Response of Heterotrophic Bacteria Abundance and Community Structure to Asian Dust Addition in the Oligotrophic Northwest Pacific Ocean

The dust storms from the continent usually affect the abundance and diversity of planktons by supplying trace elements. As such, the response of heterotrophic planktonic bacteria to dusts, nutrients(i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) or ferrous dosages was investigated in the Kuroshio Extension region of the Northwest Pacific Ocean(NWPO) through on-board incubation experiments during an oceanographic survey in spring 2014. The flow cytometry and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing methods were applied to explore the abundance and community structure of bacteria, and the percentage of high nucleic acid bacteria(HNA%). The results showed that the heterotrophic bacteria abundance was low(average 2.55×10^5 cells mL^-1) and subjected to both nitrogen(N) and ferrous(Fe) limitation. Sand-dust deposition observably promoted the activity of heterotrophic planktonic bacteria. The maximum abundance of heterotrophic bacteria was 6.98×10^5 cells mL^-1 in the dust-dosage group, which was 44% higher than the control(P < 0.05). The HNA% in the dust-dosage group was 1.37 times higher than the control(P < 0.05). The activation mechanism was mainly related to the dissolution of N and Fe in the dusts. The relative abundance of genus Winogradskyella was significantly increased by dust deposition while the relative abundance of the genera Tenacibaculum and Hyphomonas was decreased. These variations of bacterial community structure were ascribed to the dissolution of nutrients N and P. Comparing the results of different experimental groups, this study concluded that dust storm improved the abundance of heterotrophic bacteria by dissolution of N and Fe.

Elevated atmospheric CO_(2) impact on carbon and nitrogen transformations and microbial community in replicated wetland

Background:Elevated atmospheric CO_(2) has direct and indirect influences on ecosystem processes.The impact of elevated atmospheric CO_(2) concentration on carbon and nitrogen transformations,together with the microbial community,was evaluated with water hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes)in an open-top chamber replicated wetland.The responses of nitrogen and carbon pools in water and wetland soil,and microbial community abundance were studied under ambient CO_(2) and elevated CO_(2)(ambient+200μL L^(−1)).Results:Total biomass for the whole plant under elevated CO_(2) increased by an average of 8%(p=0.022).Wetlands,with water hyacinth,showed a significant increase in total carbon and total organic carbon in water by 7%(p=0.001)and 21%(p=0.001),respectively,under elevated CO_(2) compared to that of ambient CO_(2).Increase in dissolved carbon in water correlates with the presence of wetland plants since the water hyacinth can directly exchange CO_(2) from the atmosphere to water by the upper epidermis of leaves.Also,the enrichment CO_(2) showed an increase in total carbon and total organic carbon concentration in wetland soil by 3%(p=0.344)and 6%(p=0.008),respectively.The total nitrogen content in water increased by 26%(p=0.0001),while total nitrogen in wetland soil pool under CO_(2) enrichment decreased by 9%(p=0.011)due to increased soil microbial community abundance,extracted by phospholipid fatty acids,which was 25%larger in amount than that of the ambient treatment.Conclusion:The study revealed that the elevated CO_(2) would affect the carbon and nitrogen transformations in wetland plant,water,and soil pool and increase soil microbial community abundance.