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Zepernick BN, Chase EE, Denison ER, Gilbert NE, Truchon AR, Frenken T, Cody WR, Martin RM, Chaffin JD, Bullerjahn GS, McKay RML, Wilhelm SW. Declines in ice cover are accompanied by light limitation responses and community change in freshwater diatoms. ISME J 2024; 18:wrad015. [PMID: 38366077 PMCID: PMC10939406 DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrad015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
The rediscovery of diatom blooms embedded within and beneath the Lake Erie ice cover (2007-2012) ignited interest in psychrophilic adaptations and winter limnology. Subsequent studies determined the vital role ice plays in winter diatom ecophysiology as diatoms partition to the underside of ice, thereby fixing their location within the photic zone. Yet, climate change has led to widespread ice decline across the Great Lakes, with Lake Erie presenting a nearly "ice-free" state in several recent winters. It has been hypothesized that the resultant turbid, isothermal water column induces light limitation amongst winter diatoms and thus serves as a competitive disadvantage. To investigate this hypothesis, we conducted a physiochemical and metatranscriptomic survey that spanned spatial, temporal, and climatic gradients of the winter Lake Erie water column (2019-2020). Our results suggest that ice-free conditions decreased planktonic diatom bloom magnitude and altered diatom community composition. Diatoms increased their expression of various photosynthetic genes and iron transporters, which suggests that the diatoms are attempting to increase their quantity of photosystems and light-harvesting components (a well-defined indicator of light limitation). We identified two gene families which serve to increase diatom fitness in the turbid ice-free water column: proton-pumping rhodopsins (a potential second means of light-driven energy acquisition) and fasciclins (a means to "raft" together to increase buoyancy and co-locate to the surface to optimize light acquisition). With large-scale climatic changes already underway, our observations provide insight into how diatoms respond to the dynamic ice conditions of today and shed light on how they will fare in a climatically altered tomorrow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany N Zepernick
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
| | - Emily E Chase
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
| | - Elizabeth R Denison
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
| | - Naomi E Gilbert
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, United States
| | - Alexander R Truchon
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
| | - Thijs Frenken
- HAS University of Applied Sciences, 5223 DE ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9C 1A2, Canada
| | - William R Cody
- Aquatic Taxonomy Specialists, Malinta, OH 43535, United States
| | - Robbie M Martin
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
| | - Justin D Chaffin
- Stone Laboratory and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University, Put-In-Bay, OH 43456, United States
| | - George S Bullerjahn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, United States
| | - R Michael L McKay
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9C 1A2, Canada
| | - Steven W Wilhelm
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
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McKay RM, Frenken T, Diep N, Cody WR, Crevecoeur S, Dove A, Drouillard KG, Ortiz X, Wintermute J, Zastepa A. Bloom announcement: An early autumn cyanobacterial bloom co-dominated by Aphanizomenon flos- aquae and Planktothrix agardhii in an agriculturally-influenced Great Lakes tributary (Thames River, Ontario, Canada). Data Brief 2020; 30:105585. [PMID: 32373689 PMCID: PMC7195512 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- R. Michael McKay
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
- Great Lakes Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, United States
| | - Thijs Frenken
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - Ngan Diep
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Sophie Crevecoeur
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, ON, Canada
| | - Alice Dove
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, ON, Canada
| | - Kenneth G. Drouillard
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - Xavier Ortiz
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Arthur Zastepa
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Burlington, ON, Canada
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