Microbial community structure and its driving mechanisms in the Hangbu estuary of Chaohu Lake under different sedimentary areas

Yang Chen; Yaofei Xu; Yunmei Ma; Jie Lin; Aidong Ruan

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.117153

Microbial community structure and its driving mechanisms in the Hangbu estuary of Chaohu Lake under different sedimentary areas

Environ Res. 2023 Dec 1;238(Pt 1):117153. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117153. Epub 2023 Sep 17.

Authors

Yang Chen¹, Yaofei Xu², Yunmei Ma², Jie Lin², Aidong Ruan³

Affiliations

¹ The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
² College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
³ The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China; College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China. Electronic address: adruan@hhu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37726029
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117153

Abstract

Estuaries are known for their high ecological diversity and biological productivity. Sediment microorganisms, as crucial components of estuarine ecosystems, play a pivotal role in reflecting the intricate and dynamic ecological niches. However, our research on microbial community characteristics in estuarine ecosystems under different sedimentary types remains limited. In this study, we collected a total of 27 samples from three sampling sites at Hangbu estuary in Chaohu Lake, and three sedimentary areas were classified based on the overlying water flow conditions and sediment particle properties to elucidate their microbial community structure, environmental drivers, assembly processes, and co-occurrence network characteristics. Our results showed significant differences in microbial community composition and diversity among three sedimentary areas. Redundancy analysis indicated that the differences in microbial community composition at the OTU level among the three sedimentary areas were mainly determined by nitrate-nitrogen, temperature, and water content. Phylogenetic bin-based null model analysis revealed that temperature was a key factor influencing deterministic processes among the three sedimentary areas, while stochastic processes predominantly governed the assembly of microbial communities. In addition, co-occurrence network analysis demonstrated that the network in the hydraulically driven sedimentary area of the lake, consisting mainly of medium and fine silt, had the highest complexity, stability, and cohesion, but was missing potential keystone taxa. The remaining two sedimentary areas had 5 and 8 potential keystone taxa, respectively. Overall, our study proposes the delineation of sedimentary types and comprehensively elucidates the microbial community characteristics under different sedimentary areas, providing a new perspective for studying sediment microbial community structure and helping future scholars systematically study ecological dynamics in estuaries.

Keywords: Co-occurrence network; Environmental driver; Estuarine microorganisms; Estuarine sediment; Microbial community assembly; Sedimentary types.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Estuaries
Geologic Sediments
Lakes* / chemistry
Microbiota*
Phylogeny
Water

Substances

Water