Global diversity and distribution of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs in the tropical and subtropical oceans |
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Authors: | Carlota R Gazulla Adrià Auladell Clara Ruiz-González Pedro C Junger Marta Royo-Llonch Carlos M Duarte Josep M Gasol Olga Sánchez Isabel Ferrera |
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Institution: | 1. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalunya, 08193 Spain;2. Departament de Biologia Marina i Oceanografia, Institut de Ciències del Mar, ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Catalunya, 08003 Spain;3. Department of Hydrobiology (DHB), Laboratory of Microbial Processes and Biodiversity (LMPB), Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, 13565-905 Brazil;4. Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) and Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia;5. Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, IEO-CSIC, 29640 Fuengirola, Málaga, Spain |
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Abstract: | The aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria are common in most marine environments but their global diversity and biogeography remain poorly characterized. Here, we analyzed AAP communities across 113 globally-distributed surface ocean stations sampled during the Malaspina Expedition in the tropical and subtropical ocean. By means of amplicon sequencing of the pufM gene, a genetic marker for this functional group, we show that AAP communities along the surface ocean were mainly composed of members of the Halieaceae (Gammaproteobacteria), which were adapted to a large range of environmental conditions, and of different clades of the Alphaproteobacteria, which seemed to dominate under particular circumstances, such as in the oligotrophic gyres. AAP taxa were spatially structured within each of the studied oceans, with communities from adjacent stations sharing more taxonomic similarities. AAP communities were composed of a large pool of rare members and several habitat specialists. When compared to the surface ocean prokaryotic and picoeukaryotic communities, it appears that AAP communities display an idiosyncratic global biogeographical pattern, dominated by selection processes and less influenced by dispersal limitation. Our study contributes to the understanding of how AAP communities are distributed in the horizontal dimension and the mechanisms underlying their distribution across the global surface ocean. |
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