COMBINING NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR DETERMINATION OF PHYTOPLANKTON COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO 1

In situ analysis of phytoplankton community structure was determined at five stations along the Texas Gulf coast using two instruments, the Fluoroprobe and FlowCAM. Results were compared with traditional methods to determine community structure (pigment analysis and microscopy). Diatoms and small nanoplankton (most likely haptophytes) dominated the phytoplankton community at all stations. Estimated chl concentrations for diatoms+dinoflagellates obtained via the Fluoroprobe were not significantly different for three of the five stations sampled when compared with HPLC‐chemical taxonomy analysis, whereas the concentrations of green algal and cryptophyte chl were overestimated. The FlowCAM estimates of overall nanoplankton and microplankton cell abundance were not significantly different when compared with epifluorescence microscopy, and recorded images of phytoplankton cells provided a representative population of the phytoplankton community at each station. The Fluoroprobe and FlowCAM, when used in tandem, are potentially capable of determining the general characteristics of phytoplankton community structure in situ and could be an important addition to biological observing systems in the coastal ocean.     

Hunting behavior of Florida largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus, in a channelized river

The distribution and behavior of Florida largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus, and their main prey (sunfish, genus Lepomis, and the cichlid Tilapia mariae) were studied in southern Florida to determine how fish behave in the simplified habitats found in channelized rivers. Time budgets were constructed from focal animal observations on 69 bass. Patterns of behavior associated with hunting were performed during a significantly higher proportion of the time when bass were in vegetated habitats. Scan samples of the behavior of 236 observed bass revealed that hunting was more common in areas of high structural complexity. Only 38% of observed bass were solitary, with the majority occurring in groups with either conspecifics or in mixed-species groups with similar sized bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus. Largemouth bass (n=1014) and sunfish (n=1372) were significantly more abundant in areas with vegetation and were almost entirely absent from the water column in the center of the canal. All species of fish avoided the water column, where currents were swift and no cover was available. The structure of the habitat appears to be important in the way largemouth bass organize their activity patterns. This suggests that habitat availability in channelized rivers significantly influences important behaviors such as hunting, thus potentially altering energy budgets and population dynamics of both predator and prey.     

Factors affecting the structure of Coleoptera assemblages on bracket fungi (Basidiomycota) in a Brazilian forest

Insect–fungal interactions are an important but understudied aspect of tropical forest ecology. Here we present the first large‐scale study of insect communities feeding on the reproductive structures of macrofungi (basidiomes) in the Neotropics. This trophic interaction is not well characterized in most ecosystems; however, beetle consumption of basidiomes is thought to be affected by fungal factors, via mechanisms analogous to those observed in plant–herbivore interactions and in some interactions with fungi as hosts in the Holarctic region. We investigated how the composition of beetle assemblages varies as a function of fungal taxonomic distance, basidiome consistency, and hyphal systems. We collected 367 basidiomes belonging to the orders Polyporales and Hymenochaetales in the subtropical Araucaria angustifolia forest region of southern Brazil, along with any fauna present or without it. Basidiomes were maintained individually in the laboratory in plastic containers for up to three months to allow beetles to develop to adulthood, at which point the beetles were collected. We found that 207 basidiome specimens representing 40 species were associated with beetles. We recorded 447 occurrences of Coleoptera, representing 90 morphospecies from 20 families. We found that assemblages of fungivorous Coleoptera were more similar among more closely related fungi. Furthermore, the beetle assemblages varied as a function of basidiome toughness, which is influenced by sporocarp consistency and hyphal system type. The associations between beetles and basidiomes resemble those reported previously in temperate zones, suggesting continuity in the structure of such associations across a wide latitudinal range.     

配施磷细菌肥对复垦土壤细菌多样性及磷有效性的影响

为了解磷细菌肥对复垦土壤微生物群落结构变化特征和磷有效性的影响,本研究以连续配施磷细菌肥5年的定位试验为背景,利用16S rDNA基因序列测序方法对土壤细菌群落多样性进行分析,探讨土壤细菌群落与土壤Olsen-P、碱性磷酸酶的关系.试验共设对照、单施化肥、有机肥、有机肥化肥、化肥磷细菌肥、有机肥磷细菌肥和有机肥化肥磷细菌肥7个处理.结果表明: 复垦土壤中放线菌门和变形菌门菌群的相对丰度最大,分别为21.6％～32.2％和13.8％～28.9％.有机肥化肥磷细菌肥处理的OTU数和Chao1指数分别为809和26190,均属最高.磷细菌肥处理能提高土壤中放线菌门和变形菌门菌群的相对丰度,降低土壤中酸杆菌门、热袍菌门和硝化螺旋菌门菌群的相对丰度,对诺卡氏菌属、屈挠杆菌属有一定的促进作用.有机肥化肥磷细菌肥处理能够提高复垦土壤Olsen-P及碱性磷酸酶活性.复垦土壤变形菌门与Olsen-P、碱性磷酸酶的相关系数最高(0.900、0.955),在一定程度上可以作为土壤磷有效性的灵敏性指标.     

不同作物轮作对连作高粱生长及其根际土壤环境的影响

以高粱连作5年为对照(CK),研究了高粱连作3年轮作苜蓿(T₁)和葱(T₂),对下茬高粱生长、根际土壤微生物及土壤酶活性的影响.结果表明:与CK相比,轮作改善了高粱地上部的生长;T₁增产16.5%,效果明显.轮作也促进了高粱根系的生长,T₁和T₂处理的高粱总根长是CK的1.3和1.4倍,根总表面积是CK的1.6和1.5倍,根体积是CK的2.2和1.6倍,根系生物量是CK的2.0和1.3倍,T₁促进了根系在10 cm以下土层中的分布.借助Biolog法对穗花期根际土壤微生物群落功能多样性分析表明,T₁和T₂处理根际土壤微生物活性显著高于CK,且Shannon多样性指数分别是CK的1.2和1.1倍;轮作提高了根际土壤蔗糖酶活性.综上,轮作苜蓿比轮作葱更能改善高粱根际土壤环境,提高土壤微生物活性和酶活性,控制高粱连作障碍,提高高粱产量.     

土地整理对土壤微生物群落多样性的影响

土地整理保证了我国耕地总量的动态平衡和占补平衡,已成为实现国土资源集约利用的主要手段,但整治过程中的强度扰动会对土壤质量产生一定的影响.为了解土地整理对土壤微生物多样性的影响,采用PLFA法研究了土地整理1年(Z1a)、4年(Z4a)后土壤微生物群落多样性的变化.结果表明: 与未整理(Z0)相比,土地整理1年后,土壤pH值提高了14.6%,土壤有机碳质量分数降低了65.4%;各菌群磷脂脂肪酸PLFAs含量和相对丰度均显著下降(P<0.05),下降幅度达43.4%～63.7%和25.2%～53.9%;真菌/细菌(F/B)显著下降(P<0.05),降低了35.9%,而革兰氏阳性菌/革兰氏阴性菌(G⁺/G^-)升高明显,增加了56.1%,均与有机碳的降低和pH值的升高有显著相关关系;土壤微生物多样性Shannon指数和均匀度指数(E)均显著下降,Z0与Z1a、Z4a之间的差异达显著水平;土地整理4年后,表征土壤微生物群落多样性的各指标相比整理1年的样地有所提升,但与未整理样地仍有显著差异.综上,土地整理显著影响着土壤微生物群落的组成,降低了土壤生态系统的稳定性.     

A double‐mutant collection targeting MAP kinase related genes in Arabidopsis for studying genetic interactions

Mitogen‐activated protein kinase cascades are conserved in all eukaryotes. In Arabidopsis thaliana there are approximately 80 genes encoding MAP kinase kinase kinases (MAP3K), 10 genes encoding MAP kinase kinases (MAP2K), and 20 genes encoding MAP kinases (MAPK). Reverse genetic analysis has failed to reveal abnormal phenotypes for a majority of these genes. One strategy for uncovering gene function when single‐mutant lines do not produce an informative phenotype is to perform a systematic genetic interaction screen whereby double‐mutants are created from a large library of single‐mutant lines. Here we describe a new collection of 275 double‐mutant lines derived from a library of single‐mutants targeting genes related to MAP kinase signaling. To facilitate this study, we developed a high‐throughput double‐mutant generating pipeline using a system for growing Arabidopsis seedlings in 96‐well plates. A quantitative root growth assay was used to screen for evidence of genetic interactions in this double‐mutant collection. Our screen revealed four genetic interactions, all of which caused synthetic enhancement of the root growth defects observed in a MAP kinase 4 (MPK4) single‐mutant line. Seeds for this double‐mutant collection are publicly available through the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center. Scientists interested in diverse biological processes can now screen this double‐mutant collection under a wide range of growth conditions in order to search for additional genetic interactions that may provide new insights into MAP kinase signaling.     

The active microbial diversity drives ecosystem multifunctionality and is physiologically related to carbon availability in Mediterranean semi‐arid soils

Biogeochemical processes and ecosystemic functions are mostly driven by soil microbial communities. However, most methods focus on evaluating the total microbial community and fail to discriminate its active fraction which is linked to soil functionality. Precisely, the activity of the microbial community is strongly limited by the availability of organic carbon (C) in soils under arid and semi‐arid climate. Here, we provide a complementary genomic and metaproteomic approach to investigate the relationships between the diversity of the total community, the active diversity and ecosystem functionality across a dissolved organic carbon (DOC) gradient in southeast Spain. DOC correlated with the ecosystem multifunctionality index composed by soil respiration, enzyme activities (urease, alkaline phosphatase and β‐glucosidase) and microbial biomass (phospholipid fatty acids, PLFA). This study highlights that the active diversity (determined by metaprotoemics) but not the diversity of the whole microbial community (evaluated by amplicon gene sequencing) is related to the availability of organic C and it is also connected to the ecosystem multifunctionality index. We reveal that DOC shapes the activities of bacterial and fungal populations in Mediterranean semi‐arid soils and determines the compartmentalization of functional niches. For instance, Rhizobales thrived at high‐DOC sites probably fuelled by metabolism of one‐C compounds. Moreover, the analysis of proteins involved in the transport and metabolism of carbohydrates revealed that Ascomycota and Basidiomycota occupied different nutritional niches. The functional mechanisms for niche specialization were not constant across the DOC gradient.