南海北部海域春季浮游细菌和病毒空间分布及其影响因素

应用流式细胞检测技术测定了2014年春季南海北部海域浮游细菌和病毒丰度,研究了其水平和垂直分布特征并对其与环境因子的相关性进行了分析。结果表明,调查海区浮游细菌和病毒丰度分别介于1.28×10~4—9.96×10~5个/m L和4.69×10~5—5.39×10~7个/m L之间,二者丰度随水深的增加基本呈现逐渐下降的趋势,而水平分布趋势不明显。浮游细菌和病毒丰度与温度、p H和溶解氧显著正相关,与水深、盐度、活性磷酸盐、硅酸盐、硝酸盐和总氮则呈显著负相关关系(P0.01),说明该海域细菌和病毒数量受到上述环境因子的共同调控。分析浮游细菌和病毒的相互关系发现,VBR(Virus to bacteria ratio)平均32.23,最小值位于S11站位25m层,最大值则位于S7站位75m层,分别为4.80和264.63,VBR值小于100的站位占到调查站位总数的95.6%。VBR值除与细菌呈显著负相关关系外(P0.01),与其它环境因子相关性不明显(P0.05),说明该海区细菌是病毒的主要寄主,病毒可能主要是以噬菌体的状态存在。

Ecological distribution of bacterioplankton and virioplankton in the north of South China Sea in spring

According to the concept of Microbial Loop, bacteria and virus play important role in organic matter recycling and energy flowing in marine ecosystem, and meanwhile influence many biogeochemical and ecological processes. Marine bacterial and viral ecology has become hotspot in current studies. The South China Sea (SCS) is one of the largest marginal seas in Northwest Pacific, and has already been proved to be oligotrophic. The SCS has attracted great attention due to its economic and strategic importance in recent years. Although the abundance and diversity of bacterioplankton in coastal waters and northern upwelling regions of SCS are well documented, little is known about bacterioplankton and virioplankton distribution in the central and northern area, especially the area near 18°N in SCS, and further investigations should be carried on to study the ecological functions of microbes in this region. In order to study the ecological distribution and function of bacteria and virus in this area, a cruise was conducted during Spring 2014 and water samples were collected from 27 stations. Water column at each station was divided into five layers, which were 5, 25, 75, 150 and 200 m layers respectively. Water samples were collected by Niskin bottles, fixed with glutaraldehyde and stored at liquid nitrogen immediately. Bacterioplankton and virioplankton abundances at different water layers and stations were measured by flow cytometry method. Horizontal and vertical distribution and its correlation with environmental variables, such as temperature, depth, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a and inorganic nutrients were also analyzed. The results showed that the bacterioplankton and virioplankton abundances in the upper 200 m of the water column were 1.28×10⁴-9.96×10⁵ cells/mL and 4.69×10⁵-5.39×10⁷ cells/mL, respectively. Their abundances were similar to the results in other oligotrophic oceans and lower than that of the coastal areas. With the increase in water depth, the abundances of both bacterioplankton and virioplankton decreased gradually in the vertical direction and in correlation with the euphotic layer, but no significant distribution pattern was detected in the horizontal direction. The variation in bacterioplankton and virioplankton abundance was significantly correlated with water temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen, but negatively correlated with water depth, salinity, active phosphorus, silicate, nitrate, and total nitrogen (P<0.01). We conclude that bacterioplankton and virioplankton abundances were regulated by multiple environmental factors. Virus-to-bacteria ratio (VBR) reflects the relationship between bacteria and virus. The average VBR in this region was 32.23. The maximum value was 264.63 and it was observed at the 75 m layer of S7 station. The minimum value was 4.80 and it was detected at the 25 m layer of S11 station. A VBR value lower than 100 was detected in 95.6% of the stations. No significant correlation was found between VBR and environmental variables (P>0.05), however, a significant negative correlation was observed between bacterioplankton and VBR (P<0.01). A strong correlation between bacterioplankton and virioplankton was detected (P<0.01), indicating that bacterioplankton is probably the main host of virioplankton, and the virioplankton probably mainly existed in the form of bacteriophage. Relationships between organic carbon and bacterioplankton need to be further studied in order to illuminate growth and decline mechanism of microbes in SCS.