Vertical stratification of microbial communities in the Red Sea revealed by 16S rDNA pyrosequencing.

ABSTRACT: The ecosystems of the Red Sea are among the least-explored microbial habitats in the marine environment. In this study, we investigated the microbial communities in the water column overlying the Atlantis II Deep and Discovery Deep in the Red Sea. Taxonomic classification of pyrosequencing reads of the 16S rRNA gene amplicons showed vertical stratification of microbial diversity from the surface water to 1500 m below the surface. Significant differences in both bacterial and archaeal diversity were observed in the upper (20 [corrected] and 50 m) and deeper layers (200 and 1500 m). There were no obvious differences in community structure at the same depth for the two sampling stations. The bacterial community in the upper layer was dominated by Cyanobacteria whereas the deeper layer harbore

SUBMITTER: Qian PY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3105721 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature