Project description:Microbial diversity of sediments from the northern slope of the South China Sea was studied by constructing bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. Fourteen bacterial phylogenetic groups were detected, including Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Planctomycetes, Alphaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Nitrospirae, candidate divisions OP8 and OP11, and an unknown group. Gammaproteobacteria was the predominant group in bacterial libraries with the percentage ranging from 31.8% to 63.2%. However, archaeal libraries had relatively lower diversity, with most clones belonging to marine archaeal group capital I, Ukrainian uncultured Crenarchaeota. In addition, two novel euryarchaeal clones were detected not to match any culture-dependent or -independent isolates. Compared with other gas hydrate-rich ecosystems and different areas of the South China Sea, a distinct microbial community was revealed in this study.
Project description:In the present study, we studied microbial composition and metabolic activity in the euphotic zone of the South China Sea. 8 samples were collected and subjected to metaproteomic analysis. Our results suggested that mixotrophic phototrophs-driven NDL carbon fixation along with phytoplankton-driven NRL carbon fixation determined primary production in the oligotrophic ocean’s euphotic zone.
Project description:Archaea are widespread in marine sediments and play important roles in the cycling of sedimentary organic carbon. However, factors controlling the distribution of archaea in marine sediments are not well understood. Here we investigated benthic archaeal communities over glacial-interglacial cycles in the northern South China Sea and evaluated their responses to sediment organic matter sources and inter-species interactions. Archaea in sediments deposited during the interglacial period Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 1 (Holocene) were significantly different from those in sediments deposited in MIS 2 and MIS 3 of the Last Glacial Period when terrestrial input to the South China Sea was enhanced based on analysis of the long-chain n-alkane C31. The absolute archaeal 16S rRNA gene abundance in subsurface sediments was highest in MIS 2, coincident with high sedimentation rates and high concentrations of total organic carbon. Soil Crenarchaeotic Group (SCG; Nitrososphaerales) species, the most abundant ammonia-oxidizing archaea in soils, increased dramatically during MIS 2, likely reflecting transport of terrestrial archaea during glacial periods with high sedimentation rates. Co-occurrence network analyses indicated significant association of SCG archaea with benthic deep-sea microbes such as Bathyarchaeota and Thermoprofundales in MIS 2 and MIS 3, suggesting potential interactions among these archaeal groups. Meanwhile, Thermoprofundales abundance was positively correlated with total organic carbon (TOC), along with n-alkane C31 and sedimentation rate, indicating that Thermoprofundales may be particularly important in processing of organic carbon in deep-sea sediments. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the composition of heterotrophic benthic archaea in the South China Sea may be influenced by terrestrial organic input in tune with glacial-interglacial cycles, suggesting a plausible link between global climate change and microbial population dynamics in deep-sea marine sediments.