Dataset Information

Discovery of a Katablepharis sp. in the Columbia River estuary that is abundant during the spring and bears a unique large ribosomal subunit sequence element.

ABSTRACT: Heterotrophic protists play significant roles in pelagic food webs as bacterivorous and herbivorous consumers. However, heterotrophic protists-unlike autotrophic ones-are often difficult to track since they tend to lack features such as photosynthetic pigments that allow for remote sensing or for bulk characterization. Difficulty in the identification of heterotrophic protists has often resulted in lumping them into broad groups, but there is a strong need to develop methods that increase the spatial and temporal resolution of observations applied to particular organisms in order to discover the drivers of population structure and ecological function. In surveys of small subunit rRNA, gene (SSU) sequences of microbial eukaryotes from the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, the heterotrophic flagellate Katablepharis sp. were found to dominate protist assemblages (including autotrophic and heterotrophic fractions) in the spring, prior to the freshet. We discovered a 332 base pair unique sequence element (USE) insertion in the large subunit rRNA gene (28S) that is not present in other katablepharids or in any other eukaryote. Using this USE, we were able to detect Katablepharis within mixed assemblages in river, estuarine, and oceanic samples and determine spatial and temporal patterns in absolute abundance through quantitative PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Given their high abundance and repeatable temporal patterns of occurrence, we hypothesize that the Columbia River Estuary Katablepharis (Katablepharis CRE) plays an important role in estuarine biogeochemical and ecosystem function.

SUBMITTER: Kahn P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4234266 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Discovery of a Katablepharis sp. in the Columbia River estuary that is abundant during the spring and bears a unique large ribosomal subunit sequence element.

Kahn Peter P Herfort Lydie L Peterson Tawnya D TD Zuber Peter P

MicrobiologyOpen 20140828 5

Heterotrophic protists play significant roles in pelagic food webs as bacterivorous and herbivorous consumers. However, heterotrophic protists-unlike autotrophic ones-are often difficult to track since they tend to lack features such as photosynthetic pigments that allow for remote sensing or for bulk characterization. Difficulty in the identification of heterotrophic protists has often resulted in lumping them into broad groups, but there is a strong need to develop methods that increase the sp ...[more]

PMID: 25168204

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Project description:Migratory salmon transit estuary habitats on their way out to the ocean but this phase of their life cycle is more poorly understood than other phases. The estuaries of large river systems in particular may support many populations and several species of salmon that originate from throughout the upstream river. The Skeena River of British Columbia, Canada, is a large river system with high salmon population- and species-level diversity. The estuary of the Skeena River is under pressure from industrial development, with two gas liquefaction terminals and a potash loading facility in various stages of environmental review processes, providing motivation for understanding the usage of the estuary by juvenile salmon. We conducted a juvenile salmonid sampling program throughout the Skeena River estuary in 2007 and 2013 to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of different species and populations of salmon. We captured six species of juvenile anadromous salmonids throughout the estuary in both years, and found that areas proposed for development support some of the highest abundances of some species of salmon. Specifically, the highest abundances of sockeye (both years), Chinook in 2007, and coho salmon in 2013 were captured in areas proposed for development. For example, juvenile sockeye salmon were 2-8 times more abundant in the proposed development areas. Genetic stock assignment demonstrated that the Chinook salmon and most of the sockeye salmon that were captured originated from throughout the Skeena watershed, while some sockeye salmon came from the Nass, Stikine, Southeast Alaska, and coastal systems on the northern and central coasts of British Columbia. These fish support extensive commercial, recreational, and First Nations fisheries throughout the Skeena River and beyond. Our results demonstrate that estuary habitats integrate species and population diversity of salmon, and that if proposed development negatively affects the salmon populations that use the estuary, then numerous fisheries would also be negatively affected.

Dataset Information

Discovery of a Katablepharis sp. in the Columbia River estuary that is abundant during the spring and bears a unique large ribosomal subunit sequence element.

Publications

Discovery of a Katablepharis sp. in the Columbia River estuary that is abundant during the spring and bears a unique large ribosomal subunit sequence element.

Similar Datasets

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