Dataset Information

Potential Connectivity of Coldwater Black Coral Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

ABSTRACT: The black coral Leiopathes glaberrima is a foundation species of deep-sea benthic communities but little is known of the longevity of its larvae and the timing of spawning because it inhabits environments deeper than 50 m that are logistically challenging to observe. Here, the potential connectivity of L. glaberrima in the northern Gulf of Mexico was investigated using a genetic and a physical dispersal model. The genetic analysis focused on data collected at four sites distributed to the east and west of Mississippi Canyon, provided information integrated over many (~10,000) generations and revealed low but detectable realized connectivity. The physical dispersal model simulated the circulation in the northern Gulf at a 1km horizontal resolution with transport-tracking capabilities; virtual larvae were deployed 12 times over the course of 3 years and followed over intervals of 40 days. Connectivity between sites to the east and west of the canyon was hampered by the complex bathymetry, by differences in mean circulation to the east and west of the Mississippi Canyon, and by flow instabilities at scales of a few kilometers. Further, the interannual variability of the flow field surpassed seasonal changes. Together, these results suggest that a) dispersal among sites is limited, b) any recovery in the event of a large perturbation will depend on local larvae produced by surviving individuals, and c) a competency period longer than a month is required for the simulated potential connectivity to match the connectivity from multi-locus genetic data under the hypothesis that connectivity has not changed significantly over the past 10,000 generations.

SUBMITTER: Cardona Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4878809 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Potential Connectivity of Coldwater Black Coral Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

Cardona Yuley Y Ruiz-Ramos Dannise V DV Baums Iliana B IB Bracco Annalisa A

PloS one 20160524 5

The black coral Leiopathes glaberrima is a foundation species of deep-sea benthic communities but little is known of the longevity of its larvae and the timing of spawning because it inhabits environments deeper than 50 m that are logistically challenging to observe. Here, the potential connectivity of L. glaberrima in the northern Gulf of Mexico was investigated using a genetic and a physical dispersal model. The genetic analysis focused on data collected at four sites distributed to the east a ...[more]

PMID: 27218260

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Project description:We sampled Thaumarchaeota populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico, including shelf waters under the Mississippi River outflow plume that are subject to recurrent hypoxia. Data from this study allowed us to: (1) test the hypothesis that Thaumarchaeota would be abundant in this region; (2) assess phylogenetic composition of these populations for comparison with other regions; (3) compare the efficacy of quantitative PCR (qPCR) based on primers for 16S rRNA genes (rrs) with primers for genes in the ammonia oxidation (amoA) and carbon fixation (accA, hcd) pathways; (4) compare distributions obtained by qPCR with the relative abundance of Thaumarchaeota rrs in pyrosequenced libraries; (5) compare Thaumarchaeota distributions with environmental variables to help us elucidate the factors responsible for the distributions; (6) compare the distribution of Thaumarchaeota with Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria (NOB) to gain insight into the coupling between ammonia and nitrite oxidation. We found up to 10(8)?copies?L(-1) of Thaumarchaeota rrs in our samples (up to 40% of prokaryotes) by qPCR, with maximum abundance in slope waters at 200-800?m. Thaumarchaeota rrs were also abundant in pyrosequenced libraries and their relative abundance correlated well with values determined by qPCR (r (2)?=?0.82). Thaumarchaeota populations were strongly stratified by depth. Canonical correspondence analysis using a suite of environmental variables explained 92% of the variance in qPCR-estimated gene abundances. Thaumarchaeota rrs abundance was correlated with salinity and depth, while accA abundance correlated with fluorescence and pH. Correlations of Archaeal amoA abundance with environmental variables were primer-dependent, suggesting differential responses of sub-populations to environmental variables. Bacterial amoA was at the limit of qPCR detection in most samples. NOB and Euryarchaeota rrs were found in the pyrosequenced libraries; NOB distribution was correlated with that of Thaumarchaeota (r (2)?=?0.49).

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Dataset Information

Potential Connectivity of Coldwater Black Coral Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

Publications

Potential Connectivity of Coldwater Black Coral Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

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