School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK.
Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2021 Feb 5;97(2). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa244.
Filterable microorganisms participate in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) cycling in freshwater systems, however their exact functional role remains unknown. We determined the taxonomic identity and community dynamics of prokaryotic microbiomes in the 0.22 µm-filtered fraction and unfiltered freshwater from the Conwy River (North Wales, UK) in microcosms and, using targeted metabolomics and 14C-labelling, examined their role in the utilization of amino acids, organic acids and sugars spiked at environmentally-relevant (nanomolar) concentrations. To identify changes in community structure, we used 16S rRNA amplicon and shotgun sequencing. Unlike the unfiltered water samples where the consumption of DOC was rapid, the filtered fraction showed a 3-day lag phase before the consumption started. Analysis of functional categories of clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (COGs) showed that COGs associated with energy production increased in number in both fractions with substrate addition. The filtered fraction utilized low-molecular-weight (LMW) DOC at much slower rates than the whole community. Addition of nanomolar concentrations of LMW DOC did not measurably influence the composition of the microbial community nor the rate of consumption across all substrate types in either fraction. We conclude that due to their low activity, filterable microorganisms play a minor role in LMW DOC processing within a short residence time of lotic freshwater systems.
可过滤微生物参与淡水系统中溶解有机碳 (DOC) 的循环,但它们的确切功能角色仍不清楚。我们在微宇宙中确定了康威河(英国北威尔士)0.22µm 过滤部分和未过滤淡水中的原核微生物组的分类身份和群落动态,并使用靶向代谢组学和 14C 标记,研究了它们在利用环境相关(纳摩尔)浓度的氨基酸、有机酸和糖方面的作用。为了识别群落结构的变化,我们使用了 16S rRNA 扩增子和 shotgun 测序。与未过滤水样中 DOC 快速消耗不同,过滤部分在开始消耗之前显示出 3 天的滞后期。功能类别的分析同源基因簇(COG)表明,与能量生产相关的 COG 在添加底物后,在两个部分中的数量都增加了。过滤部分以比整个群落慢得多的速度利用低分子量 (LMW) DOC。添加纳摩尔浓度的 LMW DOC 并没有在任何底物类型下,在过滤部分或整个群落中,对微生物群落的组成或消耗速度产生可测量的影响。我们得出结论,由于其低活性,可过滤微生物在短停留时间的流水淡水系统中 LMW DOC 处理中仅发挥次要作用。