Planktonic ciliates have been recognized as major consumers of nano-and picoplankton in pelagic ecosystems,playing pivotal roles in the transfer of matter and energy in the microbial loop.However,due to the difculties...Planktonic ciliates have been recognized as major consumers of nano-and picoplankton in pelagic ecosystems,playing pivotal roles in the transfer of matter and energy in the microbial loop.However,due to the difculties in identifcation,the species composition of ciliate assemblages,especially for the small,fragile,and naked species that usually dominate the ciliate communities in the oceanic waters,remains largely unknown.In the present study,22 stations along the transect from Shenzhen(China)to Pohnpei(Micronesia)were sampled for the enumeration of picoplankton and nanofagellates.In addition,pigment analysis of major phytoplankton groups along with the measurements of environmental variables including temperature,salinity,and nutrients were also carried out.Ciliates were identifed at species level using quantitative protargol stain to reveal the species composition and their distribution patterns from of-shore to open ocean.Ciliate abundance was positively correlated with phosphate,silicate,and pico-sized pigmented eukaryotes(PPEs),whereas the biomass was closely related with PPEs,heterotrophic nanofagellates,and chlorophytes.The combination of silicate and pigmented nanofagellates was identifed as the major factor driving the ciliate community composition.The close relationship between silicate and ciliate abundance and community structure needs further validation based on more data collected from oceanic waters.Our study showed the necessity of using techniques that can reveal the community composition at higher taxonomic resolutions in future studies on ciliates.展开更多
基金This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41876142,91751207,41606168,and 41861144018)the Senior User Project of RV KEXUE(No.KEXUE2019G08)+3 种基金funded by the Center for Ocean Mega-Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association(DY135-E2-1-04)JY was also funded by MEL Visiting Fellowship(MELRS1921)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(20lgpy66)HH was supported by the Training Program of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduate at Xiamen University(2018X0724)Special thanks are given to Prof.
文摘Planktonic ciliates have been recognized as major consumers of nano-and picoplankton in pelagic ecosystems,playing pivotal roles in the transfer of matter and energy in the microbial loop.However,due to the difculties in identifcation,the species composition of ciliate assemblages,especially for the small,fragile,and naked species that usually dominate the ciliate communities in the oceanic waters,remains largely unknown.In the present study,22 stations along the transect from Shenzhen(China)to Pohnpei(Micronesia)were sampled for the enumeration of picoplankton and nanofagellates.In addition,pigment analysis of major phytoplankton groups along with the measurements of environmental variables including temperature,salinity,and nutrients were also carried out.Ciliates were identifed at species level using quantitative protargol stain to reveal the species composition and their distribution patterns from of-shore to open ocean.Ciliate abundance was positively correlated with phosphate,silicate,and pico-sized pigmented eukaryotes(PPEs),whereas the biomass was closely related with PPEs,heterotrophic nanofagellates,and chlorophytes.The combination of silicate and pigmented nanofagellates was identifed as the major factor driving the ciliate community composition.The close relationship between silicate and ciliate abundance and community structure needs further validation based on more data collected from oceanic waters.Our study showed the necessity of using techniques that can reveal the community composition at higher taxonomic resolutions in future studies on ciliates.
