Dataset Information

Functional and structural responses of hyporheic biofilms to varying sources of dissolved organic matter.

ABSTRACT: Headwater streams are tightly connected with the terrestrial milieu from which they receive deliveries of organic matter, often through the hyporheic zone, the transition between groundwater and streamwater. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from terrestrial sources (that is, allochthonous) enters the hyporheic zone, where it may mix with DOM from in situ production (that is, autochthonous) and where most of the microbial activity takes place. Allochthonous DOM is typically considered resistant to microbial metabolism compared to autochthonous DOM. The composition and functioning of microbial biofilm communities in the hyporheic zone may therefore be controlled by the relative availability of allochthonous and autochthonous DOM, which can have implications for organic matter processing in stream ecosystems. Experimenting with hyporheic biofilms exposed to model allochthonous and autochthonous DOM and using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA (targeting the "active" community composition) and of the 16S rRNA gene (targeting the "bulk" community composition), we found that allochthonous DOM may drive shifts in community composition whereas autochthonous DOM seems to affect community composition only transiently. Our results suggest that priority effects based on resource-driven stochasticity shape the community composition in the hyporheic zone. Furthermore, measurements of extracellular enzymatic activities suggest that the additions of allochthonous and autochthonous DOM had no clear effect on the function of the hyporheic biofilms, indicative of functional redundancy. Our findings unravel possible microbial mechanisms that underlie the buffering capacity of the hyporheic zone and that may confer stability to stream ecosystems.

SUBMITTER: Wagner K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4178677 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Functional and structural responses of hyporheic biofilms to varying sources of dissolved organic matter.

Wagner Karoline K Bengtsson Mia M MM Besemer Katharina K Sieczko Anna A Burns Nancy R NR Herberg Erik R ER Battin Tom J TJ

Applied and environmental microbiology 20140725 19

Headwater streams are tightly connected with the terrestrial milieu from which they receive deliveries of organic matter, often through the hyporheic zone, the transition between groundwater and streamwater. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from terrestrial sources (that is, allochthonous) enters the hyporheic zone, where it may mix with DOM from in situ production (that is, autochthonous) and where most of the microbial activity takes place. Allochthonous DOM is typically considered resistant to ...[more]

PMID: 25063654

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Project description:Phytoplankton release massive amounts of dissolved organic matter (DOM) into the water column during recurring blooms in coastal waters and inland seas. The released DOM encompasses a complex mixture of both known and unknown compounds, and is a rich nutrient source for heterotrophic bacteria. The metabolic activity of bacteria during and after phytoplankton blooms can hence be expected to reflect the characteristics of the released DOM. We therefore investigated if bacterioplankton could be used as "living sensors" of phytoplankton DOM quantity and/or quality, by applying gene expression analyses to identify bacterial metabolisms induced by DOM. We used transcriptional analysis of two Baltic Sea bacterial isolates (Polaribacter sp. BAL334 [Flavobacteriia] and Brevundimonas sp. BAL450 [Alphaproteobacteria]) growing with DOM from axenic cultures of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. We observed pronounced differences between the two bacteria both in growth and the expressed metabolic pathways in cultures exposed to dinoflagellate DOM compared with controls. Differences in metabolic responses between the two isolates were caused both by differences in gene repertoire between them (e.g. in the SEED categories for membrane transport, motility and photoheterotrophy) and the regulation of expression (e.g. fatty acid metabolism), emphasizing the importance of separating the responses of different taxa in analyses of community sequence data. Similarities between the bacteria included substantially increased expression of genes for Ton and Tol transport systems in both isolates, which are commonly associated with uptake of complex organic molecules. Polaribacter sp. BAL334 showed stronger metabolic responses to DOM harvested from exponential than stationary phase dinoflagellates (128 compared to 26 differentially expressed genes), whereas Brevundimonas sp. BAL450 responded more to the DOM from stationary than exponential phase dinoflagellates (33 compared to 6 differentially expressed genes). These findings suggest that shifts in bacterial metabolisms during different phases of phytoplankton blooms can be detected in individual bacterial species and can provide insights into their involvement in DOM transformations.

Dataset Information

Functional and structural responses of hyporheic biofilms to varying sources of dissolved organic matter.

Publications

Functional and structural responses of hyporheic biofilms to varying sources of dissolved organic matter.

Similar Datasets

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