Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Murray Hall, 123 South Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, USA.
Environ Microbiol. 2018 Mar;20(3):1095-1111. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.14049. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
Over the span of a year, we investigated the interactions between biotic and abiotic factors within the eutrophic Neuse River Estuary (NRE). Through metatranscriptomic sequencing in combination with water quality measurements, we show that there are different metabolic strategies deployed along the NRE. In the upper estuary, taxonomically resolved phytoplankton groups express more transcripts of genes for synthesis of cellular components and carbon metabolism whereas in the lower estuary, transcripts allocated to nutrient metabolism and transport were more highly expressed. Metabolisms for polysaccharide synthesis and transportation were elevated in the lower estuary and could be reflective of unbalanced growth and/or interactions with their surrounding microbial consortia. Our results indicate phytoplankton have high metabolic activity, suggestive of increased growth rates in the upper estuary and display patterns reflective of nutrient limitation in the lower estuary. Among all the environmental parameters varying along the NRE, nitrogen availability is found to be the main driving factor for the observed spatial divergence.
在一年的时间里，我们调查了富营养化的内斯河河口（NRE）内生物和非生物因素之间的相互作用。通过宏转录组测序结合水质测量，我们表明 NRE 沿线存在不同的代谢策略。在上游河口，分类 resolved 的浮游植物群表达更多的细胞成分合成和碳代谢基因的转录本，而在下游河口，分配给养分代谢和运输的转录本表达水平更高。多糖合成和运输的代谢在下游河口升高，这可能反映了不平衡的生长和/或与周围微生物群落的相互作用。我们的结果表明，浮游植物具有很高的代谢活性，表明在上游河口的增长率增加，并表现出对下游河口养分限制的模式。在 NRE 沿线变化的所有环境参数中，氮的可用性被发现是观察到的空间差异的主要驱动因素。
