Nitrosopumilus as main source of isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids in the central Baltic Sea

Nitrososphaeria in the phylum Crenarchaeota, is a widespread archaeal class in the oceanic realm, playing an important role in the marine carbon and nitrogen cycle. Nitrososphaeria-derived membrane lipids, i.e., isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), are commonly employed to reconstruct past water temperatures using the TetraEther indeX of 86 carbon atoms (TEX86). This index is of particular importance for the brackish Baltic Sea as to date it appears to be the only applicable organic temperature proxy. In this study, we investigated the distribution of intact and core GDGTs and their potential source organisms in the water column of three deep basins located in the central Baltic Sea to evaluate the application of TEX86. A lipidomic approach on suspended particulate matter was combined with the molecular techniques 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and CARD-FISH. The archaeal community was dominated by Nitrosopumilus (~83-100% of the total archaeal sequences). As other detected taxa known to produce GDGTs each represented less than 2% of the total archaeal sequences, Nitrosopumilus is likely the most dominant GDGT producer in the central Baltic Sea. However, the occurrence of phosphohexose (PH), instead of hexose-phosphohexose (HPH) headgroups, suggested that Nitrosopumilus in the Baltic Sea may differ physiologically from representatives of marine settings and other marginal seas, such as the Black Sea. In the Baltic Sea, Nitrosopumilus is most abundant in the suboxic zone, where intact cells peak according to both CARD-FISH data and intact polar lipid concentrations. The presented data therefore suggest that TEX86 reflects subsurface rather than surface temperature in the central Baltic Sea.

A compendium of bacterial and archaeal single-cell amplified genomes from oxygen deficient marine waters

Oxygen-deficient marine waters referred to as oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) or anoxic marine zones (AMZs) are common oceanographic features. They host both cosmopolitan and endemic microorganisms adapted to low oxygen conditions. Microbial metabolic interactions within OMZs and AMZs drive coupled biogeochemical cycles resulting in nitrogen loss and climate active trace gas production and consumption. Global warming is causing oxygen-deficient waters to expand and intensify. Therefore, studies focused on microbial communities inhabiting oxygen-deficient regions are necessary to both monitor and model the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystem functions and services. Here we present a compendium of 5,129 single-cell amplified genomes (SAGs) from marine environments encompassing representative OMZ and AMZ geochemical profiles. Of these, 3,570 SAGs have been sequenced to different levels of completion, providing a strain-resolved perspective on the genomic content and potential metabolic interactions within OMZ and AMZ microbiomes. Hierarchical clustering confirmed that samples from similar oxygen concentrations and geographic regions also had analogous taxonomic compositions, providing a coherent framework for comparative community analysis.

Organic matter availability drives the spatial variation in the community composition and activity of Antarctic marine bacterioplankton

Carbon cycling by Antarctic microbial plankton is poorly understood but it plays a major role in CO₂ sequestration in the Southern Ocean. We investigated the summer bacterioplankton community in the largely understudied Weddell Sea, applying Illumina amplicon sequencing, measurements of bacterial production and chemical analyses of organic matter. The results revealed that the patchy distribution of productive coastal polynyas and less productive, mostly ice-covered sites was the major driver of the spatial changes in the taxonomic composition and activity of bacterioplankton. Gradients in organic matter availability induced by phytoplankton blooms were reflected in the concentrations and composition of dissolved carbohydrates and proteins. Bacterial production at bloom stations was, on average, 2.7 times higher than at less productive sites. Abundant bloom-responsive lineages were predominately affiliated with ubiquitous marine taxa, including Polaribacter, Yoonia-Loktanella, Sulfitobacter, the SAR92 clade, and Ulvibacter, suggesting a widespread genetic potential for adaptation to sub-zero seawater temperatures. A co-occurrence network analysis showed that dominant taxa at stations with low phytoplankton productivity were highly connected, indicating beneficial interactions. Overall, our study demonstrates that heterotrophic bacterial communities along Weddell Sea ice shelves were primarily constrained by the availability of labile organic matter rather than low seawater temperature. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Biological manganese-dependent sulfide oxidation impacts elemental gradients in redox-stratified systems: indications from the Black Sea water column

The reduction of manganese oxide with sulfide in aquatic redox-stratified systems was previously considered to be mainly chemical, but recent isolation of the Black Sea isolate Candidatus Sulfurimonas marisnigri strain SoZ1 suggests an important role for biological catalyzation. Here we provide evidence from laboratory experiments, field data, and modeling that the latter process has a strong impact on redox zonation in the Black Sea. High relative abundances of Sulfurimonas spp. across the redoxcline in the central western gyre of the Black Sea coincided with the high-level expression of both the sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase gene (sqr, up to 93% expressed by Sulfurimonas spp.) and other sulfur oxidation genes. The cell-specific rate of manganese-coupled sulfide oxidation by Ca. S. marisnigri SoZ1 determined experimentally was combined with the in situ abundance of Sulfurimonas spp. in a one-dimensional numerical model to calculate the vertical sulfide distribution. Abiotic sulfide oxidation was too slow to counterbalance the sulfide flux from euxinic water. We conclude that microbially catalyzed Mn-dependent sulfide oxidation influences the element cycles of Mn, S, C, and N and therefore the prevalence of other functional groups of prokaryotes (e.g., anammox bacteria) in a sulfide-free, anoxic redox zone.

Abundance-Occupancy Relationships Along Taxonomic Ranks Reveal a Consistency of Niche Differentiation in Marine Bacterioplankton With Distinct Lifestyles

Abundance-occupancy relationships (AORs) are an important determinant of biotic community dynamics and habitat suitability. However, little is known about their role in complex bacterial communities, either within a phylogenetic framework or as a function of niche breadth. Based on data obtained in a field study in the St. Lawrence Estuary, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to examine the vertical patterns, strength, and character of AORs for particle-attached and free-living bacterial assemblages. Free-living communities were phylogenetically more diverse than particle-attached communities. The dominant taxa were consistent in terms of their presence/absence but population abundances differed in surface water vs. the cold intermediate layer. Significant, positive AORs characterized all of the surveyed communities across all taxonomic ranks of bacteria, thus demonstrating an ecologically conserved trend for both free-living and particle-attached bacteria. The strength of the AORs was low at the species level but higher at and above the genus level. These results demonstrate that an assessment of the distributions and population densities of finely resolved taxa does not necessarily improve determinations of apparent niche differences in marine bacterioplankton communities at regional scales compared with the information inferred from a broad taxonomic classification.

Nitrogen Flow in Diazotrophic Cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae Is Altered by Cyanophage Infection

Viruses can significantly influence cyanobacteria population dynamics and activity, and through this the biogeochemical cycling of major nutrients. However, surprisingly little attention has been given to understand how viral infections alter the ability of diazotrophic cyanobacteria for atmospheric nitrogen fixation and its release to the environment. This study addressed the importance of cyanophages for net ¹⁵N₂ assimilation rate, expression of nitrogenase reductase gene (nifH) and changes in nitrogen enrichment (¹⁵N/¹⁴N) in the diazotrophic cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae during infection by the cyanophage vB_AphaS-CL131. We found that while the growth of A. flos-aquae was inhibited by cyanophage addition (decreased from 0.02 h^–1 to 0.002 h^–1), there were no significant differences in nitrogen fixation rates (control: 22.7 × 10^–7 nmol N heterocyte^–1; infected: 23.9 × 10^–7 nmol N heterocyte^–1) and nifH expression level (control: 0.6–1.6 transcripts heterocyte^–1; infected: 0.7–1.1 transcripts heterocyte^–1) between the infected and control A. flos-aquae cultures. This implies that cyanophage genome replication and progeny production within the vegetative cells does not interfere with the N₂ fixation reactions in the heterocytes of these cyanobacteria. However, higher ¹⁵N enrichment at the poles of heterocytes of the infected A. flos-aquae, revealed by NanoSIMS analysis indicates the accumulation of fixed nitrogen in response to cyanophage addition. This suggests reduced nitrogen transport to vegetative cells and the alterations in the flow of fixed nitrogen within the filaments. In addition, we found that cyanophage lysis resulted in a substantial release of ammonium into culture medium. Cyanophage infection seems to substantially redirect N flow from cyanobacterial biomass to the production of N storage compounds and N release.

Ecosystem-wide metagenomic binning enables prediction of ecological niches from genomes

The genome encodes the metabolic and functional capabilities of an organism and should be a major determinant of its ecological niche. Yet, it is unknown if the niche can be predicted directly from the genome. Here, we conduct metagenomic binning on 123 water samples spanning major environmental gradients of the Baltic Sea. The resulting 1961 metagenome-assembled genomes represent 352 species-level clusters that correspond to 1/3 of the metagenome sequences of the prokaryotic size-fraction. By using machine-learning, the placement of a genome cluster along various niche gradients (salinity level, depth, size-fraction) could be predicted based solely on its functional genes. The same approach predicted the genomes’ placement in a virtual niche-space that captures the highest variation in distribution patterns. The predictions generally outperformed those inferred from phylogenetic information. Our study demonstrates a strong link between genome and ecological niche and provides a conceptual framework for predictive ecology based on genomic data.

Alneberg et al. conduct metagenomics binning of water samples collected over major environmental gradients in the Baltic Sea. They use machine-learning to predict the placement of genome clusters along niche gradients based on the content of functional genes.

Uneven host cell growth causes lysogenic virus induction in the Baltic Sea

In the Baltic Sea redoxcline, lysogenic viruses infecting prokaryotes have rarely been detected using the commonly used inducing agent mitomycin C. However, it is well known that not all viruses are induceable by mitomycin C and growing evidence suggests that changes in trophic conditions may trigger the induction of lysogenic viruses. We hypothesized that using antibiotics to simulate a strong change in trophic conditions for antibiotica-resistant cells due to reduced competition for resources might lead to the induction of lysogenic viruses into the lytic cycle within these cells. This hypothesis was tested by incubating prokaryotes obtained throughout the Baltic Sea redoxcline in seawater with substantially reduced numbers of viruses. We used a mixture of the protein synthesis-inhibiting antibiotics streptomycin and erythromycin to induce the desired changes in trophic conditions for resistant cells and at the same time ensuring that no progeny viruses were formed in sensitive cells. No inducible lysogenic viruses could be detected in incubations amended with mitomycin C. Yet, the presence of streptomycin and erythromycin increased virus-induced mortality of prokaryotes by 56–930% compared to controls, resulting in the induction of lysogenic viruses equivalent to 2–14% of in situ prokaryotic abundance. The results indicate the existence of a previously unrecognized induction mechanism for lysogenic viruses in the Baltic Sea redoxcline, as the mode of action distinctly differs between the used antibiotics (no virus production within affected cells) and mitomycin C (lysogenic viruses are produced within affected cells). Obtaining accurate experimental data on levels of lysogeny in prokaryotic host cells remains challenging, as relying on mitomycin C alone may severely underestimate lysogeny.

A Salinity Threshold Separating Fungal Communities in the Baltic Sea

Salinity is a significant factor for structuring microbial communities, but little is known for aquatic fungi, particularly in the pelagic zone of brackish ecosystems. In this study, we explored the diversity and composition of fungal communities following a progressive salinity decline (from 34 to 3 PSU) along three transects of ca. 2000 km in the Baltic Sea, the world's largest estuary. Based on 18S rRNA gene sequence analysis, we detected clear changes in fungal community composition along the salinity gradient and found significant differences in composition of fungal communities established above and below a critical value of 8 PSU. At salinities below this threshold, fungal communities resembled those from freshwater environments, with a greater abundance of Chytridiomycota, particularly of the orders Rhizophydiales, Lobulomycetales, and Gromochytriales. At salinities above 8 PSU, communities were more similar to those from marine environments and, depending on the season, were dominated by a strain of the LKM11 group (Cryptomycota) or by members of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Our results highlight salinity as an important environmental driver also for pelagic fungi, and thus should be taken into account to better understand fungal diversity and ecological function in the aquatic realm.

A metatranscriptomics-based assessment of small-scale mixing of sulfidic and oxic waters on redoxcline prokaryotic communities

Lateral intrusions of oxygen caused by small-scale mixing are thought to shape microbial activity in marine redoxclines. To examine the response of prokaryotes to such mixing events we employed a shipboard mixing experiment in the euxinic central Baltic Sea: oxic, nitrate containing and sulfidic water samples without detectable oxygenized substances were incubated directly or after mixing. While nitrate, nitrite and ammonium concentrations stayed approximately constant in all incubations, we observed a decrease of sulfide after the contact with oxygen in the sulfide containing incubations. The transcription of marker genes from chemolithoauthotrophic key players including archaeal nitrifiers as well as gammaproteobacterial and campylobacterial autotrophic organisms that couple denitrification with sulfur-oxidation were followed at four time points within 8.5 h. The temporally contrasting transcriptional profiles of gammaproteobacterial and campylobacterial denitrifiers that depend on the same inorganic substrates pointed to a niche separation. Particular archaeal and campylobacterial marker genes involved in nitrification, denitrification and sulfur oxidation, which depend on oxidized substrates, were highly upregulated in the anaerobic sulfidic samples. We suggest that, despite the absence of measurable oxygenated compounds in the sulfidic water, frequent intermittent small-scale intrusions stimulate the permanent upregulation of genes involved in nitrification, denitrification and sulfur oxidation.

Dispersal Modifies the Diversity and Composition of Active Bacterial Communities in Response to a Salinity Disturbance

Dispersal can influence the response of bacterial communities to environmental changes and disturbances. However, the extent to which dispersal contributes to the community response in dependence of the character and strength of the disturbance remains unclear. Here, we conducted a transplant experiment using dialysis bags in which bacterioplankton originating from brackish and marine regions of the Saint Lawrence Estuary were reciprocally incubated in the two environments for 5 days. Dispersal treatments were set-up by subjecting half of the microcosms in each environment to an exchange of cells between the marine and brackish assemblages at a daily exchange rate of 6% (v/v), and the other half of microcosms were kept as the non-dispersal treatments. Bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing was then used to examine the diversity and composition of the active communities. Alpha diversity of the marine communities that were exposed to the brackish environment was elevated greatly by dispersal, but declined in the absence of dispersal. This indicates that dispersal compensated the loss of diversity in the marine communities after a disturbance by introducing bacterial taxa that were able to thrive and coexist with the remaining community members under brackish conditions. On the contrary, alpha diversity of the brackish communities was not affected by dispersal in either environment. Furthermore, dispersal led to an increase in similarity between marine and brackish communities in both of the environments, with a greater similarity when the communities were incubated in the brackish environment. These results suggest that the higher initial diversity in the brackish than in the marine starting community made the resident community less susceptible to dispersing bacteria. Altogether, this study shows that dispersal modifies the diversity and composition of the active communities in response to a salinity disturbance, and enables the local adjustment of specific bacteria under brackish environmental conditions.

Benthic Bacterial Community Composition in the Oligohaline-Marine Transition of Surface Sediments in the Baltic Sea Based on rRNA Analysis

Salinity has a strong impact on bacterial community composition such that freshwater bacterial communities are very different from those in seawater. By contrast, little is known about the composition and diversity of the bacterial community in the sediments (bacteriobenthos) at the freshwater-seawater transition (mesohaline conditions). In this study, partial 16S-rRNA sequences were used to investigate the bacterial community at five stations, representing almost freshwater (oligohaline) to marine conditions, in the Baltic Sea. Samples were obtained from the silty, top-layer (0-2.5 cm) sediments with mostly oxygenated conditions. The long water residence time characteristic of the Baltic Sea, was predicted to enable the development of autochthonous bacteriobenthos at mesohaline conditions. Our results showed that, similar to the water column, salinity is a major factor in structuring the bacteriobenthos and that there is no loss of bacterial richness at intermediate salinities. The bacterial communities of marine, mesohaline, and oligohaline sediments differed in terms of the relative rRNA abundances of the major bacterial phyla/classes. At mesohaline conditions typical marine and oligohaline operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were abundant. Putative unique OTUs in mesohaline sediments were present only at low abundances, suggesting that the mesohaline environment consists mainly of marine and oligohaline bacteria with a broad salinity tolerance. Our study provides a first overview of the diversity patterns and composition of bacteria in the sediments along the Baltic Sea salinity gradient as well as new insights into the bacteriobenthos at mesohaline conditions.

Metatranscriptomic data reveal the effect of different community properties on multifunctional redundancy

The assessment of functional redundancy (FR) is essential to understand community structure-function relationships because FR buffers the functional performance of communities against changes in community composition. We introduce a novel metatranscriptome-based approach to quantify FR, which permits multifunctional aspects to be addressed. FR among prokaryotes was ranked in water samples after exposure to changing salinity. FR was higher for functional categories with mostly broad functions shared among many taxa than for functional categories containing many narrow functions. Furthermore, community characteristics had a higher impact on FR than environmental conditions. The metric also allows FR to be estimated between selected groups of taxa, and FR was high between more closely related organisms if communities were grown in similar environmental conditions. Overall, our data revealed a pronounced influence of functional diversity on the one hand but also the characteristics of individual community members on FR, which was specifically high in those communities whose members were more sensitive to salinity changes.

Mixotrophic Phytoflagellate Bacterivory Field Measurements Strongly Biased by Standard Approaches: A Case Study

Bacterivory among small (≤20 μm) phytoflagellates (SP) is increasingly recognized as a globally relevant phenomenon, impacting a wide range of aspects from primary production levels to marine fisheries. However, to correctly parametrize mixotrophic SP in biogeochemical and food web models, a better understanding of the magnitude and regulation of in situ SP feeding is urgently needed. Current methods to determine SP bacterivory in the field may introduce biases by treating these organisms as equivalent to heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF). In the present case study we experimentally tested two generally employed assumptions of such studies: (A) bacterivory rates of the whole SP community and of distinct SP groups remain constant over 'short' time scales (hours to a day) and (B) SP community ingestion rates approximate the average ingestion rate of all feeding individuals. Food vacuole markers (acidotropic probes), were applied along the diel cycle at three stations in December 2015, and May and June 2016. In December and June, surrogate prey (fluorescently labeled bacteria) were used in parallel at one sampling station. Sampling at different times of day produced an up to fourfold difference in estimates of SP daily bacterivorous impact. In contrast, daily bacterivory estimates for HNF remained constant in almost all cases. The perceived principal SP bacterivorous groups also shifted strongly. As an example, picoeukaryotes dominated total SP bacterivory in daylight hours but completely ceased to feed at night. Finally, a large fraction of the SP community was not feeding at all time points tested. This lead to significant errors in estimated ingestion rates determined using the whole SP community, being up to 16 times lower than those determined solely for actively feeding mixotrophic SP. Overall, this case study indicates that applying the two commonly used premises outlined above can introduce significant biases and considerably alter our perception of mixotrophy in a given system.

High viral abundance as a consequence of low viral decay in the Baltic Sea redoxcline

Throughout the Baltic Sea redoxcline, virus production and the frequency of lytically-infected prokaryotic cells were estimated from parallel incubations of undiluted seawater and seawater that contained prokaryotes with substantially reduced numbers of viruses (virus dilution approach), effectively preventing viral reinfection during the incubation period. Undiluted seawater incubations resulted in much higher estimates of virus production (6–35×10⁴ mL^-1 h^-1) and the frequency of infected cells (5–84%) than the virus dilution approach (virus production: 1–3×10⁴ mL^-1 h^-1; frequency of infected cells: 1–11%). Viral production and the frequency of infected cells from both approaches, however, cannot be directly compared, as data obtained from undiluted incubations were biased by viral reinfection and other uncontrollable processes during the incubation period. High in situ viral abundance (1–2×10⁷ mL^-1) together with low virus production rates based on the virus dilution approach resulted in some of the longest viral turnover times (24–84 d) ever reported for the epipelagial. Throughout a wide range of environmental conditions, viral turnover time and burst size were negatively correlated. Given that viral decay estimated in ultra-filtered water was below the detection limit and the burst size was low (1–17), we conclude that prokaryotic viruses in the Baltic Sea redoxcline are investing most of their resources into stress defense (strong capsids) rather than proliferation (high burst size). In summary, the Baltic Sea redoxcline constitutes an environment where low virus production is found in combination with low viral decay, resulting in high viral abundance.

Differential responses of marine, mesohaline and oligohaline bacterial communities to the addition of terrigenous carbon

In response to global warming, increasing quantities of tDOM are transported through estuaries from land to the sea. In this study, we investigated microbial responses to increased tDOM concentrations in three salinity regimes (salinity: 32, 7 and 3) characteristic of the Baltic Sea. Mesocosm experiments performed in May and November revealed low (0-6%) dissolved organic carbon (DOC) utilisation. Molecular DOM analyses using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry identified the terrigenous signal in the tDOM manipulation, but the molecular changes in DOM levels over the course of the experiment were subtle. However, tDOM had significant stimulatory effects on bacterial production in the oligohaline mesocosms. The shift in the bacterial community composition was especially prominent in the tDOM-amended marine and mesohaline mesocosms, but not in the oligohaline mesocosms after 7 and 11 days of incubation. These results suggested the inherent ability of oligohaline bacterial communities to adapt to high tDOM concentrations and therefore to use tDOM. The higher rates of bacterial activity and DOC removal in mesocosms containing UV-pretreated tDOM supported the increased bioavailability of photoinduced, modified tDOM. The overall low rates of microbial tDOM utilisation highlights the importance of abiotic factors in determining the distribution and dynamics of tDOM in estuaries.

Success of chemolithoautotrophic SUP05 and Sulfurimonas GD17 cells in pelagic Baltic Sea redox zones is facilitated by their lifestyles as K- and r-strategists

Chemolithoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing and denitrifying Gamma- (particularly the SUP05 cluster) and Epsilonproteobacteria (predominantly Sulfurimonas subgroup GD17) are assumed to compete for substrates (electron donors and acceptors) in marine pelagic redox gradients. To elucidate their ecological niche separation we performed ³⁴ S⁰ , ¹⁵ NO3- and H¹³ CO3- stable-isotope incubations with water samples from Baltic Sea suboxic, chemocline and sulfidic zones followed by combined phylogenetic staining and high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry of single cells. SUP05 cells were small-sized (0.06-0.09 µm³ ) and most abundant in low-sulfidic to suboxic zones, whereas Sulfurimonas GD17 cells were significantly larger (0.26-0.61 µm³ ) and most abundant at the chemocline and below. Together, SUP05 and GD17 cells accumulated up to 48% of the labelled substrates but calculation of cell volume-specific rates revealed that GD17 cells incorporated labelled substrates significantly faster throughout the redox zone, thereby potentially outcompeting SUP05 especially at high substrate concentrations. Thus, in synopsis with earlier described features of SUP05/GD17 we conclude that their spatially overlapping association in stratified sulfidic zones is facilitated by their different lifestyles: whereas SUP05 cells are streamlined, non-motile K-strategists adapted to low substrate concentrations, GD17 cells are motile r-strategists well adapted to fluctuating substrate and redox conditions.

Tight Coupling of Glaciecola spp. and Diatoms during Cold-Water Phytoplankton Spring Blooms

Early spring phytoplankton blooms can occur at very low water temperatures but they are often decoupled from bacterial growth, which is assumed to be often temperature controlled. In a previous mesocosm study with Baltic Sea plankton communities, an early diatom bloom was associated with a high relative abundance of Glaciecola sequences (Gammaproteobacteria), at both low (2°C) and elevated (8°C) temperatures, suggesting an important role for this genus in phytoplankton-bacteria coupling. In this study, the temperature-dependent dynamics of free-living Glaciecola spp. during the bloom were analyzed by catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization using a newly developed probe. The analysis revealed the appearance of Glaciecola spp. in this and in previous spring mesocosm experiments as the dominating bacterial clade during diatom blooms, with a close coupling between the population dynamics of Glaciecola and phytoplankton development. Although elevated temperature resulted in a higher abundance and a higher net growth rate of Glaciecola spp. (Q10 ∼ 2.2), their growth was, in contrast to that of the bulk bacterial assemblages, not suppressed at 2°C and showed a similar pattern at 8°C. Independent of temperature, the highest abundance of Glaciecola spp. (24.0 ± 10.0% of total cell number) occurred during the peak of the phytoplankton bloom. Together with the slightly larger cell size of Glaciecola, this resulted in a ∼30% contribution of Glaciecola to total bacterial biomass. Overall, the results of this and previous studies suggest that Glaciecola has an ecological niche during early diatom blooms at low temperatures, when it becomes a dominant consumer of phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic matter.

Phylogenetic Signals of Salinity and Season in Bacterial Community Composition Across the Salinity Gradient of the Baltic Sea

Understanding the key processes that control bacterial community composition has enabled predictions of bacterial distribution and function within ecosystems. In this study, we used the Baltic Sea as a model system to quantify the phylogenetic signal of salinity and season with respect to bacterioplankton community composition. The abundances of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing reads were analyzed from samples obtained from similar geographic locations in July and February along a brackish to marine salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea. While there was no distinct pattern of bacterial richness at different salinities, the number of bacterial phylotypes in winter was significantly higher than in summer. Bacterial community composition in brackish vs. marine conditions, and in July vs. February was significantly different. Non-metric multidimensional scaling showed that bacterial community composition was primarily separated according to salinity and secondly according to seasonal differences at all taxonomic ranks tested. Similarly, quantitative phylogenetic clustering implicated a phylogenetic signal for both salinity and seasonality. Our results suggest that global patterns of bacterial community composition with respect to salinity and season are the result of phylogenetically clustered ecological preferences with stronger imprints from salinity.

Environment not dispersal limitation drives clonal composition of Arctic Daphnia in a recently deglaciated area

One of the most prominent manifestations of the ongoing climate warming is the retreat of glaciers and ice sheets around the world. Retreating glaciers result in the formation of new ponds and lakes, which are available for colonization. The gradual appearance of these new habitat patches allows us to determine to what extent the composition of asexual Daphnia (water flea) populations is affected by environmental drivers vs. dispersal limitation. Here, we used a landscape genetics approach to assess the processes structuring the clonal composition of species in the D. pulex species complex that have colonized periglacial habitats created by ice-sheet retreat in western Greenland. We analysed 61 populations from a young (<50 years) and an old cluster (>150 years) of lakes and ponds. We identified 42 asexual clones that varied widely in spatial distribution. Beta-diversity was higher among older than among younger systems. Lineage sorting by the environment explained 14% of the variation in clonal composition whereas the pure effect of geographical distance was very small and statistically insignificant (Radj2 = 0.010, P = 0.085). Dispersal limitation did not seem important, even among young habitat patches. The observation of several tens of clones colonizing the area combined with environmentally driven clonal composition of populations illustrates that population assembly of asexual species in the Arctic is structured by environmental gradients reflecting differences in the ecology of clones.

Acidification and warming affect prominent bacteria in two seasonal phytoplankton bloom mesocosms

In contrast to clear stimulatory effects of rising temperature, recent studies of the effects of CO₂ on planktonic bacteria have reported conflicting results. To better understand the potential impact of predicted climate scenarios on the development and performance of bacterial communities, we performed bifactorial mesocosm experiments (pCO₂ and temperature) with Baltic Sea water, during a diatom dominated bloom in autumn and a mixed phytoplankton bloom in summer. The development of bacterial community composition (BCC) followed well-known algal bloom dynamics. A principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of bacterial OTUs (operational taxonomic units) revealed that phytoplankton succession and temperature were the major variables structuring the bacterial community whereas the impact of pCO₂ was weak. Prokaryotic abundance and carbon production, and organic matter concentration and composition were partly affected by temperature but not by increased pCO₂ . However, pCO₂ did have significant and potentially direct effects on the relative abundance of several dominant OTUs; in some cases, these effects were accompanied by an antagonistic impact of temperature. Our results suggest the necessity of high-resolution BCC analyses and statistical analyses at the OTU level to detect the strong impact of CO₂ on specific bacterial groups, which in turn might also influence specific organic matter degradation processes.

Culturing Heterotrophic Protists from the Baltic Sea: Mostly the "Usual Suspects" but a Few Novelties as Well

The study of cultured strains has a long tradition in protistological research and has greatly contributed to establishing the morphology, taxonomy, and ecology of many protist species. However, cultivation-independent techniques, based on 18S rRNA gene sequences, have demonstrated that natural protistan assemblages mainly consist of hitherto uncultured protist lineages. This mismatch impedes the linkage of environmental diversity data with the biological features of cultured strains. Thus, novel taxa need to be obtained in culture to close this knowledge gap. In this study, traditional cultivation techniques were applied to samples from coastal surface waters and from deep oxygen-depleted waters of the Baltic Sea. Based on 18S rRNA gene sequencing, 126 monoclonal cultures of heterotrophic protists were identified. The majority of the isolated strains were affiliated with already cultured and described taxa, mainly chrysophytes and bodonids. This was likely due to "culturing bias" but also to the eutrophic nature of the Baltic Sea. Nonetheless, ~ 12% of the isolates in our culture collection showed highly divergent 18S rRNA gene sequences compared to those of known organisms and thus may represent novel taxa, either at the species level or at the genus level. Moreover, we also obtained evidence that some of the isolated taxa are ecologically relevant, under certain conditions, in the Baltic Sea.

Comparative analysis of the fecal bacterial community of five harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)

The gut microbiota has many beneficial effects on host metabolism and health, and its composition is determined by numerous factors. It is also assumed that there was a co‐evolution of mammals and the bacteria inhabiting their gut. Current knowledge of the mammalian gut microbiota mainly derives from studies on humans and terrestrial animals, whereas those on marine mammals are sparse. However, they could provide additional information on influencing factors, such as the role of diet and co‐evolution with the host. In this study, we investigated and compared the bacterial diversity in the feces of five male harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Because this small population included two half‐brother pairs, each sharing a common father, it allowed an evaluation of the impact of host relatedness or genetic similarity on the gut microbial community. Fresh feces obtained from the seals by an enema were analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization and amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The results showed that the bacterial communities in the seals' feces mainly consisted of the phyla Firmicutes (19–43%), Bacteroidetes (22–36%), Fusobacteria (18–32%), and Proteobacteria (5–17%) . Twenty‐one bacterial members present in the fecal samples of the five seals contributed an average relative abundance of 93.7 + 8.7% of the total fecal microbial community. Contrary to all expectations based on previous studies a comparison of the fecal community between individual seals showed a higher similarity between unrelated than related individuals.

Particle-Associated Differ from Free-Living Bacteria in Surface Waters of the Baltic Sea

Many studies on bacterial community composition (BCC) do not distinguish between particle-associated (PA) and free-living (FL) bacteria or neglect the PA fraction by pre-filtration removing most particles. Although temporal and spatial gradients in environmental variables are known to shape BCC, it remains unclear how and to what extent PA and FL bacterial diversity responds to such environmental changes. To elucidate the BCC of both bacterial fractions related to different environmental settings, we studied surface samples of three Baltic Sea stations (marine, mesohaline, and oligohaline) in two different seasons (summer and fall/winter). Amplicon sequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene revealed significant differences in BCC of both bacterial fractions among stations and seasons, with a particularly high number of PA operational taxonomic units (OTUs at genus-level) at the marine station in both seasons. "Shannon and Simpson indices" showed a higher diversity of PA than FL bacteria at the marine station in both seasons and at the oligohaline station in fall/winter. In general, a high fraction of bacterial OTUs was found exclusively in the PA fraction (52% of total OTUs). These findings indicate that PA bacteria significantly contribute to overall bacterial richness and that they differ from FL bacteria. Therefore, to gain a deeper understanding on diversity and dynamics of aquatic bacteria, PA and FL bacteria should be generally studied independently.

Zonation of bacterioplankton communities along aging upwelled water in the northern Benguela upwelling

Upwelling areas are shaped by enhanced primary production in surface waters, accompanied by a well-investigated planktonic succession. Although bacteria play an important role in biogeochemical cycles of upwelling systems, little is known about bacterial community composition and its development during upwelling events. The aim of this study was to investigate the succession of bacterial assemblages in aging upwelled water of the Benguela upwelling from coastal to offshore sites. Water from the upper mixed layer at 12 stations was sampled along two transects from the origin of the upwelling to a distance of 220 km. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was then used in a bacterial diversity analysis and major bacterial taxa were quantified by catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization. Additionally, bacterial cell numbers and bacterial production were assessed. Community statistical analysis revealed a reproducible zonation along the two transects, with four clusters of significantly different microbial assemblages. Clustering was mainly driven by phytoplankton composition and abundance. Similar to the temporal succession that occurs during phytoplankton blooms in temperate coastal waters, operational taxonomic units (OTUs) affiliated with Bacteroidetes and Gammaproteobacteria were dominant during algal blooming whereas "Pelagibacterales" were highly abundant in regions with low algal abundance. The most dominant heterotrophic OTU (9% of all reads) was affiliated with "Pelagibacterales" and showed a strong negative correlation with phytoplankton. By contrast, the second most abundant heterotrophic OTU (6% of all reads) was affiliated with the phylum Verrucomicrobia and correlated positively with phytoplankton. Together with the close relation of bacterial production and phytoplankton abundance, our results showed that bacterial community dynamics is strongly driven by the development and composition of the phytoplankton community.

Ice formation and growth shape bacterial community structure in Baltic Sea drift ice

Drift ice, open water and under-ice water bacterial communities covering several developmental stages from open water to thick ice were studied in the northern Baltic Sea. The bacterial communities were assessed with 16S rRNA gene terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism and cloning, together with bacterial abundance and production measurements. In the early stages, open water and pancake ice were dominated by Alphaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria, which are common bacterial groups in Baltic Sea wintertime surface waters. The pancake ice bacterial communities were similar to the open-water communities, suggesting that the parent water determines the sea-ice bacterial community in the early stages of sea-ice formation. In consolidated young and thick ice, the bacterial communities were significantly different from water bacterial communities as well as from each other, indicating community development in Baltic Sea drift ice along with ice-type changes. The thick ice was dominated by typical sea-ice genera from classes Flavobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, similar to those in polar sea-ice bacterial communities. Since the thick ice bacterial community was remarkably different from that of the parent seawater, results indicate that thick ice bacterial communities were recruited from the rarer members of the seawater bacterial community.

Chemoautotrophic growth of ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota enriched from a pelagic redox gradient in the Baltic Sea

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are an important component of the planktonic community in aquatic habitats, linking nitrogen and carbon cycles through nitrification and carbon fixation. Therefore, measurements of these processes in culture-based experiments can provide insights into their contributions to energy conservation and biomass production by specific AOA. In this study, by enriching AOA from a brackish, oxygen-depleted water-column in the Landsort Deep, central Baltic Sea, we were able to investigate ammonium oxidation, chemoautotrophy, and growth in seawater batch experiments. The highly enriched culture consisted of up to 97% archaea, with maximal archaeal numbers of 2.9 × 10⁷ cells mL⁻¹. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA and ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene sequences revealed an affiliation with assemblages from low-salinity and freshwater habitats, with Candidatus Nitrosoarchaeum limnia as the closest relative. Growth correlated significantly with nitrite production, ammonium consumption, and CO₂ fixation, which occurred at a ratio of 10 atoms N oxidized per 1 atom C fixed. According to the carbon balance, AOA biomass production can be entirely explained by chemoautotrophy. The cellular carbon content was estimated to be 9 fg C per cell. Single-cell-based ¹³C and ¹⁵N labeling experiments and analysis by nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry provided further evidence that cellular carbon was derived from bicarbonate and that ammonium was taken up by the cells. Our study therefore revealed that growth by an AOA belonging to the genus Nitrosoarchaeum can be sustained largely by chemoautotrophy.

Distribution of the verrucomicrobial clade Spartobacteria along a salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea

A recent pyrosequencing study along the whole Baltic Sea salinity transect identified members of the Verrucomicrobia class Spartobacteria as an important component of Baltic Sea bacterioplankton. In this study, catalysed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization was used for cellular quantification. The published probes VER47 and SPA714 were optimized for samples from the Baltic Sea and a new, specific probe (SPA476) was used to quantify the dominant spartobacterial lineage ‘LD29’. The results confirmed that in the brackish surface waters of the Baltic Sea Spartobacteria comprise an important component, constituting up to 12% of all bacteria. The positive correlation and physical association of Spartobacteria with phytoplankton suggest their involvement in the utilization of phytoplankton-derived organic matter in the Baltic Sea.

Significance of archaeal nitrification in hypoxic waters of the Baltic Sea

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) of the phylum Thaumarchaeota are widespread, and their abundance in many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems suggests a prominent role in nitrification. AOA also occur in high numbers in oxygen-deficient marine environments, such as the pelagic redox gradients of the central Baltic Sea; however, data on archaeal nitrification rates are scarce and little is known about the factors, for example sulfide, that regulate nitrification in this system. In the present work, we assessed the contribution of AOA to ammonia oxidation rates in Baltic deep basins and elucidated the impact of sulfide on this process. Rate measurements with (15)N-labeled ammonium, CO(2) dark fixation measurements and quantification of AOA by catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that among the three investigated sites the highest potential nitrification rates (122-884 nmol l(-1)per day) were measured within gradients of decreasing oxygen, where thaumarchaeotal abundance was maximal (2.5-6.9 × 10(5) cells per ml) and CO(2) fixation elevated. In the presence of the archaeal-specific inhibitor GC(7), nitrification was reduced by 86-100%, confirming the assumed dominance of AOA in this process. In samples spiked with sulfide at concentrations similar to those of in situ conditions, nitrification activity was inhibited but persisted at reduced rates. This result together with the substantial nitrification potential detected in sulfidic waters suggests the tolerance of AOA to periodic mixing of anoxic and sulfidic waters. It begs the question of whether the globally distributed Thaumarchaeota respond similarly in other stratified water columns or whether the observed robustness against sulfide is a specific feature of the thaumarchaeotal subcluster present in the Baltic Deeps.

N and O isotope fractionation in nitrate during chemolithoautotrophic denitrification by Sulfurimonas gotlandica

Chemolithoautotrophic denitrification is an important mechanism of nitrogen loss in the water column of euxinic basins, but its isotope fractionation factor is not known. Sulfurimonas gotlandica GD1(T), a recently isolated bacterial key player in Baltic Sea pelagic redoxcline processes, was used to determine the isotope fractionation of nitrogen and oxygen in nitrate during denitrification. Under anoxic conditions, nitrate reduction was accompanied by nitrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation of 23.8 ± 2.5‰ and 11.7 ± 1.1‰, respectively. The isotope effect for nitrogen was in the range determined for heterotrophic denitrification, with only the absence of stirring resulting in a significant decrease of the fractionation factor. The relative increase in δ(18)ONO3 to δ(15)NNO3 did not follow the 1:1 relationship characteristic of heterotrophic, marine denitrification. Instead, δ(18)ONO3 increased slower than δ(15)NNO3, with a conserved ratio of 0.5:1. This result suggests that the periplasmic nitrate reductase (Nap) of S. gotlandica strain GD1(T) fractionates the N and O in nitrate differently than the membrane-bound nitrate reductase (Nar), which is generally prevalent among heterotrophic denitrifiers and is considered as the dominant driver for the observed isotope fractionation. Hence in the Baltic Sea redoxcline, other, as yet-unidentified factors likely explain the low apparent fractionation.

Uncoupling of bacterial and terrigenous dissolved organic matter dynamics in decomposition experiments

The biodegradability of terrigenous dissolved organic matter (tDOM) exported to the sea has a major impact on the global carbon cycle, but our understanding of tDOM bioavailability is fragmentary. In this study, the effects of preparative tDOM isolation on microbial decomposition were investigated in incubation experiments consisting of mesocosms containing mesohaline water from the Baltic Sea. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) consumption, molecular DOM composition, bacterial activities, and shifts in bacterial community structure were compared between mesocosms supplemented with riverine tDOM, either as filtered, particle-free river water or as a concentrate obtained by lyophilization/tangential ultrafiltration, and those containing only Baltic Sea water or river water. As shown using ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry (15 Tesla Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, FT-ICR-MS) covering approximately 4600 different DOM compounds, the three DOM preparation protocols resulted in distinct patterns of molecular DOM composition. However, despite DOC losses of 4–16% and considerable bacterial production, there was no significant change in DOM composition during the 28-day experiment. Moreover, tDOM addition affected neither DOC degradation nor bacterial dynamics significantly, regardless of the tDOM preparation. This result suggested that the introduced tDOM was largely not bioavailable, at least on the temporal scale of our experiment, and that the observed bacterial activity and DOC decomposition mainly reflected the degradation of unknown, labile, colloidal and low-molecular weight DOM, both of which escape the analytical window of FT-ICR-MS. In contrast to the different tDOM preparations, the initial bacterial inoculum and batch culture conditions determined bacterial community succession and superseded the effects of tDOM addition. The uncoupling of tDOM and bacterial dynamics suggests that mesohaline bacterial communities cannot efficiently utilize tDOM and that in subarctic estuaries other factors are responsible for the removal of imported tDOM.

Cultivation and isolation of N2-fixing bacteria from suboxic waters in the Baltic Sea

Nitrogenase genes (nifH) from heterotrophic dinitrogen (N2)-fixing bacteria appear ubiquitous in marine bacterioplankton, but the significance of these bacteria for N cycling is unknown. Quantitative data on the N2-fixation potential of marine and estuarine heterotrophs are scarce, and the shortage of cultivated specimens currently precludes ecophysiological characterization of these bacteria. Through the cultivation of diazotrophs from suboxic (1.79 μmol O2 L(-1)) Baltic Sea water in an artificial seawater medium devoid of combined N, we report the cultivability of a considerable fraction of the diazotrophic community in the Gotland Deep. Two nifH clades were present both in situ and in enrichment cultures showing gene abundances of up to 4.6 × 10(5) and 5.8 × 10(5) nifH gene copies L(-1) within two vertical profiles in the Baltic Sea. The distributions of the two clades suggested a relationship with the O2 concentrations in the water column as abundances increased in the suboxic and anoxic waters. It was possible to cultivate and isolate representatives from one of these prevalent clades, and preliminary analysis of their ecophysiology demonstrated growth optima at 0.5-15 μmol O2 L(-1) and 186-194 μmol O2 L(-1) in the absence of combined N.

Impact of dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations and pH on growth of the chemolithoautotrophic epsilonproteobacterium Sulfurimonas gotlandica GD1T

Epsilonproteobacteria have been found globally distributed in marine anoxic/sulfidic areas mediating relevant transformations within the sulfur and nitrogen cycles. In the Baltic Sea redox zones, chemoautotrophic epsilonproteobacteria mainly belong to the Sulfurimonas gotlandica GD17 cluster for which recently a representative strain, S. gotlandica GD1(T), could be established as a model organism. In this study, the potential effects of changes in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pH on S. gotlandica GD1(T) were examined. Bacterial cell abundance within a broad range of DIC concentrations and pH values were monitored and substrate utilization was determined. The results showed that the DIC saturation concentration for achieving maximal cell numbers was already reached at 800 μmol L(-1), which is well below in situ DIC levels. The pH optimum was between 6.6 and 8.0. Within a pH range of 6.6-7.1 there was no significant difference in substrate utilization; however, at lower pH values maximum cell abundance decreased sharply and cell-specific substrate consumption increased.

Pyruvate utilization by a chemolithoautotrophic epsilonproteobacterial key player of pelagic Baltic Sea redoxclines

Pelagic redoxclines of the central Baltic Sea are dominated by the epsilonproteobacterial group Sulfurimonas GD17, considered to be the major driver of chemolithoautotrophic denitrification in this habitat. Autecological investigations of a recently isolated representative of this environmental group, Sulfurimonas gotlandica str. GD1(T), demonstrated that the bacterium grows best under sulfur-oxidizing, denitrifying conditions. However, in the presence of bicarbonate, this strain is able to use pyruvate as both an additional carbon source and an alternative electron donor. These observations suggested that the environmental group GD17 actively metabolizes organic substrates in situ. To examine this possibility, we used RNA-based stable isotope probing (RNA-SIP) on a natural redoxcline community provided with ¹³C-labeled pyruvate. While in this experiment, we were able to identify putative heterotrophic microorganisms, the uptake of ¹³C-pyruvate in GD17 nucleic acids could not be established. To resolve these contradictory findings, combined incorporation experiments with ¹⁴C- and ¹³C-labeled pyruvate were carried out in cells of strain GD1(T) cultivated under chemolithoautotrophic conditions, which favor pyruvate uptake rather than oxidation. An analysis of the labeled biomolecules revealed that pyruvate was mostly incorporated in cellular components such as amino acids, whose synthesis requires only minimal transformation. Carbon transfer into nucleic acids was not observed, explaining the inability of RNA-SIP to detect pyruvate incorporation by strain GD1(T) and the environmental group GD17. Together, these findings suggest that by integrating organic compounds such as pyruvate into cellular components S. gotlandica GD1(T) is able to replenish chemolithoautotrophic growth and thus ensure its survival in nutrient-limited habitats such as marine pelagic redoxclines.

Impact of warming on phyto-bacterioplankton coupling and bacterial community composition in experimental mesocosms

Global warming is assumed to alter the trophic interactions and carbon flow patterns of aquatic food webs. The impact of temperature on phyto-bacterioplankton coupling and bacterial community composition (BCC) was the focus of the present study, in which an indoor mesocosm experiment with natural plankton communities from the western Baltic Sea was conducted. A 6 °C increase in water temperature resulted, as predicted, in tighter coupling between the diatom-dominated phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria, accompanied by a strong increase in carbon flow into bacterioplankton during the phytoplankton bloom phase. Suppressed bacterial development at cold in situ temperatures probably reflected lowered bacterial production and grazing by protists, as the latter were less affected by low temperatures. BCC was strongly influenced by the phytoplankton bloom stage and to a lesser extent by temperature. Under both temperature regimes, Gammaproteobacteria clearly dominated during the phytoplankton peak, with Glaciecola sp. as the single most abundant taxon. However, warming induced the appearance of additional bacterial taxa belonging to Betaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Our results show that warming during an early phytoplankton bloom causes a shift towards a more heterotrophic system, with the appearance of new bacterial taxa suggesting a potential for utilization of a broader substrate spectrum.

Distribution of acI-Actinorhodopsin genes in Baltic Sea salinity gradients indicates adaptation of facultative freshwater photoheterotrophs to brackish waters

Knowledge on Actinobacteria rhodopsin gene (actR) diversity and spatial distribution is scarce. The Baltic Sea is characterized by strong salinity gradients leading to the coexistence of marine and freshwater bacteria and hence is an ideal study area to elucidate the dispersion and phylogenetic affiliation of actR in dependence on salinity. ActR DGGE fingerprints in summer 2008 revealed between 3 and 19 distinct bands within a salinity range of 2.4-27 PSU. Environmental actR clone sequences were obtained from stations distributed along the whole salinity gradient. Overall, 20 different actR sequence groups (operational taxonomic units) were found, with up to 11 different ones per station. Phylogenetically, the actR sequences were predominantly (80%) affiliated with freshwater acI-Actinobacteria whose 16S rRNA gene accounted for 2-33% of total 16S rRNA genes in both the Bothnian Sea and central Baltic Sea. However, at salinities above 14 PSU, acI-16S rRNA gene accounted for less than 1%. In contrast, the diversity of actR remained high. Changes in actR gene diversity were significantly correlated with salinity, oxygen, silica or abundance of Synechococcus sp. Our results demonstrate a wide distribution of freshwater actR along the Baltic Sea salinity gradient indicating that some freshwater Actinobacteria might have adapted to higher salinities.

Sulfurimonas gotlandica sp. nov., a chemoautotrophic and psychrotolerant epsilonproteobacterium isolated from a pelagic redoxcline, and an emended description of the genus Sulfurimonas

A psychro- and aerotolerant bacterium was isolated from the sulfidic water of a pelagic redox zone of the central Baltic Sea. The slightly curved rod- or spiral-shaped cells were motile by one polar flagellum or two bipolar flagella. Growth was chemolithoautotrophic, with nitrate or nitrite as electron acceptor and either a variety of sulfur species of different oxidation states or hydrogen as electron donor. Although the bacterium was able to utilize organic substances such as acetate, pyruvate, peptone and yeast extract for growth, these compounds yielded considerably lower cell numbers than obtained with reduced sulfur or hydrogen; in addition, bicarbonate supplementation was necessary. The cells also had an absolute requirement for NaCl. Optimal growth occurred at 15 °C and at pH 6.6–8.0. The predominant fatty acid of this organism was 16 : 1ω7c, with 3-OH 14 : 0, 16 : 0, 16 : 1ω5c+t and 18 : 1ω7c present in smaller amounts. The DNA G+C content was 33.6 mol%. As determined in 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogeny analysis, the isolate belongs to the genus Sulfurimonas, within the class Epsilonproteobacteria, with 93.7 to 94.2 % similarity to the other species of the genus Sulfurimonas, Sulfurimonas autotrophica, Sulfurimonas paralvinellae and Sulfurimonas denitrificans. However, the distinct physiological and genotypic differences from these previously described taxa support the description of a novel species, Sulfurimonas gotlandica sp. nov. The type strain is GD1^T ( = DSM 19862^T = JCM 16533^T). Our results also justify an emended description of the genus Sulfurimonas.

Acetate-utilizing bacteria at an oxic-anoxic interface in the Baltic Sea

Pelagic redoxclines represent chemical gradients of elevated microbial activities. While chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms in these systems are well known as catalysts of major biogeochemical cycles, comparable knowledge on heterotrophic organisms is scarce. Thus, in this study, identity and biogeochemical involvement of active heterotrophs were investigated in stimulation experiments and activity measurements based on samples collected from pelagic redoxclines of the central Baltic Sea in 2005 and 2009. In the 2009 samples, (13)C-acetate 16S rRNA stable isotope probing (16S rRNA-SIP) identified gammaproteobacteria affiliated with Colwellia sp. and Neptunomonas sp. in addition to epsilonproteobacteria related to Arcobacter spp. as active heterotrophs at the oxic-anoxic interface layer. Incubations from sulfidic waters were dominated by two phylogenetic subgroups of Arcobacter. In the 2005 samples, organics, manganese(IV), and iron(III) were added to the sulfidic waters, followed by the determination of metal reduction and identification of the stimulated organisms. Here, the same Arcobacter and Colwellia subgroups were stimulated as in 2009, with Arcobacter predominating in samples, in which manganese(IV) reduction was highest. Our results offer new insights into the heterotrophic bacterial assemblage of Baltic Sea pelagic redoxclines and suggest Arcobacter spp. as a heterotroph with presumed relevance also for manganese cycling.

Impact of protist grazing on a key bacterial group for biogeochemical cycling in Baltic Sea pelagic oxic/anoxic interfaces

Barrier zones between oxic and anoxic water masses (redoxclines) host highly active prokaryotic communities with important roles in biogeochemical cycling. In Baltic Sea pelagic redoxclines, Epsilonproteobacteria of the genus Sulfurimonas (subgroup GD17) have been shown to dominate chemoautotrophic denitrification. However, little is known on the loss processes affecting this prokaryotic group. In the present study, the protist grazing impact on the Sulfurimonas subgroup GD17 was determined for suboxic and oxygen/hydrogen sulphide interface depths of Baltic Sea redoxclines, using predator exclusion assays and bacterial amendment with the cultured representative 'Sulfurimonas gotlandica' strain GD1. Additionally, the principal bacterivores were identified by RNA-Stable Isotope Probing (RNA-SIP). The natural Sulfurimonas subgroup GD17 population grew strongly under oxygen/hydrogen sulphide interface conditions (doubling time: 1-1.5 days), but protist grazing could consume the complete new cell production per day. In suboxic samples, little or no growth of Sulfurimonas subgroup GD17 was observed. RNA-SIP identified five active grazers, belonging to typical redoxcline ciliates (Oligohymenophorea, Prostomatea) and globally widespread marine flagellate groups (MAST-4, Chrysophyta, Cercozoa). Overall, we demonstrate for the first time that protist grazing can control the growth, and potentially the vertical distribution, of a chemolithoautotrophic key-player of oxic/anoxic interfaces.

Ecologically relevant choanoflagellates collected from hypoxic water masses of the Baltic Sea have untypical mitochondrial cristae

Background

Protist communities inhabiting oxygen depleted waters have so far been characterized through both microscopical observations and sequence based techniques. However, the lack of cultures for abundant taxa severely hampers our knowledge on the morphology, ecology and energy metabolism of hypoxic protists. Cultivation of such protists has been unsuccessful in most cases, and has never yet succeeded for choanoflagellates, even though these small bacterivorous flagellates are known to be ecologically relevant components of aquatic protist communities.

Results

Quantitative data for choanoflagellates and the vertical distribution of Codosiga spp. at Gotland and Landsort Deep (Baltic Sea) indicate its preference for oxygen-depleted zones. Strains isolated and cultivated from these habitats revealed ultrastructural peculiarities such as mitochondria showing tubular cristae never seen before for choanoflagellates, and the first observation of intracellular prokaryotes in choanoflagellates. Analysis of their partial 28S rRNA gene sequence complements the description of two new species, Codosiga minima n. sp. and C. balthica n. sp. These are closely related with but well separated from C. gracilis (C. balthica and C. minima p-distance to C. gracilis 4.8% and 11.6%, respectively). In phylogenetic analyses the 18S rRNA gene sequences branch off together with environmental sequences from hypoxic habitats resulting in a wide cluster of hypoxic Codosiga relatives so far only known from environmental sequencing approaches.

Conclusions

Here, we establish the morphological and ultrastructural identity of an environmental choanoflagellate lineage. Data from microscopical observations, supplemented by findings from previous culture-independent methods, indicate that C. balthica is likely an ecologically relevant player of Baltic Sea hypoxic waters. The possession of derived mitochondria could be an adaptation to life in hypoxic environments periodically influenced by small-scale mixing events and changing oxygen content allowing the reduction of oxygen consuming components. In view of the intricacy of isolating and cultivating choanoflagellates, the two new cultured species represent an important advance to the understanding of the ecology of this group, and mechanisms of adaptations to hypoxia in protists in general.

Phenotypic variation in Pseudomonas sp. CM10 determines microcolony formation and survival under protozoan grazing

Abstract We investigated the survival mechanism of the bacterium Pseudomonas sp. CM10 in the presence of a flagellate predator. The bacterium had been isolated from a continuous culture containing bacterivorous nanoflagellates. On agar plates, we found intraclonal dimorphism of Pseudomonas sp. CM10 colonies at high frequencies: The primary mucoid colony type generated a secondary non-mucoid form. Unlike the repeated generation of non-mucoid colonies from mucoid clones, we did not observe the occurrence of mucoid forms in non-mucoid populations. In semicontinuous and batch cultures, we investigated the ability of the two morphs to survive predation by the bacterivorous flagellate Ochromonas sp. under conditions of growth and starvation. In predator-free cultures, populations of both variants were unicellular but differed in some phenotypic characteristics such as cell motility and hydrophobicity. Grazing treatments revealed that the non-mucoid morph was reduced severely whereas the primary mucoid type survived due to the formation of inert suspended microcolonies stabilized by an extracellular matrix. Effectiveness and competitive trade-offs of microcolony formation were revealed by a competition experiment with the bacterium Pseudomonas putida MM1: Pseudomonas sp. CM10 was displaced in predator-free cultures but outgrew the defenseless and monomorphic competitor under flagellate grazing pressure. We conclude that intraclonal polymorphism may regulate the ability of Pseudomonas sp. CM10 to survive in situations of severe protistan grazing. The formation of inert microcolonies, however, is suggested to be detrimental to rapid growth and dispersal.

Chemolithoautotrophic denitrification of epsilonproteobacteria in marine pelagic redox gradients

Pelagic marine oxygen-depleted zones often exhibit a redox gradient, caused by oxygen depletion due to biological demand exceeding ventilation, and the accumulation of reduced chemical species, such as hydrogen sulfide. These redox gradients harbour a distinct assemblage of epsilonproteobacteria capable of fixing carbon dioxide autotrophically in the dark and potentially of utilizing hydrogen sulfide chemolithotrophically by oxidation with nitrate. Together, these two processes are referred to as chemolithoautotrophic denitrification. The focus of this study was the recently isolated and cultivated representative strain of pelagic epsilonproteobacteria, 'Sulfurimonas gotlandica' strain GD1, specifically dark carbon dioxide fixation and its substrate turnovers during chemolithotrophic denitrification. By connecting these processes stoichiometrically and comparing the results with those obtained for dark carbon dioxide fixation and nutrient concentrations measured in pelagic redox gradients of the Baltic Sea, we were able to estimate the role of chemolithoautotrophic denitrification in the environment. Evidence is provided for a defined zone where chemolithoautotrophic denitrification of these epsilonproteobacteria allows the complete removal of nitrate and hydrogen sulfide from the water column. This water layer is roughly equivalent in thickness to the average overlapping region of the two substrates, but slightly larger. Such a difference may be explained by a variety of reasons, including, e.g. utilization of substrates present at concentrations below the detection limit, alternative usage of other substrates as thiosulfate or nitrous oxide, or comparable activities of other microbes. However, the combined results of in vitro and in situ studies strongly suggest that epsilonproteobacteria are primarily responsible for hydrogen sulfide and nitrate removal from pelagic Baltic Sea redox gradients.

Unveiling trophic functions of uncultured protist taxa by incubation experiments in the brackish Baltic Sea

BACKGROUND

Our knowledge of the phylogeny and diversity of aquatic protists is rapidly increasing due to molecular surveys and next-generation sequencing approaches. This has led to a considerable discrepancy between the taxa known from cultures and those known from environmental 18S rRNA gene sequences. Hence, it is generally difficult to assign ecological functions to new taxa detected by culture-independent molecular approaches.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

A combination of unamended dark incubations and 18S rRNA sequencing was chosen to link molecular diversity data of uncultured protists with heterotrophic, presumably bacterivorous, growth. The incubations, conducted with Baltic Sea brackish water, resulted in a consistent shift from a protistan community dominated by phototrophs to one in which heterotrophs predominated. This was determined on the basis of cell abundance and 18S rRNA sequences derived from fingerprint analysis and clone libraries. The bulk of enriched phylotypes after incubation were related to hitherto uncultured marine taxa within chrysophytes, ochrophytes, choanoflagellates, cercozoans, and picobiliphytes, mostly represented in recently established or here defined environmental clades. Their growth in the dark, together with coinciding results from studies with a similar objective, provides evidence that these uncultured taxa represent heterotrophic or mixotrophic species.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE

These findings shed some light into the trophic role of diverse uncultured protists especially within functionally heterogeneous groups (e.g., chrysophytes, ochrophytes) and groups that appear to be puzzling with regard to their nutrition (picobiliphytes). Additionally, our results indicate that the heterotrophic flagellate community in the southwestern Baltic Sea is dominated by species of marine origin. The combination of unamended incubations with molecular diversity analysis is thus confirmed as a promising approach to explore the trophic mode of environmentally relevant protist taxa for which only sequence data are currently available.

Transitions in bacterial communities along the 2000 km salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea

Salinity is a major factor controlling the distribution of biota in aquatic systems, and most aquatic multicellular organisms are either adapted to life in saltwater or freshwater conditions. Consequently, the saltwater-freshwater mixing zones in coastal or estuarine areas are characterized by limited faunal and floral diversity. Although changes in diversity and decline in species richness in brackish waters is well documented in aquatic ecology, it is unknown to what extent this applies to bacterial communities. Here, we report a first detailed bacterial inventory from vertical profiles of 60 sampling stations distributed along the salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea, one of world's largest brackish water environments, generated using 454 pyrosequencing of partial (400 bp) 16S rRNA genes. Within the salinity gradient, bacterial community composition altered at broad and finer-scale phylogenetic levels. Analogous to faunal communities within brackish conditions, we identified a bacterial brackish water community comprising a diverse combination of freshwater and marine groups, along with populations unique to this environment. As water residence times in the Baltic Sea exceed 3 years, the observed bacterial community cannot be the result of mixing of fresh water and saltwater, but our study represents the first detailed description of an autochthonous brackish microbiome. In contrast to the decline in the diversity of multicellular organisms, reduced bacterial diversity at brackish conditions could not be established. It is possible that the rapid adaptation rate of bacteria has enabled a variety of lineages to fill what for higher organisms remains a challenging and relatively unoccupied ecological niche.

Factors affecting preference responses of the freshwater ciliate Uronema nigricans to bacterial prey

To enhance our understanding of the factors affecting feeding selectivity of bacterivorous protists in aquatic systems, we examined the preference responses of the freshwater ciliate Uronema nigricans towards three bacterial prey taxa, Pseudomonas luteola, Serratia rubidaea, and Aeromonas hydrophila. Potential factors influencing the predator-prey contact rate included the previous feeding history of the ciliate and physiological state of bacteria. Preference indexes were obtained from multiple-choice mazes in which ciliates moved preferentially towards alternative bacteria or the prey species on which they had been feeding. Uronema nigricans showed differential attraction towards the offered prey types, and these preferences varied as a function of the ciliate feeding history: U. nigricans growing on P. luteola showed lower preference responses towards the offered bacteria than U. nigricans growing on S. rubidaea. The bacteria in stationary phase elicited a higher degree of attraction than bacteria in exponential phase, probably due to a higher concentration of carbohydrates in the former. Therefore, this protist will preferentially swim towards bacteria in stationary growth phase, although the degree of this response will be affected by the recent feeding history of the ciliate.

Diversity of active chemolithoautotrophic prokaryotes in the sulfidic zone of a Black Sea pelagic redoxcline as determined by rRNA-based stable isotope probing

Marine pelagic redoxclines are characterized by pronounced activities of chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms. As evidenced by the high dark CO(2) fixation rates measured around the oxic-anoxic interface but also in the upper sulfidic zone, the accordant organisms participate in important biogeochemical transformations. Although Epsilonproteobacteria have been identified as an important chemoautotrophic group in these environments, detailed species-level information on the identity of actively involved prokaryotes is lacking. In the present study, active chemolithoautotrophic prokaryotic assemblages were identified in the sulfidic zone of a pelagic Black Sea redoxcline by applying rRNA-based stable isotope probing in combination with 16S rRNA gene single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and 16S rRNA gene cloning. The results showed that a single epsilonproteobacterium, affiliated with the genus Sulfurimonas, and two different members of the gammaproteobacterial sulfur oxidizer (GSO) cluster were responsible for dark CO(2) fixation activities in the upper sulfidic layer of the Black Sea redoxcline. Phylogenetically, these organisms were closely related to microorganisms, distributed worldwide, that are thought to be key players in denitrification and sulfide oxidation. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of chemolithoautotrophic members of the Sulfurimonas and GSO groups in the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles of oxic-anoxic pelagic transition zones.