Blooms of Prorocentrum donghaiense reduced the species diversity of dinoflagellate community

Most of reported harmful algal blooms(HABs)of microalgae(75%)have been caused by dinoflagellates.Studies on the negative effects of HABs have generally focused on animals,valuable organisms in particular,and environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen and nutrients,but relatively fewer on community level,particularly that using metagenomic approach.In this study,we reported an investigation on the effects of a HAB caused by the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum donghaiense on the species diversity and community structure of the dinoflagellate sub-community via a pyrosequencing approach for the samples taken before,during,and after the bloom season of P.donghaiense in the East China Sea.We sequenced partial 28S rRNA gene of dinoflagellates for the field samples and evaluated the species richness and diversity indices of the dinoflagellate community,as a sub-community of the total phytoplankton.We obtained 800185 valid sequences(categorized into 560 operational taxonomic units,OTUs)of dinoflagellates from 50 samples and found that the biodiversity of dinoflagellate community was significantly reduced during the blooming period in comparison to that in pre-and after-blooming periods,as reflected in the four diversity indices:the species richness expressed as the number of OTUs,Chao1 index,Shannon index(evenness),and Gini-Simpson index.These four indices were all found to be negatively correlated to the cell density of the bloom species P.donghaiense.Correlation analyses also revealed that the P.donghaiense cell abundance was correlated negatively with NO3--N,and NO2--N,but positively with total nitrogen(TN)and total phosphorus(TP).Principal coordinates analysis(PCoA)showed that the community structure of dinoflagellates was markedly different among the different sampling periods,while the redundancy analysis(RDA)revealed P.donghaiense abundance,salinity,NO3--N,and SiO32-were the most four significant factors shaping the dinoflagellate community structure.Our results together demonstrated that HABs caused by the dinoflagellate P.donghaiense could strongly impact the aquatic ecosystem on the sub-community level which the blooming species belongs to.

Reviving and characterizing three species of dinoflagellate cysts dormant for about 70 years in the East China Sea:Biecheleria brevisulcata,Biecheleriopsis adriatica,and Scrippsiella donghaienis

Many marine dinoflagellates can form resting cysts as a part of their life cycle,and the cysts could be buried in sediment and remained viable for as long as over 150 years.However,only a very limited number of cyst species have been revived from long-buried sediments and investigated in regard to a possible shift in the intra-specific genetic structure of a species detected from the historical record at a particular location.Here,we report a successful germination of three species of resting cysts that were sampled from the depth dated back to 1941±18 AD from a 44-cm sediment core from the East China Sea.Seven isolates were established from germination of single cyst isolation or multi-cyst germinations.LSU rRNA gene or ITS sequences of these strains were obtained,then they were identified to be Biecheleria brevisulcata(five strains),Biecheleriopsis adriatica(one strain),and Scrippsiella donghaienis(one strain)in terms of morphology and rRNA gene sequence.Biecheleria brevisulcata strain 1,Bps.adriatica strain 21,and S.donghaienis strain 23 were examined in detail with light microscope(LM)and scanning electron microscope(SEM),and analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)for their pigment compositions,and genetic diversity.We also confirmed the presence of a resting cyst of Bps.adriatica in the field for the first time.The LSU rRNA gene-based genetic distances of Bps.adriatica from that obtained from water sample,single-cell PCR sequencing for the cysts isolated from the surface sediment of the same sea area and that reported from other regions during the recent years,and ITS-based genetic distances of S.donghaienis from that obtained from cysts isolated from the surface sediment of the same location and that reported from other regions during the recent years indicated that the intra-specific genetic structure of each species in the sampling area may have shifted during the last 70 years.Our work confirms that B.brevisulcata,Bps.adriatica,and S.donghaienis,all described as new species around 2010,have inhabited the East China Sea for about 70 years.The present work reports for the first time the revival of dinoflagellate resting cysts long-buried in the coastal sediments of China,which facilitates further study on the historical occurrences of other harmful dinoflagellates and their relevance to the regional climate and environmental changes in China.