species composition and relative abundance in a microbial community would be modified by the development of toxic algal blooms either by enhanced carbon production or toxicity. This study tracked the response of the microbial community with respect to composition and relative abundance during a 7-day algal bloom event in the Three Gorges Reservoir in May 2018. Chlorophyll a biomass, microscopic identification and cell counting of algae and algal abundance (ind. L−1) and carbon, nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus and nitrogen, dissolved total phosphorus and nitrogen), and DNA high throughput sequencing were measured daily. Algal density (1.2 × 109 ind. L−1) and Chlorophyll a (219 μg L−1) peaked on May 20th–21st, when the phytoplankton community was dominated by Chlorella spp. and Microcystis spp. The concentrations of both dissolved total nitrogen and phosphorus declined during the bloom period. Based on DNA high throughput sequencing data, the relative abundance of eukaryotic phytoplankton, microzooplankton (20–200 μm), mesozooplankton (>200 μm), and fungal communities varied day by day while the prokaryotic community revealed a more consistent structure. Enhanced carbon production during the bloom was closely associated with increased heterotrophic microbial composition in both the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities. A storm event, however, that caused surface cooling and deep mixing of the water column greatly modified the composition and relative abundance of species in the microbial loop. The high temporal variability and dynamics observed in this study suggest that many factors, and not just algal blooms, were interacting to determine the composition and relative abundance of species of the microbial loop.

AB - The microbial food-loop is critical to energy flow in aquatic food webs. We tested the hypothesis that species composition and relative abundance in a microbial community would be modified by the development of toxic algal blooms either by enhanced carbon production or toxicity. This study tracked the response of the microbial community with respect to composition and relative abundance during a 7-day algal bloom event in the Three Gorges Reservoir in May 2018. Chlorophyll a biomass, microscopic identification and cell counting of algae and algal abundance (ind. L−1) and carbon, nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus and nitrogen, dissolved total phosphorus and nitrogen), and DNA high throughput sequencing were measured daily. Algal density (1.2 × 109 ind. L−1) and Chlorophyll a (219 μg L−1) peaked on May 20th–21st, when the phytoplankton community was dominated by Chlorella spp. and Microcystis spp. The concentrations of both dissolved total nitrogen and phosphorus declined during the bloom period. Based on DNA high throughput sequencing data, the relative abundance of eukaryotic phytoplankton, microzooplankton (20–200 μm), mesozooplankton (>200 μm), and fungal communities varied day by day while the prokaryotic community revealed a more consistent structure. Enhanced carbon production during the bloom was closely associated with increased heterotrophic microbial composition in both the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities. A storm event, however, that caused surface cooling and deep mixing of the water column greatly modified the composition and relative abundance of species in the microbial loop. The high temporal variability and dynamics observed in this study suggest that many factors, and not just algal blooms, were interacting to determine the composition and relative abundance of species of the microbial loop.

KW - Algal bloom

KW - Aquatic microbial loop

KW - Eukaryotes

KW - Prokaryotes

KW - Three Gorges Reservoir

KW - Water quality and environmental factors

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156183

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156183

M3 - Article

C2 - 35623511

AN - SCOPUS:85131147206

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 839

SP - 156183

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

M1 - 156183

ER -

Microbial community day-to-day dynamics during a spring algal bloom event in a tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir

Abstract

Keywords

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