Shifts in coastal sediment oxygenation cause pronounced changes in microbial community composition and associated metabolism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A key characteristic of eutrophication in coastal seas is the expansion of hypoxic bottom waters, often referred to as 'dead zones'. One proposed remediation strategy for coastal dead zones in the Baltic Sea is to mix the water column using pump stations, circulating oxygenated water to the sea bottom. Although microbial metabolism in the sediment surface is recognized as key in regulating bulk chemical fluxes, it remains unknown how the microbial community and its metabolic processes are influenced by shifts in oxygen availability. Here, coastal Baltic Sea sediments sampled from oxic and anoxic sites, plus an intermediate area subjected to episodic oxygenation, were experimentally exposed to oxygen shifts. Chemical, 16S rRNA gene, metagenomic, and metatranscriptomic ana

SUBMITTER: Broman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5549381 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature