Diverse winter communities and biogeochemical cycling potential in the under-ice microbial plankton of a subarctic river-to-sea continuum.

ABSTRACT: Winter conditions greatly alter the limnological properties of lotic ecosystems and the availability of nutrients, carbon, and energy resources for microbial processes. However, the composition and metabolic capabilities of winter microbial communities are still largely uncharacterized. Here, we sampled the winter under-ice microbiome of the Great Whale River (Nunavik, Canada) and its discharge plume into Hudson Bay. We used a combination of 16S and 18S rRNA gene amplicon analysis and metagenomic sequencing to evaluate the size-fractionated composition and functional potential of the microbial plankton. These under-ice communities were diverse in taxonomic composition and metabolically versatile in terms of energy and carbon acquisition, including the capacity to carry out phototrophic pro

SUBMITTER: Blais M-A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11210273 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature