River organic matter shapes microbial communities in the sediment of the Rhone prodelta.

ABSTRACT: Microbial-driven organic matter (OM) degradation is a cornerstone of benthic community functioning, but little is known about the relation between OM and community composition. Here we use Rhône prodelta sediments to test the hypothesis that OM quality and source are fundamental structuring factors for bacterial communities in benthic environments. Sampling was performed on four occasions corresponding to contrasting river-flow regimes, and bacterial communities from seven different depths were analyzed by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The sediment matrix was characterized using over 20 environmental variables including bulk parameters (for example, total nitrogen, carbon, OM, porosity and particle size), as well as parameters describing the OM quality and source (for example,

SUBMITTER: Fagervold SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4992087 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature