Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Free-Living and Particle-Associated Vibrio Communities in the Northern Chinese Marginal Seas

Abstract

Vibrio species are associated with human health and play important roles in the carbon cycle. The interest in the Vibrio ecology in marine pelagic environments has increased in recent years, and the correlations between the Vibrio community structure and various environmental factors have been demonstrated. However, the identification of planktonic Vibrio species and their relationship with particulate matter are unclear. Here, we elucidated the spatiotemporal dynamics of Vibrio diversity and in relation to environmental factors in the northern Chinese marginal seas, which feature complex and ever-changing environmental conditions. Vibrio abundance derived from quantitative PCR analysis was higher in summer (∼1.4 × 106 copies liter−1) than in winter (∼1.9 × 105 copies liter−1). Interestingly, the average amount of free-living (on a 0.22-μm-pore-size filter membrane) Vibrio was higher (∼3.89 times) than that of particle-associated Vibrio (on a 3-μm-pore-size filter membrane), making it likely that the preferential lifestyle of the planktonic Vibrio community was free living. Shifts in Vibrio community composition identified by high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the Vibrio-specific 16S rRNA gene were observed at both spatial and temporal scales, which were mainly driven by temperature, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, salinity, nitrite, and phosphate. The most prominent operational taxonomic units in summer were closely related to Vibrio campbellii and Vibrio caribbeanicus and shifted to those affiliated with Vibrio atlanticus in winter. Our study demonstrated abundant and diverse Vibrio populations in the northern Chinese marginal seas, contributing to a better understanding of their potential ecological roles in these ecosystems. IMPORTANCE The dynamics of Vibrio communities have been shown in many marine habitats that are close to land, including estuary or harbor areas. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of Vibrio populations in the northern Chinese marginal seas, spanning a wide spatial scale. We showed that the abundances of the Vibrio population in the present study were higher than those in most previously studied areas and that Vibrio species are more likely to adopt a free-living lifestyle. Moreover, our results expanded upon previous results by showing a clear shift in the dominant Vibrio species from summer to winter, which was mainly attributable to the reduction in the abundance of dominant species in summer. Overall, this work contributes to the understanding of the ecology of the Vibrio communities in the marginal seas.

Vibrio and Bacterial Communities Across a Pollution Gradient in the Bay of Bengal: Unraveling Their Biogeochemical Drivers

“…The relation of non-culturable forms of Vibrio with the organic matter was closer during the post-monsoon as indicated by the CCA. Vibrio species tend to form biofilms in the SPM and display several enzymes for organic matter remineralization (Neogi et al, 2018;Liang et al, 2019). The particulates offer also protection from predation and unfavorable environmental conditions and sometimes are described as islands sheltering pathogenic organisms in the form of biofilms.…”

“…Vibrio species tend to form biofilms in seston and present a wide variety of enzymes to degrade and assimilate organic matter playing unique roles in biogeochemical cycles (Lara et al, 2011;Neogi et al, 2018;Liang et al, 2019). Moreover, Vibrio populations interact with other microorganisms during the process of nutrient remineralization, which is performed by a variety of microbial taxa with different metabolic and physiological capabilities.…”

Acrylic acid and related dimethylated sulfur compounds in the Bohai and Yellow seas during summer and winter

“…All those factors led to high production and degradation rates in summer. In addition, Liang et al (2019) also found that the dominant bacteria groups exhibited different distributions in abundance with different seasons and sea areas. Specifically, the abundance of V. campbellii was higher in the YS than in the BS in summer (p < 0.05), whereas the abundance of V. caribbeanicus drastically decreased from the BS to the YS (p < 0.05).…”

“…In addition, the seasonal differences in bacteria abundance and light intensity also made great contributions to different rates of microbial degradation and photochemical degradation, respectively. According to Liang et al (2019), the abundances of Vibrio (belonging to the class γ -proteobacteria) averaged 1.4 × 10 6 copies L −1 in summer, which was significantly higher than in winter (mean value of 1.9 × 10 5 copies L −1 ) (Mann-Whitney test, p < 0.01). Significant seasonal differences in total bacterial abundance were also observed (Mann-Whitney test, p < 0.001).…”

“…In addition, the nutrient concentrations (including PO 3− 4 , NO − 3 , NO − 2 , NH + 4 , and SiO 2− 3 ) were analyzed using an automatic nutrient analyzer (Auto Analyzer 3, SEAL Analytical, USA). The phytoplankton data recorded by Utermöhl method and bacteria data measured by qPCR were collected from Zhang (2018) and Liang et al (2019), respectively. The analytical samples for DMS, DMSPd, DMSPt, AAd, Chl a, and the nutrients were run in duplicate.…”