Temperature-Related Short-Term Succession Events of Bacterial Phylotypes in Potter Cove, Antarctica

Genes (Basel). 2023 May 8;14(5):1051. doi: 10.3390/genes14051051.

Abstract

In recent years, our understanding of the roles of bacterial communities in the Antarctic Ocean has substantially improved. It became evident that Antarctic marine bacteria are metabolically versatile, and even closely related strains may differ in their functionality and, therefore, affect the ecosystem differently. Nevertheless, most studies have been focused on entire bacterial communities, with little attention given to individual taxonomic groups. Antarctic waters are strongly influenced by climate change; thus, it is crucial to understand how changes in environmental conditions, such as changes in water temperature and salinity fluctuations, affect bacterial species in this important area. In this study, we show that an increase in water temperature of 1 °C was enough to alter bacterial communities on a short-term temporal scale. We further show the high intraspecific diversity of Antarctic bacteria and, subsequently, rapid intra-species succession events most likely driven by various temperature-adapted phylotypes. Our results reveal pronounced changes in microbial communities in the Antarctic Ocean driven by a single strong temperature anomaly. This suggests that long-term warming may have profound effects on bacterial community composition and presumably functionality in light of continuous and future climate change.

Keywords: bacterial community composition; bacterioplankton; biogeography; climate change; intraspecific variation; temperature.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antarctic Regions
  • Bacteria* / genetics
  • Ecosystem*
  • Temperature
  • Water

Substances

  • Water

Grants and funding

The study was performed in the frame of the Priority Programme of the German Science Foundation (DFG) entitled “Antarktisforschung mit vergleichenden Untersuchungen in arktischen Eisgebieten” (SPP 1158) in the subproject “Polar parasites” (GR1540/33-1) given to Hans-Peter Grossart. The publication of this article was funded by the Open Access Fund of the Leibniz Association.