Large buoyant particles dominated by cyanobacterial colonies harbor distinct bacterial communities from small suspended particles and free-living bacteria in the water column.

ABSTRACT: Worldwide cyanobacterial blooms greatly impair ecosystems in many eutrophic lakes and impact the microbial environment. In particular, large cyanobacterial colonies that are buoyant on the water surface may provide a distinct habitat for bacteria from other small particles that are suspended stably in the water column. To test this hypothesis, bacterial communities (excluding cyanobacteria) attached to large particles dominated by cyanobacterial colonies (>120 μm, LA), small particles (3-36 μm, SA), and free-living bacteria (0.2-3 μm, FL) were investigated monthly for a year in Lake Taihu, China. Results confirmed that the Shannon diversity index of LA was significantly lower than that of FL, which was lower than that of SA. Cytophagia and Alphaproteobacteria were specially enriched in LA.

SUBMITTER: Shi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6291827 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature