Tangherlini Michael, Corinaldesi Cinzia, Ape Francesca, Greco Silvestro, Romeo Teresa, Andaloro Franco, Danovaro Roberto
Fano Marine Centre, Department of Research Infrastructures for Marine Biological Resources, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Viale Adriatico 1-N, 61032 Fano, Italy.
Department of Materials, Environmental Sciences and Urban Planning, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
Microorganisms. 2021 Apr 6;9(4):769. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9040769.
Acidified marine systems represent "natural laboratories", which provide opportunities to investigate the impacts of ocean acidification on different living components, including microbes. Here, we compared the benthic microbial response in four naturally acidified sites within the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea characterized by different acidification sources (i.e., CO emissions at Ischia, mixed gases at Panarea and Basiluzzo and acidified freshwater from karst rocks at Presidiana) and pH values. We investigated prokaryotic abundance, activity and biodiversity, viral abundance and prokaryotic infections, along with the biochemical composition of the sediment organic matter. We found that, despite differences in local environmental dynamics, viral life strategies change in acidified conditions from mainly lytic to temperate lifestyles (e.g., chronic infection), also resulting in a lowered impact on prokaryotic communities, which shift towards (chemo)autotrophic assemblages, with lower organic matter consumption. Taken together, these results suggest that ocean acidification exerts a deep control on microbial benthic assemblages, with important feedbacks on ecosystem functioning.
酸化的海洋系统是“天然实验室”，为研究海洋酸化对包括微生物在内的不同生物组成部分的影响提供了机会。在此，我们比较了第勒尼安海南部四个自然酸化区域底栖微生物的反应，这些区域具有不同的酸化来源（即伊斯基亚岛的一氧化碳排放、帕纳雷阿岛和巴西卢佐岛的混合气体以及普雷西迪亚纳岛来自岩溶岩石的酸化淡水）和pH值。我们研究了原核生物的丰度、活性和生物多样性、病毒丰度和原核生物感染情况，以及沉积物有机质的生化组成。我们发现，尽管当地环境动态存在差异，但在酸化条件下，病毒的生存策略从主要的裂解性生活方式转变为温和性生活方式（如慢性感染），这也导致对原核生物群落的影响降低，原核生物群落转向（化能）自养组合，有机质消耗减少。综上所述，这些结果表明海洋酸化对底栖微生物群落具有深度控制作用，并对生态系统功能产生重要反馈。
