Insight Into the Pico- and Nano-Phytoplankton Communities in the Deepest Biosphere, the Mariana Trench

Guo, Ruoyu1; Liang, Yantao1; Xing, Yu2; Wang, Long1; Mou, Shanli1; Cao, Chunjie1; Xie, Ruize1; Zhang, Chuanlun3; Tian, Jiwei2; Zhang, Yongyu1

2018-09-26

10.3389/fmicb.2018.02289

Frontiers in Microbiology   影响因子和分区

1664-302X

As photoautotrophs, phytoplankton are generally present in the euphotic zone of the ocean, however, recently healthy phytoplankton cells were found to be also ubiquitous in the dark deep sea, i.e., at water depths between 2000 and 4000 m. The distributions of phytoplankton communities in much deeper waters, such as the hadal zone, are unclear. In this study, the vertical distribution of the pico- and nano-phytoplankton (PN) communities from the surface to 8320 m, including the epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, and hadal zones, were investigated via both 18S and p23S rRNA gene analysis in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. The results showed that Dinoflagellata, Chrysophyceae, Haptophyta, Chlorophyta, Prochloraceae, Pseudanabaenaceae, Synechococcaceae, and Eustigmatophyceae, etc., were the predominant PN in the Mariana Trench. Redundancy analyses revealed that depth, followed by temperature, was the most important environmental factors correlated with vertical distribution of PN community. In the hadal zone, the PN community structure was considerably different from those in the shallower zones. Some PN communities, e.g., Eustigmatophyceae and Chrysophyceae, which have the heterotrophic characteristics, were sparse in shallower waters, while they were identified with high relative abundance (94.1% and 20.1%, respectively) at the depth of 8320 m. However, the dinoflagellates and Prochloraceae Prochlorococcus were detected throughout the entire water column. We proposed that vertical sinking, heterotrophic metabolism, and/or the transition to resting stage of phytoplankton might contribute to the presence of phytoplankton in the hadal zone. This study provided insight into the PN community in the Mariana Trench, implied the significance of phytoplankton in exporting organic matters from the euphotic to the hadal zone, and also hinted the possible existence of some undetermined energy metabolism (e.g., heterotrophy) of phytoplankton making themselves adapt and survive in the hadal environment.

pico- and nano-phytoplankton 18S rRNA plastid 23S rRNA Mariana Trench deep sea

SCI

英语

其他

senior user's project of RV KEXUE[KEXUE2018G02]

Microbiology

Microbiology

WOS:000445641400001

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA

Web of Science

1.Chinese Acad Sci, Qingdao Inst Bioenergy & Bioproc Technol, Key Lab Biofuels, Shandong Prov Key Lab Energy Genet, Qingdao, Peoples R China
2.Ocean Univ China, Qingdao Collaborat Innovat Ctr Marine Sci & Techn, Key Lab Marine Chem Theory & Engn, Phys Oceanog Lab, Qingdao, Peoples R China
3.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Ocean Sci & Engn, Shenzhen, Peoples R China

Guo, Ruoyu,Liang, Yantao,Xing, Yu,et al. Insight Into the Pico- and Nano-Phytoplankton Communities in the Deepest Biosphere, the Mariana Trench[J]. Frontiers in Microbiology,2018,9.

Guo, Ruoyu.,Liang, Yantao.,Xing, Yu.,Wang, Long.,Mou, Shanli.,...&Zhang, Yongyu.(2018).Insight Into the Pico- and Nano-Phytoplankton Communities in the Deepest Biosphere, the Mariana Trench.Frontiers in Microbiology,9.

Guo, Ruoyu,et al."Insight Into the Pico- and Nano-Phytoplankton Communities in the Deepest Biosphere, the Mariana Trench".Frontiers in Microbiology 9(2018).