Similar geographic patterns but distinct assembly processes of abundant and rare bacterioplankton communities in river networks of the Taihu Basin

Tao Zhang; Sai Xu; Ruomeng Yan; Ruyue Wang; Yuexiang Gao; Ming Kong; Qitao Yi; Yimin Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2022.118057

Similar geographic patterns but distinct assembly processes of abundant and rare bacterioplankton communities in river networks of the Taihu Basin

Water Res. 2022 Mar 1:211:118057. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118057. Epub 2022 Jan 12.

Authors

Tao Zhang¹, Sai Xu², Ruomeng Yan¹, Ruyue Wang³, Yuexiang Gao¹, Ming Kong¹, Qitao Yi⁴, Yimin Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China.
² Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China. Electronic address: xusai@njust.edu.cn.
³ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
⁴ School of Civil Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China.
⁵ Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China. Electronic address: zym@nies.org.

PMID: 35066261
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118057

Abstract

Bacterioplankton play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling in rivers. The dynamics of hydrologic conditions in rivers were believed to affect geographic pattern and assembly process of these microorganisms, which have not been widely investigated. In this study, the geographic pattern and assembly process of bacterioplankton community in river networks of the Taihu Basin were systematically explored using amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the diversity, structure, and taxonomic composition of bacterioplankton community all exhibited significant temporal variation during wet, normal, and dry seasons (p<0.01). The neutral community model and null model were applied to reveal the assembly process of bacterioplankton community. The stochastic process and deterministic process both shaped the bacterioplankton community with greater influence of deterministic process. In addition, the abundant and rare bacterioplankton communities were comparatively analyzed. The abundant and rare bacterioplankton communities exhibited similar temporal dynamics (principal coordinates analysis) and spatial variations (distance-decay relationship), indicating similar geographic patterns. Meanwhile, distinct assembly processes were observed for the abundant and rare bacterioplankton communities. Stochastic process (dispersal limitation) shaped the abundant bacterioplankton community while deterministic process (heterogeneous selection) dominated the assembly process of rare bacterioplankton community. Mantel test, redundancy analysis, and correlation analysis together indicated that pH and dissolved oxygen were the major environmental attributes that affected thestructure and assembly process of bacterioplankton community. These results expanded our understanding of the geographic pattern, assembly process, and driving factors of bacterioplankton community in river networks and provided clues for the underlying mechanisms.

Keywords: Bacterioplankton; Community assembly; Geographic pattern; River networks.

MeSH terms

Aquatic Organisms
China
Ecosystem*
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
Rivers*
Seasons

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S