Niche partitioning of marine group I Crenarchaeota in the euphotic and upper mesopelagic zones of the East China Sea.

ABSTRACT: Marine group I Crenarchaeota (MGI) represents a ubiquitous and numerically predominant microbial population in marine environments. An understanding of the spatial dynamics of MGI and its controlling mechanisms is essential for an understanding of the role of MGI in energy and element cycling in the ocean. In the present study, we investigated the diversity and abundance of MGI in the East China Sea (ECS) by analysis of crenarchaeal 16S rRNA gene, the ammonia monooxygenase gene amoA, and the biotin carboxylase gene accA. Quantitative PCR analyses revealed that these genes were higher in abundance in the mesopelagic than in the euphotic zone. In addition, the crenarchaeal amoA gene was positively correlated with the copy number of the MGI 16S rRNA gene, suggesting that most of the MGI in th

SUBMITTER: Hu A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3209141 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature