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Maimone G, Azzaro M, Placenti F, Paranhos R, Cabral AS, Decembrini F, Zaccone R, Cosenza A, Rappazzo AC, Patti B, Basilone G, Cuttitta A, Ferreri R, Aronica S, Ferla RL. A Morphometric Approach to Understand Prokaryoplankton: A Study in the Sicily Channel (Central Mediterranean Sea). Microorganisms 2023; 11:microorganisms11041019. [PMID: 37110442 PMCID: PMC10142791 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11041019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A new understanding of plankton ecology has been obtained by studying the phenotypic traits of free-living prokaryotes in the Sicily Channel (Central Mediterranean Sea), an area characterised by oligotrophic conditions. During three cruises carried out in July 2012, January 2013 and July 2013, the volume and morphology of prokaryotic cells were assessed microscopically using image analysis in relation to environmental conditions. The study found significant differences in cell morphologies among cruises. The largest cell volumes were observed in the July 2012 cruise (0.170 ± 0.156 µm3), and the smallest in the January 2013 cruise (0.060 ± 0.052 µm3). Cell volume was negatively limited by nutrients and positively by salinity. Seven cellular morphotypes were observed among which cocci, rods and coccobacilli were the most abundant. Cocci, although they prevailed numerically, always showed the smallest volumes. Elongated shapes were positively related to temperature. Relationships between cell morphologies and environmental drivers indicated a bottom-up control of the prokaryotic community. The morphology/morphometry-based approach is a useful tool for studying the prokaryotic community in microbial ecology and should be widely applied to marine microbial populations in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Maimone
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
| | - Maurizio Azzaro
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
| | - Francesco Placenti
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, CNR IAS, Via del Mare 3, 91021 Capo Granitola, Italy
| | - Rodolfo Paranhos
- Laboratory of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Av. Prof. Rodolpho Rocco 211, Rio de Janeiro 21941 617, Brazil
| | - Anderson Sousa Cabral
- Laboratory of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Av. Prof. Rodolpho Rocco 211, Rio de Janeiro 21941 617, Brazil
- Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Av. Carlos Chagas Filho 373, Rio de Janeiro 21941 902, Brazil
| | - Franco Decembrini
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
| | - Renata Zaccone
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
| | - Alessandro Cosenza
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
| | - Alessandro Ciro Rappazzo
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari Unversity of Venice Campus Scientifico, Via Torino 155, 30170 Venice, Italy
| | - Bernardo Patti
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, CNR IAS, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo 4521, 90149 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gualtiero Basilone
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, CNR IAS, Via del Mare 3, 91021 Capo Granitola, Italy
| | - Angela Cuttitta
- Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean, CNR ISMED, Via Filippo Parlatore 65, 90145 Palermo, Italy
| | - Rosalia Ferreri
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, CNR IAS, Via del Mare 3, 91021 Capo Granitola, Italy
| | - Salvatore Aronica
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, CNR IAS, Via del Mare 3, 91021 Capo Granitola, Italy
| | - Rosabruna La Ferla
- Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR ISP, Spianata S. Raineri 82, 98122 Messina, Italy
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Ice Melt-Induced Variations of Structural and Functional Traits of the Aquatic Microbial Community along an Arctic River (Pasvik River, Norway). WATER 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/w13162297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The effects of climate change-induced ice melting on the microbial communities in different glacial-fed aquatic systems have been reported, but seasonal dynamics remain poorly investigated. In this study, the structural and functional traits of the aquatic microbial community were assessed along with the hydrological and biogeochemical variation patterns of the Arctic Pasvik River under riverine and brackish conditions at the beginning (May = Ice-melt (−)) and during the ice-melting season (July = Ice-melt (+)). The microbial abundance and morphometric analysis showed a spatial diversification between the riverine and brackish stations. Results highlighted different levels of microbial respiration and activities with different carbon and phosphorous utilization pathways, thus suggesting an active biogeochemical cycling along the river especially at the beginning of the ice-melting period. At Ice-melt (−), Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were dominant in riverine and brackish stations, respectively. Conversely, at Ice-melt (+), the microbial community composition was more homogeneously distributed along the river (Gammaproteobacteria > Alphaproteobacteria > Bacteroidetes). Our findings provide evidence on how riverine microbial communities adapt and respond to seasonal ice melting in glacial-fed aquatic ecosystems.
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First Insights into the Microbiology of Three Antarctic Briny Systems of the Northern Victoria Land. DIVERSITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/d13070323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Different polar environments (lakes and glaciers), also in Antarctica, encapsulate brine pools characterized by a unique combination of extreme conditions, mainly in terms of high salinity and low temperature. Since 2014, we have been focusing our attention on the microbiology of brine pockets from three lakes in the Northern Victoria Land (NVL), lying in the Tarn Flat (TF) and Boulder Clay (BC) areas. The microbial communities have been analyzed for community structure by next generation sequencing, extracellular enzyme activities, metabolic potentials, and microbial abundances. In this study, we aim at reconsidering all available data to analyze the influence exerted by environmental parameters on the community composition and activities. Additionally, the prediction of metabolic functions was attempted by the phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt2) tool, highlighting that prokaryotic communities were presumably involved in methane metabolism, aromatic compound biodegradation, and organic compound (proteins, polysaccharides, and phosphates) decomposition. The analyzed cryoenvironments were different in terms of prokaryotic diversity, abundance, and retrieved metabolic pathways. By the analysis of DNA sequences, common operational taxonomic units ranged from 2.2% to 22.0%. The bacterial community was dominated by Bacteroidetes. In both BC and TF brines, sequences of the most thermally tolerant and methanogenic Archaea were detected, some of them related to hyperthermophiles.
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