| 1. |
- Aguilera, Anabella, et al.
(författare)
-
Ecophysiological analysis reveals distinct environmental preferences in closely related Baltic Sea picocyanobacteria
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Environmental Microbiology. - Chichester : John Wiley & Sons. - 1462-2912 .- 1462-2920. ; 25:9, s. 1674-1695
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cluster 5 picocyanobacteria significantly contribute to primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems. Estuarine populations are highly diverse and consist of many co-occurring strains, but their physiology remains largely understudied. In this study, we characterized 17 novel estuarine picocyanobacterial strains. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA and pigment genes (cpcBandcpeBA) uncovered multiple estuarine and freshwater-related clusters and pigment types. Assays with five representative strains (three phycocyanin rich and two phycoerythrin rich) under temperature (10–30°C), light(10–190 μmol photons m-2s-1), and salinity (2–14 PSU) gradients revealed distinct growth optima and tolerance, indicating that genetic variability was accompanied by physiological diversity. Adaptability to environmental conditions was associated with differential pigment content and photosynthetic performance. Amplicon sequence variants at a coastal and an offshore station linked population dynamics with phylogenetic clusters, supporting that strains isolated in this study represent key ecotypes within the Baltic Sea picocyanobacterial community. The functional diversity found within strains with the same pigment type suggests that understanding estuarine picocyanobacterial ecology requires analysis beyond the phycocyanin and phycoerythrin divide. This new knowledge of the environmental preferences in estuarine picocyanobacteria is important for understanding and evaluating productivity in current and future ecosystems.
|
|
| 2. |
- Amnebrink, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
-
Genome-resolved analysis reveals transcriptional transitions across seasons in Baltic Sea prokaryotes
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Microbial communities in surface waters of temperate seas are exposed to recurring annual seasonal variation in temperature and nutrient concentrations. To what extent bacterioplankton populations in natural communities alter their functional repertoire as a result of seasonal succession has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we use metatranscriptomics and leverage a comprehensive catalogue of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) to follow gene expression in individual populations over a two-year time period at an offshore station in the Baltic Sea. We show that the collective expression of the MAGs changed in a consistent manner across seasons in the two years, forming clusters representing the four seasons, and that more than 80% of these displayed a recurring seasonal pattern. Furthermore, we found that the changes in expression could partly be explained by modulation of expression within the prokaryotic populations, since intra-population expression patterns also changed with season. Taken together, our results demonstrate how natural microbial populations alter their expression on the gene level, and how these changes drive large scale changes on both population and community level. This work aims to broaden the understanding of how microbes respond and adapt to their environment by preferentially altering their expressed genetic repertoire, and how microbial community dynamics can be explained through the gene expression of various populations constituting the community.
|
|
| 3. |
- Amnebrink, Dennis, et al.
(författare)
-
Seasonal dynamics and life cycle strategies of the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon in the Baltic proper
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aphanizomenon, together with Dolichospermum and Nodularia, constitute the major genera of bloom forming filamentous nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria in the Baltic Sea. Like the other genera, Aphanizomenon displays summer blooms that are highly variable in magnitude and duration but unlike the others it is considered a holoplanktonic species. Still, the molecular mechanisms enabling Aphanizomenon year-round presence in surface waters are currently unknown. Here we combine analysis of Aphanizomenon population dynamics at the Linnaeus Microbial Observatory (LMO) station in the Baltic Proper over nine years (2011-2019) with associated gene expression patterns during 2016-2017 to identify annual abundance, and metabolic and life cycle strategies. Aphanizomenon biomass showed large annual variability and a consistent biovolume peak in summer, with bloom intensity ranging from 78-1334 mm3 m-3. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence data showed that one Aphanizomenon amplicon sequence variant (ASV) dominated, and its relative abundance correlated with biovolume measurements. Metatranscriptomic reads that mapped to an Aphanizomenon metagenome- assembled genome (MAG) revealed annually repeating gene expression patterns, resulting in distinct gene expression profiles during different meteorological seasons. Genes encoding proteins involved in several important functional classes, e.g. carbon fixation, photosynthesis, and associated photopigments showed seasonal variation, but were detected year round. Other genes, particularly those involved in nitrogen fixation, were highly expressed in summer, while absent in winter. Vitamin metabolism and phosphorus scavenging genes were preferentially expressed during the colder periods of the annual cycle. Together, these data show that Aphanizomenon regulates the molecular machinery on the seasonal scale, providing context to the observed dynamics of Aphanizomenon in the Baltic Proper and a foundation for understanding the ecology of these cyanobacteria.
|
|
| 4. |
- Laber, Christien P., et al.
(författare)
-
Seasonal and Spatial Variations in Synechococcus Abundance and Diversity Throughout the Gullmar Fjord, Swedish Skagerrak
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Microbiology. - Lausanne : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-302X. ; 13
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The picophytoplankton Synechococcus is a globally abundant autotroph that contributes significantly to primary production in the oceans and coastal areas. These cyanobacteria constitute a diverse genus of organisms that have developed independent niche spaces throughout aquatic environments. Here, we use the 16S V3-V4 rRNA gene region and flow cytometry to explore the diversity of Synechococcus within the picophytoplankton community in the Gullmar Fjord, on the west coast of Sweden. We conducted a station-based 1-year time series and two transect studies of the fjord. Our analysis revealed that within the large number of Synechococcus amplicon sequence variants (ASVs; 239 in total), prevalent ASVs phylogenetically clustered with clade representatives in both marine subcluster 5.1 and 5.2. The near-surface composition of ASVs shifted from spring to summer, when a 5.1 subcluster dominated community developed along with elevated Synechococcus abundances up to 9.3 x 10(4) cells ml(-1). This seasonal dominance by subcluster 5.1 was observed over the length of the fjord (25 km), where shifts in community composition were associated with increasing depth. Unexpectedly, the community shift was not associated with changes in salinity. Synechococcus abundance dynamics also differed from that of the photosynthetic picoeukaryote community. These results highlight how seasonal variations in environmental conditions influence the dynamics of Synechococcus clades in a high latitude threshold fjord.
|
|
| 5. |
- Martínez-García, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
-
Seasonal Dynamics in Carbon Cycling of Marine Bacterioplankton Are Lifestyle Dependent
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Microbiology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-302X. ; 13
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although free-living (FL) and particle-attached (PA) bacteria are recognized as ecologically distinct compartments of marine microbial food-webs, few, if any, studies have determined their dynamics in abundance, function (production, respiration and substrate utilization) and taxonomy over a yearly cycle. In the Baltic Sea, abundance and production of PA bacteria (defined as the size-fraction >3.0 mu m) peaked over 3 months in summer (6 months for FL bacteria), largely coinciding with blooms of Chitinophagales (Bacteroidetes). Pronounced changes in the growth efficiency (range 0.05-0.27) of FL bacteria (defined as the size-fraction <3.0 mu m) indicated the magnitude of seasonal variability of ecological settings bacteria experience. Accordingly, 16S rRNA gene analyses of bacterial community composition uncovered distinct correlations between taxa, environmental variables and metabolisms, including Firmicutes associated with elevated hydrolytic enzyme activity in winter and Verrucomicrobia with utilization of algal-derived substrates during summer. Further, our results suggested a substrate-controlled succession in the PA fraction, from Bacteroidetes using polymers to Actinobacteria and Betaproteobacteria using monomers across the spring to autumn phytoplankton bloom transition. Collectively, our findings emphasize pronounced seasonal changes in both the composition of the bacterial community in the PA and FL size-fractions and their contribution to organic matter utilization and carbon cycling. This is important for interpreting microbial ecosystem function-responses to natural and human-induced environmental changes.
|
|
| 6. |
- Sörenson, Eva, 1979-
(författare)
-
Functional and structural characterizations of phytoplankton-bacteria interactions in response to environmental challenges
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Microorganisms, such as phytoplankton and bacteria, make up ≈70% of aquatic biomass and contribute 50-85% of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere. The microbial loop concept and the discovery of the large diversity in microbial communities acknowledge that biotic interactions between microorganisms in addition to resource competition enable the recycling of energy and nutrients in aquatic food webs. In this thesis, I have studied interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria in three brackish systems of increasing complexity. Interactions were characterized in terms of structure and function, species-specificity aspects, influence on community resilience, and the link between interactions and cycling of energy and nutrients, using a combined approach of molecular techniques, morphology and biochemical analyses, and network analysis. Species-specific core microbiomes were identified in cultures of dinoflagellate isolates with varying genotypes or phenotypes, or from locations with varying levels of anthropogenic impact. We argue that the structure of phytoplankton-bacterial communities is influenced by predictable species-specific interactions, in addition to local abiotic conditions (such as salinity). When microalgal productivity exposed to seasonal variations in light and temperature was examined in photobioreactor polycultures, the stability of microalgal biomass linked to a high bacterial response diversity, primarily seen as shifts in taxonomy. When the structural and functional response of microalgae and bacteria to temperature shifts was coupled to resilience theories (adaptive cycles, panarchy and cross-scale resilience), results suggest that resilience was enabled through internal shifts in function and diversity within and across microalgal and bacterial levels, leading to maintenance of overall community function and diversity. Further, the results suggest that phytoplankton and bacteria in a coastal eutrophied location avoid competition for both energy and nutrients by resource partitioning, indicating that phytoplankton and bacteria might coexist more frequently in dynamic shallow coastal ecosystems than previously thought.The results from this thesis emphasize the importance of considering community interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria when studying aquatic microbial communities, both in cultures and in complex field environments.
|
|
| 7. |
- Alegria Zufia, Javier, Ph.D. 1992-, et al.
(författare)
-
Growth and mortality rates of picophytoplankton in the Baltic Sea Proper
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - Oldendorf : Inter-Research. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 735, s. 63-76
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Picophytoplankton (<2 µm diameter), a diverse group of picocyanobacteria and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes, are significant contributors to primary production. Predatory mortality controls picophytoplankton biomass and thereby energy transfer in the marine food web. The 2 major pathways of picophytoplankton mortality are grazing and viral lysis. Grazing passes carbon directly to higher trophic levels, while lysis products are passed into the viral loop. Picophytoplankton are abundant in the Baltic Sea but little is known about their predatory mortality. Using a modification of the dilution approach, we calculated growth and mortality rates of picophytoplankton and studied the effect of predation on community structure during late August and September. The experiments were conducted coinciding with the peak in picophytoplankton abundance (similar to 10(5) cells ml(-1)) at the Linnaeus Microbial Observatory in the Baltic Sea Proper. The results showed that grazing is an important controller of picocyanobacteria and photosynthetic picoeukaryote populations, while no significant viral lysis effect was detected. Grazing on picocyanobacteria was proportional to growth rates, while grazing on photosynthetic picoeukaryotes exceeded growth. Selective grazing of phylogenetically distinct picocyanobacterial clades had a significant effect on community structure, suggesting that grazing has an impact on the seasonal dynamics of co-occurring clades. Picocyanobacteria had a higher carbon transfer contribution to higher trophic levels than photosynthetic picoeukaryotes at the time of the experiments. The study shows that picophytoplankton are important contributors to carbon cycling in the Baltic Sea microbial food web and should be considered for future ecological models.
|
|
| 8. |
- Alegria Zufía, Javier, Ph.D. 1992-
(författare)
-
Picophytoplankton seasonal dynamics in the Baltic Sea
- 2022
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Picophytoplankton (<2 μm diameter) is a diverse group of picocyanobacterial and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPE).Picophytoplankton contribute significantly to total phytoplankton biomassand can dominate primary production in oceans, lakes and estuaries. In the estuarine Baltic Sea, the composition of picophytoplankton is linked to the north to south salinity gradient but knowledge of the seasonal dynamics interms of abundance, biomass and diversity is largely unknown. This thesis investigated the in situ dynamics, bottom up and top down controls of picocyanobacteria (SYN; consisting of primarily Synechococcus and Cyanobium among other genuses) and PPE at two sampling stations, one coastal and one offshore. Monitoring data over three years (2018-2020) showed high biomass contribution across all seasons. Picocyanobacterial peak abundances occurred from spring to summer at the coastal station and in late-summer to autumn at the offshore station (up to 4.7 × 105 cells mL-1).Differentiation of pigment populations showed that phycoerythrin rich(PE)-SYN was the main contributor to SYN abundances except at the coastalstation during summer, when PE-SYN and phycocyanin rich (PC)-SYN had equal contributions. PPE peak abundances occurred during late summer to autumn (up to 1.1 × 105 cells mL-1 cells ml-1). Temperature was linked topicophytoplankton growth and abundance, with PE-SYN, PCSYN and PPEadapted to different temperature ranges. Temperature also affected SYNnitrogen preference: SYN was nitrogen limited during early summer and at>15°C there was a preference for ammonium over nitrate. Clade A/B dominated the SYN community, except during summer at the coastal station when low nitrate and warm temperatures promoted S5.2 dominance. Grazing was observed to control SYN and PPE abundances and had an effect on the SYN community structure. Identification and laboratory experiments of key Synechococcus strains using a range of salinity, temperature and light conditions provided important insights into the physiological diversity of co-occurring ecotypes and links to the SYN dynamics that were observed in the field. In summary, this thesis provided novel information of picophytoplankton dynamics and community structure in the Baltic Sea. The results show that picophytoplankton play a relevant role in Baltic Sea and shows the importance of monitoring programs to understand picophytoplankton dynamics.
|
|
| 9. |
- Alegria Zufia, Javier, Ph.D. 1992-, et al.
(författare)
-
Seasonal dynamics in picocyanobacterial abundance and clade composition at coastal and offshore stations in the Baltic Sea
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - London : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 12:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Picocyanobacteria (< 2 um in diameter) are significant contributors to total phytoplankton biomass. Due to the high diversity within this group, their seasonal dynamics and relationship with environmental parameters, especially in brackish waters, are largely unknown. In this study, the abundance and community composition of phycoerythrin rich picocyanobacteria (PE-SYN) and phycocyanin rich picocyanobacteria (PC-SYN) were monitored at a coastal (K-station) and at an offshore station (LMO; similar to 10 km from land) in the Baltic Sea over three years (2018-2020). Cell abundances of picocyanobacteria correlated positively to temperature and negatively to nitrate (NO3) concentration. While PE-SYN abundance correlated to the presence of nitrogen fixers, PC-SYN abundance was linked to stratification/shallow waters. The picocyanobacterial targeted amplicon sequencing revealed an unprecedented diversity of 2169 picocyanobacterial amplicons sequence variants (ASVs). A unique assemblage of distinct picocyanobacterial clades across seasons was identified. Clade A/B dominated the picocyanobacterial community, except during summer when low NO3, high phosphate (PO4) concentrations and warm temperatures promoted S5.2 dominance. This study, providing multiyear data, links picocyanobacterial populations to environmental parameters. The difference in the response of the two functional groups and clades underscore the need for further high-resolution studies to understand their role in the ecosystem.
|
|
| 10. |
- Alegria Zufia, Javier, et al.
(författare)
-
Seasonality of Coastal Picophytoplankton Growth, Nutrient Limitation, and Biomass Contribution
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Microbiology. - Lausanne : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-302X. ; 12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Picophytoplankton in the Baltic Sea includes the simplest unicellular cyanoprokaryotes (Synechococcus/Cyanobium) and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPE). Picophytoplankton are thought to be a key component of the phytoplankton community, but their seasonal dynamics and relationships with nutrients and temperature are largely unknown. We monitored pico- and larger phytoplankton at a coastal site in Kalmar Sound (K-Station) weekly during 2018. Among the cyanoprokaryotes, phycoerythrin-rich picocyanobacteria (PE-rich) dominated in spring and summer while phycocyanin-rich picocyanobacteria (PC-rich) dominated during autumn. PE-rich and PC-rich abundances peaked during summer (1.1 x 10(5) and 2.0 x 10(5) cells mL(-1)) while PPE reached highest abundances in spring (1.1 x 10(5) cells mL(-1)). PPE was the main contributor to the total phytoplankton biomass (up to 73%). To assess nutrient limitation, bioassays with combinations of nitrogen (NO3 or NH4) and phosphorus additions were performed. PE-rich and PC-rich growth was mainly limited by nitrogen, with a preference for NH4 at >15 degrees C. The three groups had distinct seasonal dynamics and different temperature ranges: 10 degrees C and 17-19 degrees C for PE-rich, 13-16 degrees C for PC-rich and 11-15 degrees C for PPE. We conclude that picophytoplankton contribute significantly to the carbon cycle in the coastal Baltic Sea and underscore the importance of investigating populations to assess the consequences of the combination of high temperature and NH4 in a future climate.
|
|
