Vertical variation in Vibrio community composition in Sansha Yongle Blue Hole and its ability to degrade macromolecules

Abstract

With the advantages of wide distribution, fast growth, and broad metabolic spectrum to organic carbon compounds, Vibrio may play an important role in organic carbon cycling. However, the ecological roles of Vibrio in many marine environments have not been explored. Here, the world's deepest 'blue hole', the Sansha Yongle Blue Hole (SYBH) in the South China Sea, which is a geographically semi-enclosed environment featuring unique chemical characters, was investigated. The abundance, diversity and carbon source utilization capability of Vibrio were studied by quantification and high-throughput sequencing of Vibrio specific 16S rRNA genes and cultivation methods. The abundance of Vibrio in water column of the SYBH ranged from 3.78 × 10 4 to 7.35 × 10 6 16S rRNA gene copies L −1. Free-living Vibrio was more abundant than particle-associated Vibrio (~ 1.20 × 10 6 versus~ 2.68 × 10 5 gene copies L −1), indicating that Vibrio prefers a free-living life style. The Vibrio assemblages showed clear vertical stratification and could be divided into three groups: aerobic-transition, middle anaerobic and bottom anaerobic zones. Dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, pH and salinity were the main environmental factors affecting the abundance and community composition. Cultivated Vibrio demonstrated a degrading capability to various macromolecular substrates, including starch, Tween 20/40/80, DNA, gelatin, alginate, casein, chitin, lecithin, κ-carrageenan, mannan, xylan and hyaluronic acid. This suggests that Vibrio could produce a variety of highly active extracellular enzymes. Our study provides new insights into the distribution pattern and possible role in carbon cycle of Vibrio in the unique environment of a 'blue hole'.

Diversity hotspot and unique community structure of foraminifera in the world’s deepest marine blue hole – Sansha Yongle Blue Hole

“…4, 6). A recent survey focused on the distribution of the bacterial genus Vibrio in the SYBH also showed a clear vertical stratification of the diversity into three groups: aerobic-transition, middle anoxic and bottom anoxic zones 43 , similar to what we observed with foraminifera. In our case, the first group including only one sample (3.1 m, SYBH1) which had the highest concentration of TSS was dominated by the monothalamiids.…”

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Vibrio Communities and Abundance in Dongshan Bay, South of China

“…isolates previously reported (Tall et al, 2013;Siboni et al, 2016;Wong et al, 2019). However, compared with Vibrio diversity in other temperate and subtropical coastal environments in South China Sea (Li et al, 2019;Möller et al, 2020), our results showed a differently structured Vibrio community. The diversity of Vibrio was higher in winter than in summer, which is consistent with the previous study in the water column of northern Chinese marginal seas (Liang et al, 2019).…”

“…in the present study were Vibrio fortis, Vibrio alginolyticus, and Vibrio hyugaensis, which suggested that the predominance of a specific Vibrio sp. seems to be site-specific as others have reported different predominant Vibrio species in their studies, such as V. alginolyticus, Vibrio campbellii, Vibrio carchariae, Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio owensii, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio rotiferianus, and Vibrio splendidus (Maeda et al, 2003;Eiler et al, 2006;Ortiz-Carrillo et al, 2015;Li et al, 2019;Wong et al, 2019). The four major clinically important pathogenic Vibrio species, Vibrio cholerae, V. parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus, have been implicated in human diseases such as gastroenteritis and septicemia and even death in immunocompromised patients (Novoslavskij et al, 2016).…”

Assessment and Antibiotic Resistance Profiling in Vibrio Species Isolated from Wild Birds Captured in Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Romania

“…Vibrio species are natural residents of aquatic environments [ 13 , 14 ], characterized by high salinity and temperatures varying from 10 to 30 °C [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Numerous species (V. cholerae , V. harveyi, V. parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, V. anguillarum, V. splendidus , V. mimicus, V. vulnificus, V. hollisae, and V. fluvialis, etc.)…”