Ontario Tech University, 2000 Simcoe St N, Oshawa, Ontario L1G 0C5, Canada.
Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 1;871:162042. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162042. Epub 2023 Feb 6.
Water quality and phytoplankton community composition are important factors that can indicate freshwater ecosystem health. We combined water quality, phytoplankton community, and metabolomic data from algae and water sampled from two embayments in Lake Ontario, Hamilton Harbour and the Bay of Quinte, over ten weeks from August to October in the year 2020. Metabolomics was performed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) to identify changes in intracellular metabolites within algae communities over time, and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) was used to characterize putative isomers of extracellular metabolites at sub-ppb mass accuracy. Results from this study indicate that Hamilton Harbour and the Bay of Quinte are two very different ecosystems with respect to water quality, phytoplankton metabolites, and phytoplankton community composition. Community composition is strongly driven by conductivity and nitrates in Hamilton Harbour, while the opposite is true in the Bay of Quinte. Metabolites including α-aminobutyric acid and glycine were found in larger abundance within algal communities at both locations, while taurine was more predominant in algal communities from the Bay of Quinte. These metabolic profiles could reflect the different communities of phytoplankton, and be alternative indicators of algal bloom growth.
水质和浮游植物群落组成是指示淡水生态系统健康的重要因素。我们结合了 2020 年 8 月至 10 月的 10 周内从安大略湖的两个海湾（汉密尔顿港和昆特湾）采集的藻类和水样的水质、浮游植物群落和代谢组学数据。代谢组学使用液相色谱串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）进行，以确定藻类群落中细胞内代谢物随时间的变化，傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱（FT-ICR-MS）用于以亚 ppb 质量精度表征细胞外代谢物的可能异构体。本研究结果表明，汉密尔顿港和昆特湾在水质、浮游植物代谢物和浮游植物群落组成方面是两个非常不同的生态系统。在汉密尔顿港，群落组成受电导率和硝酸盐的强烈驱动，而在昆特湾则相反。在两个地点的藻类群落中都发现了包括α-氨基丁酸和甘氨酸在内的代谢物含量较高，而牛磺酸在昆特湾的藻类群落中更为普遍。这些代谢谱可能反映了不同的浮游植物群落，并且是藻类大量繁殖生长的替代指标。
