Succession of bacterial community structure along the Changjiang River determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and clone library analysis

Bacterial community structure along the Changjiang River (which is more than 2,500 km long) was studied by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone library analysis of PCR-amplified 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) with universal bacterial primer sets. DGGE profiles and principal-component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that the bacterial community gradually changed from upstream to downstream in both 1998 and 1999. Bacterial diversity, as determined by the Shannon index (H'), gradually decreased from upstream to downstream. The PCA plots revealed that the differences in the bacterial communities among riverine stations were not appreciable compared with the differences in two adjacent lakes, Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. The relative stability of the bacterial communities at the riverine stations was probably due to the buffering action of the large amount of water flowing down the river. Clone library analysis of 16S rDNA revealed that the dominant bacterial groups changed from beta-proteobacteria and the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides group upstream to high-G+C-content gram-positive bacteria downstream and also that the bacterial community structure differed among the stations in the river and the lakes. The results obtained in this study should provide a reference for future changes caused by construction of the Three Gorges Dam.     

Microbial diversity in lake sediments detected by PCR-DGGE

In this study,PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was applied to analyze the microbial communities in lake sediments from Lake Xuanwu,Lake Mochou in Nanjing and Lake Taihu in Wuxi.Sediment samples from seven locations in three lakes were collected and their genomic DNAs were extracted.The DNA yields of the sediments of Lake Xuanwu and Lake Mochou were high (10 μg/g),while that of sediments in Lake Taihu was relatively low.After DNA purification,the 16S rDNA genes (V3 to V5 region) were amplified and the amplified DNA fragments were separated by parallel DGGE.The DGGE profiles showed that there were five common bands in all the lake sediment samples indicating that there were similarities among the populations of microorganisms in all the lake sediments.The DGGE profiles of Lake Xuanwu and Lake Mochou were similar and about 20 types of micro-organisms were identified in the sediment samples of both lakes.These results suggest that the sediment samples of these two city lakes (Xuanwu,Mochou) have similar microbial communities.However,the DGGE profiles of sediment samples in Lake Taihu were significantly differ-ent from these two lakes.Furthermore,the DGGE pro-files of sediment samples in different locations in Lake Taihu were also different,suggesting that the microbial communities in Lake Taihu are more diversified than those in Lake Xuanwu and Lake Mochou.The differences in microbial diversity may be caused by the different environmental conditions,such as redox potential,pH,and the concentrations of organic matters.Seven major bands of 16S rDNA genes fragments from the DGGE profiles of sediment samples were further re-amplified and sequenced.The results of sequencing analysis indicate that five sequences shared 99%-100% homology with known sequences (Bacillus and Brevibacillus,uncultured bacteria),while the other two sequences shared 93%-96% homology with known sequences (Acinetobacter,and Bacillus).The study shows that the PCR-DGGE tech-nique combined with sequence analysis is a feasible and efficient method for the determination of microbial com-munities in sediment samples.     

Succession of Bacterial Community Structure along the Changjiang River Determined by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis and Clone Library Analysis

Bacterial community structure along the Changjiang River (which is more than 2,500 km long) was studied by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone library analysis of PCR-amplified 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) with universal bacterial primer sets. DGGE profiles and principal-component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that the bacterial community gradually changed from upstream to downstream in both 1998 and 1999. Bacterial diversity, as determined by the Shannon index (H′), gradually decreased from upstream to downstream. The PCA plots revealed that the differences in the bacterial communities among riverine stations were not appreciable compared with the differences in two adjacent lakes, Lake Dongting and Lake Poyang. The relative stability of the bacterial communities at the riverine stations was probably due to the buffering action of the large amount of water flowing down the river. Clone library analysis of 16S rDNA revealed that the dominant bacterial groups changed from β-proteobacteria and the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides group upstream to high-G+C-content gram-positive bacteria downstream and also that the bacterial community structure differed among the stations in the river and the lakes. The results obtained in this study should provide a reference for future changes caused by construction of the Three Gorges Dam.     

Microbial diversity in lake sediments detected by PCR-DGGE

In this study, PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was applied to analyze the microbial communities in lake sediments from Lake Xuanwu, Lake Mochou in Nanjing and Lake Taihu in Wuxi. Sediment samples from seven locations in three lakes were collected and their genomic DNAs were extracted. The DNA yields of the sediments of Lake Xuanwu and Lake Mochou were high (10 μg/g), while that of sediments in Lake Taihu was relatively low. After DNA purification, the 16S rDNA genes (V3 to V5 region) were amplified and the amplified DNA fragments were separated by parallel DGGE. The DGGE profiles showed that there were five common bands in all the lake sediment samples indicating that there were similarities among the populations of microorganisms in all the lake sediments. The DGGE profiles of Lake Xuanwu and Lake Mochou were similar and about 20 types of microorganisms were identified in the sediment samples of both lakes. These results suggest that the sediment samples of these two city lakes (Xuanwu, Mochou) have similar microbial communities. However, the DGGE profiles of sediment samples in Lake Taihu were significantly different from these two lakes. Furthermore, the DGGE profiles of sediment samples in different locations in Lake Taihu were also different, suggesting that the microbial communities in Lake Taihu are more diversified than those in Lake Xuanwu and Lake Mochou. The differences in microbial diversity may be caused by the different environmental conditions, such as redox potential, pH, and the concentrations of organic matters. Seven major bands of 16S rDNA genes fragments from the DGGE profiles of sediment samples were further re-amplified and sequenced. The results of sequencing analysis indicate that five sequences shared 99%–100% homology with known sequences (Bacillus and Brevibacillus, uncultured bacteria), while the other two sequences shared 93%–96% homology with known sequences (Acinetobacter, and Bacillus). The study shows that the PCR-DGGE technique combined with sequence analysis is a feasible and efficient method for the determination of microbial communities in sediment samples. __________ Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2006, 26(11): 3610–3616 [译自: 生态学报]     

A Comparison of the Benthic Bacterial Communities Within and Surrounding <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dreissena</Emphasis> Clusters in Lakes

The impact of Dreissena (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis) on the benthic bacterial community in lakes is largely unknown. Therefore, we quantified differences in the structure and activity of bacterial communities living in sediments (1) associated with Dreissena clusters, and (2) unassociated with established clusters (lake bottom sediments). Dreissena clusters and sediments were collected from locations in Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and several inland lakes. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of the benthic bacterial community showed that the bacterial populations selected for by Dreissena represent a subset of the bottom communities and are geographically distinct. Community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) showed that overall bacterial activity and metabolic diversity were enhanced by the presence of clusters in all samples, with the exception of those harvested from the two Lake Erie sites. Therefore, Dreissena appears to affect both structure and metabolic function of the benthic bacterial community and may have yet unexplored ecosystem and food web consequences.     

Genetic diversity of picoeukaryotes in eight lakes differing in trophic status

The genetic diversity of picoeukaryotes (0.2-5.0 μm) was investigated in 8 lakes differing in trophic status in Nanjing, China. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and cloning and sequencing of 18S rRNA genes were applied to analyze the picoeukaryotic communities. DGGE analysis showed that among the 8 lakes, the diversity of picoeukaryotes was greatest in the mesotrophic Lake Nan (24 bands) and least in the oligotrophic Lake Qian (12 bands). Cluster analysis of DGGE profiles revealed that the 8 lakes were grouped into 2 distinct clusters. Cluster 1 contained lakes Mochou, Zixia, Huashen, Nan, Pipa, and Qian, while cluster 2 contained lakes Xuanwu and Baijia. Clone libraries were constructed from the mesotrophic Lake Xuanwu and the oligotrophic Lake Zixia, and the 2 libraries were compared using the program LIBSHUFF. This analysis indicated that the picoeukaryotic community composition differed significantly between the 2 lakes (p = 0.001). A total of 25 operational taxonomic units were detected; 18 (62 clones) were related to known eukaryotic groups, while 7 (30 clones) were not affiliated with any known eukaryotic group. Alveolates and stramenopiles were the dominant groups in Lake Xuanwu, while alveolates and chlorophyta predominated in Lake Zixia. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated that the differences in the picoeukaryotic community composition of the 8 lakes might be related to trophic status and top-down regulation by metazooplankton.     

Community Structure of Bacteria Associated with Sheaths of Freshwater and Brackish Thioploca Species

Bacterial communities associated with sheaths of Thioploca spp. from two freshwater lakes (Lake Biwa, Japan, and Lake Constance, Germany) and one brackish lake (Lake Ogawara, Japan) were analyzed with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA gene fragments. The comparison between the DGGE band patterns of bulk sediment and Thioploca filaments of Lake Biwa suggested the presence of specific bacterial communities associated with Thioploca sheaths. As members of sheath-associated communities, bacteria belonging to Bacteroidetes were detected from the samples of both freshwater lakes. A DGGE band from Thioploca of Lake Biwa, belonging to candidate division OP8, was quite closely related to another DGGE band detected from that of Lake Constance. In contrast to the case of freshwater lakes, no bacterium of Bacteroidetes or OP8 was detected from Thioploca of Lake Ogawara. However, two DGGE bands from Lake Ogawara, belonging to Chloroflexi, were quite closely related to a DGGE band from Lake Constance. Two DGGE bands obtained from Lake Biwa were closely related to phylogenetically distant dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing bacteria. Cloning analyses for a dissimilatory sulfite reductase gene were performed on the same samples used for DGGE analysis. The results of the analyses suggest that sheaths of freshwater/brackish Thioploca have little ecological significance for the majority of sulfate reducers.     

Temporal and spatial variations of aquatic environmental characteristics and sediment bacterial community in five regions of Lake Taihu

Sediment bacterial community and their relation with environmental factors were investigated in the five different trophic status lake regions sediment, Meiliang Bay, Wuli Lake, Gonghu Bay, Western Lake Taihu and Xukou Bay in a large, shallow, eutrophic freshwater lake (Lake Taihu, China). Water and surface sediment samples were collected at 35 sampling sites in January 2014 (winter) and July 2015 (summer). The physicochemical characterization showed that there were obvious changes in the trophic status and eutrophic index of five lake regions, which was mainly due to the difference of organic matter source. Based on the analysis of aquatic environmental characteristics, the organic nitrogen or nitrate nitrogen was the main storing form in the overlying water of five lake regions. In addition, nitrate nitrogen in pore water was lower than in overlying water, while ammonia nitrogen in pore water was higher than in overlying water. According to the DGGE profiles, temporal and spatial variations of bacterial community were apparent. Bacterial diversity was higher in summer than in winter and increased with the decrease in the lake region trophic status. The dendrogram of the bacterial community similarities revealed that samples were almost all grouped into two defined clusters (summer and winter), which indicated that season rather than region was the dominant factor. Canonical correspondence analysis demonstrated that ammonia nitrogen and nitrate–nitrite nitrogen in the sediment and pore water, organic matter and temperature significantly influenced the sediment bacterial community in the five lake regions.     

Bacterial and archaeal assemblages in sediments of a large shallow freshwater lake, Lake Taihu, as revealed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

Aims:  To explore the association of microbial community structure with the development of eutrophication in a large shallow freshwater lake, Lake Taihu.
Methods and Results:  The bacterial and archaeal assemblages in sediments of different lake areas were analysed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of amplified 16S rDNA fragments. The bacterial DGGE profiles showed that eutrophied sites, grass-bottom areas and relatively clean sites with a eutrophic (albeit dredged) site are three respective clusters. Fifty-one dominant bacterial DGGE bands were detected and 92 corresponding clones were sequenced, most of which were affiliated with bacterial phylotypes commonly found in freshwater ecosystems. Actinobacteria were detected in the centre of the lake and not at eutrophied sites whereas the opposite was found with respect to Verrucomicrobiales . Twenty-five dominant archaeal DGGE bands were detected and 31 corresponding clones were sequenced, most of which were affiliated with freshwater archaeal phylotypes.
Conclusions:  The bacterial community structures in the sediments of different areas with similar water quality and situation tend to be similar in Taihu Lake.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study may expand our knowledge on the relationship between the overall microbial assemblages and the development of eutrophication in the shallow freshwater lake.     

Bottom-up versus top-down control of hypo- and epilimnion free-living bacterial community structures in two neighboring freshwater lakes

Bacterioplankton plays a central role in the microbial functioning of lacustrine ecosystems; however, factors that constrain its structural variation are still poorly understood. Here we evaluated the driving forces exerted by a large set of environmental and biological parameters on the temporal and spatial dynamics of free-living bacterial community structures (BCS) in two neighboring perialpine lakes, Lake Bourget and Lake Annecy, which differ in trophic status. We analyzed monthly data from a 1-year sampling period at two depths situated in the epi- and hypolimnia for each lake. Overall, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed significant differences in the BCS in the two lakes, characterized by a higher number of bands in the oligotrophic ecosystem (i.e., Lake Annecy). The temporal dynamics of BCS differed greatly between depths and lakes, with temporal scale patterns being much longer in the mesotrophic Lake Bourget. Direct-gradient multivariate ordination analyses showed that a complex array of biogeochemical parameters was the driving force behind BCS shifts in both lakes. Our results indicated that 60 to 80% of the variance was explained only by the bottom-up factors in both lakes, indicating the importance of nutrients and organic matter from autotrophic origin in controlling the BCS. Top-down regulation by flagellates together with ciliates or viruses was found only in the hypolimnion and not in the epilimnion for both lakes and explained less than 18% of the bacterial community changes during the year. Our study suggests that the temporal dynamics of the free-living bacterial community structure in deep perialpine lakes are dependent mainly on bottom-up factors and to a lesser extent on top-down factors, whatever the specific environmental conditions of these lakes.     

应用DGGE法对青海相邻两盐湖中细菌多样性的快速检测

分别对青海相邻两盐湖柯柯盐湖、茶卡盐湖土样、泥样进行富集培养后,从中提取的DNA用两套不同的细菌通用引物进行扩增,分别得到包含V8和V9高变区的16SrDNA片断。经变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)分析,结果显示这两个盐湖富集样品中细菌多样性具有较大的差异,而且同一盐湖不同性质样品中的细菌多样性差异也较大,两湖的泥样富集样品中均表现出了稍丰富的多样性。     

Compositional differences among planktonic ciliate communities in four subtropical eutrophic lakes in China

Ciliate community composition was investigated in four subtropical eutrophic lakes with cyanobacterial blooms in three seasons during 2009–2010 using the quantitative protargol staining approach. Among the four lakes, Lake Taihu and Chaohu are situated in the mid-lower Yangtze Plain near sea level, and Lake Dianchi and Xingyunhu are located on the Yunnan–Kweichow Plateau. A total of 102 ciliate species, representing 15 orders and 66 genera, were studied. Ciliate communities in Lake Taihu and Chaohu were characterized by abundant algivorous and mixotrophic oligotrichs and prostomatids, while Lake Dianchi and Xingyunhu ciliate communities were primarily characterized by voracious bacterivorous scuticociliates and peritrichids. Cluster analysis based on the transformed square root of ciliate abundance showed that samples from Lake Taihu and Chaohu composed one group whereas samples from Lake Dianchi and Xingyunhu composed another group in each season. Our results indicated that all dominant ciliate species are ubiquitous and that species dominance is regulated by different factors in different subtropical eutrophic lakes.     

Relationship between bacterial community composition and bottom-up versus top-down variables in four eutrophic shallow lakes

Bacterial community composition was monitored in four shallow eutrophic lakes during one year using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified prokaryotic rDNA genes. Of the four lakes investigated, two were of the clearwater type and had dense stands of submerged macrophytes while two others were of the turbid type characterized by the occurrence of phytoplankton blooms. One turbid and one clearwater lake had high nutrient levels (total phosphorus, >100 micro g liter(-1)) while the other lakes had relatively low nutrient levels (total phosphorus, <100 micro g liter(-1)). For each lake, seasonal changes in the bacterial community were related to bottom-up (resources) and top-down (grazers) variables by using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Using an artificial model dataset to which potential sources of error associated with the use of relative band intensities in DGGE analysis were added, we found that preferential amplification of certain rDNA genes over others does not obscure the relationship between bacterial community composition and explanatory variables. Besides, using this artificial dataset as well as our own data, we found a better correlation between bacterial community composition and explanatory variables by using relative band intensities compared to using presence/absence data. While bacterial community composition was related to phytoplankton biomass in the high-nutrient lakes no such relation was found in the low-nutrient lakes, where the bacterial community is probably dependent on other organic matter sources. We used variation partitioning to evaluate top-down regulation of bacterial community composition after bottom-up regulation has been accounted for. Using this approach, we found no evidence for top-down regulation of bacterial community composition in the turbid lakes, while grazing by ciliates and daphnids (Daphnia and Ceriodaphnia) was significantly related to changes in the bacterial community in the clearwater lakes. Our results suggest that in eutrophic shallow lakes, seasonality of bacterial community structure is dependent on the dominant substrate source as well as on the food web structure.     

Molecular Detection of Novel Anammox Bacterial Clusters in the Sediments of the Shallow Freshwater Lake Taihu

Previous studies have demonstrated the wide occurrence of anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria; however, there is very limited information on the distribution of these bacteria in freshwater habitats. In this study, the anammox bacterial communities were detected by molecular analysis targeting the 16S rRNA genes in the sediments of Lake Taihu, a large and shallow eutrophic freshwater lake in China. The recovery of specific 16S rRNA sequences with two stable monophyletic clusters indicated that anammox bacteria were present in Lake Taihu. A phylogenetic analysis indicated that these two groups represent two novel lineages within the first subgroup of anammox bacteria, independent of the treeing methods. High intra-lake variability in anammox bacterial diversity and community composition was observed, in particular, based on a 1% cut-off of 16S rRNA sequence variation. The spatial variability was largely related to the substrate availability, which was denoted by the correlations between the relative abundance of the two Taihu anammox bacterial groups and the concentrations of ammonium and nitrite. This indicates that the niche differentiation of anammox bacteria is linked to the environmental heterogeneity. These findings suggest that the freshwater lakes may accommodate different anammox bacterial communities and, thus, expand our knowledge on the diversity and distribution of anammox bacteria. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the free supplemental files.     

Effect of humic material on the bacterioplankton community composition in boreal lakes and mesocosms

The bacterioplankton community composition in two Finnish forest lakes with different content of humic substances was studied by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing of the major bands. The same dominant bacterial phylotypes were detected in the bacterioplankton communities of clear-water Lake Ahvenlammi and humic Lake Sammalisto. For 4 years, in every water layer, Actinobacteria was the dominant and Verrucomicrobia the second most common phylum. In the hypolimnion, other dominant phyla were also found. We set up a mesocosm experiment to assess the effect of a sudden load of allochthonous humus extract to the bacterioplankton community composition. Changes in the bacterial communities were followed in four control and four humus extract-added mesocosms for 50 days. In the humic mesocosms the phylotypes of allochthonous Proteobacteria arriving with the humus extract were initially prevalent but disappeared during the first weeks. After this the Actinobacteria-dominated communities resembled the bacterioplankton communities of the control mesocosms and Lake Ahvenlammi. Towards the end of the experiment the community patterns in all the mesocosms started to change slightly because of erratic occurrence of new proteobacterial phylotypes. Thus the effects of a sudden load of allochthonous humic material and bacteria to the bacterioplankton community composition were transient.     

Bacterial Community Succession in Natural River Biofilm Assemblages

Temporal bacterial community changes in river biofilms were studied using 16S rRNA gene-based polymerase chain reaction–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) followed by sequence analysis. Naturally occurring biofilms were sampled in 2001 during an undisturbed 7-month low-water period in the River Garonne (SW France). During the sampling period epilithic biomass exhibited a particular pattern: two 3-month periods of accumulation that resulted in two peaks in summer and fall, each at about 25 g ash-free dry mass per square meter. Bacterial community DGGE profiles differed between the summer and fall biomass peaks and shared only 30% common operational taxonomic units (OTUs), suggesting the influence of seasonal factors on these communities. During the second biomass accrual phase, bacterial richness and the appearance of new OTUs fitted a conceptual model of bacterial biofilm succession. During succession, five OTUs (corresponding to Dechloromonas sp., Nitrospira sp., and three different Spirosoma spp.) exhibited particular patterns and were present only during clearly defined successional stages, suggesting differences in life-history strategies for epilithic bacteria. Co-inertia analysis of DGGE banding patterns and physical–chemical data showed a significant relationship between community structure and environmental conditions suggesting that bacterial communities were mainly influenced by seasonal changes (temperature, light) and hydrodynamic stability. Within the periods of stability, analysis of environmental variables and community patterns showed the dominant influence of time and maturation on bacterial community structure. Thus, succession in these naturally occurring epilithic biofilm assemblages appears to occur through a combination of allogenic (seasonal) and autogenic changes.     

Similar Bacterial Community Composition in Acidic Mining Lakes with Different pH and Lake Chemistry

As extreme environmental conditions strongly affect bacterial community composition (BCC), we examined whether differences in pH—even at low pH—and in iron and sulfate concentrations lead to changes in BCC of acidic mining lakes. Thereby, we tested the following hypotheses: (1) diversity of the bacterial community in acidic lakes decreases with reducing pH, (2) BCC differs between epilimnion and hypolimnion, and (3) BCC in extremely acidic environments does not vary much over time. Therefore, we investigated the BCC of three acidic lakes with different pH values (2.3, 2.7, and 3.2) by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and subsequent sequencing of DGGE bands as well as catalyzed reporter deposition-FISH (CARD-FISH). BCC did not significantly vary among the studied lakes nor differ much between water layers. In contrast, BCC significantly changed over time, which is contradictory to our hypotheses. Bacterial communities were dominated by Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria, whereas Actino- and Acidobacteria rarely occurred. Cell numbers of both free and attached bacteria were positively related to DOC concentration. Overall, low pH and extreme chemical conditions of the studied lakes led to similar assemblages of bacteria with pronounced temporal differences. This notion indicates that temporal changes in environmental conditions including food web structure also affect unique communities of bacteria thriving at low pH.     

Functional Diversity of Bacterioplankton in Three North Florida Freshwater Lakes over an Annual Cycle

The phylogenetic diversity of freshwater bacterioplankton is widely known; however, there is minimal information on the functional diversity of the bacterial communities in these systems. Understanding the functional diversity of freshwater bacterial communities is important because heterotrophic bacteria can be impacted by anthropogenic perturbation, which in turn can alter biogeochemical cycling. The objective of this study was to use Biolog EcoPlates to acquire spatial and temporal community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs) for three freshwater lakes of different trophic levels and to assess the phylogenetic affiliation of the bacteria responsible for utilizing the various carbon guilds within them by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). CLPP results showed that bacterial communities utilized the carbon guilds similarly between sites within the three lakes. However, when the metabolic profile of each lake was compared, Lake Bradford and Moore Lake were more similar to one another than to Lake Munson, the eutrophic lake. Additionally, although the bacteria that utilized the five carbon guilds included representatives from the classes α-, β-, γ-Proteobacteria, Flavobacteria and Sphingobacteria, Lake Munson had the largest number of Flavobacteria and γ-Proteobacteria in comparison to Moore Lake and Lake Bradford. Overall, Biolog analysis was useful in identifying differences in the functional diversity of bacterial communities between lakes of different trophic statuses and can be used as a tool to assess ecosystem health.     

Diversity analysis of bacterial community compositions in sediments of urban lakes by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP)

Bacteria are crucial components in lake sediments and play important role in various environmental processes. Urban lakes in the densely populated cities are often small, shallow, highly artificial and hypereutrophic compared to rural and natural lakes and have been overlooked for a long time. In the present study, bacterial community compositions in surface sediments of three urban lakes (Lake Mochou, Lake Qianhu and Lake Zixia) in Nanjing City, China, were investigated using the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene and clone libraries. Remarkable differences in the T-RFLP patterns were observed in different lakes or different sampling stations of the same lake. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that total nitrogen (TN) had significant effects on bacterial community structure in the lake sediments. Chloroflexi were the most dominant bacterial group in the clone library from Lake Mochou (21.7?% of the total clones) which was partly associated with its higher TN and organic matters concentrations. However, Bacteroidetes appeared to be dominated colonizers in the sediments of Lake Zixia (20.4?% of the total clones). Our study gives a comprehensive insight into the structure of bacterial community of urban lake sediments, indicating that the environmental factors played a key role in influencing the bacterial community composition in the freshwater ecosystems.     

Macrophyte species drive the variation of bacterioplankton community composition in a shallow freshwater lake

Macrophytes play an important role in structuring aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we explored whether macrophyte species are involved in determining the bacterioplankton community composition (BCC) in shallow freshwater lakes. The BCC in field areas dominated by different macrophyte species in Taihu Lake, a large, shallow freshwater lake, was investigated over a 1-year period. Subsequently, microcosm experiments were conducted to determine if single species of different types of macrophytes in an isolated environment would alter the BCC. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), followed by cloning and sequence analysis of selected samples, was employed to analyze the BCC. The DGGE results of the field investigations indicated that the BCC changed significantly from season to season and that the presence of different macrophyte species resulted in lower BCC similarities in the summer and fall. LIBSHUFF analysis of selected clone libraries from the summer demonstrated different BCCs in the water column surrounding different macrophytes. Relative to the field observations, the microcosm studies indicated that the BCC differed more pronouncedly when associated with different species of macrophytes, which was also supported by LIBSHUFF analysis of the selected clone libraries. Overall, this study suggested that macrophyte species might be an important factor in determining the composition of bacterial communities in this shallow freshwater lake and that the species-specific influence of macrophytes on BCC is variable with the season and distance.