Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Department of Ocean Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2024 Apr;16(2):e13244. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.13244.
A small pigmented flagellate, Micromonas, is prevalently distributed in coastal and pelagic waters. However, there have been few studies conducted to quantify their abundance in the marginal seas of the Northwest Pacific Ocean. In this study, we used fluorescent in situ hybridization with tyramide signal amplification (TSA-FISH) to reveal the spatial distribution of Micromonas in the northern South China Sea (SCS). On average, the abundance of Micromonas was 317 cells mL, with the average proportions in the nanoflagellates (NF) and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPE) communities being 10.94% and 15.39%, respectively. This indicates a wide distribution and dominance of this genus in the studied area. The relationships between Micromonas abundance and various environmental factors suggested that biotic correlations play more important roles than physicochemical filtering on Micromonas assemblage. This may indicate a broad environmental adaptation spectrum of this genus through its flexibility in terms of resource acquisition strategies. In summary, this study provides insight into the spatial distribution pattern of Micromonas and highlights its crucial contribution to the composition of NFs and PPE communities, which rely on biological interaction to respond to the changing environmental conditions in the northern SCS.
一种小型有色素鞭毛虫——微微型单胞藻，广泛分布于沿海和海洋水层中。然而，目前针对西北太平洋边缘海微微型单胞藻丰度的研究较少。本研究采用荧光原位杂交结合酪胺信号放大（TSA-FISH）技术，揭示了南海北部微微型单胞藻的空间分布。微微型单胞藻的平均丰度为 317 个细胞 mL，在纳米浮游植物（NF）和光合微微型真核生物（PPE）群落中的平均比例分别为 10.94%和 15.39%。这表明该属在研究区域内分布广泛且占优势。微微型单胞藻丰度与各种环境因子之间的关系表明，生物相关性比物理化学过滤对微微型单胞藻组合的影响更为重要。这可能表明该属通过资源获取策略的灵活性具有广泛的环境适应范围。综上所述，本研究深入了解了微微型单胞藻的空间分布模式，并强调了其对 NF 和 PPE 群落组成的重要贡献，这些群落依赖于生物相互作用来应对南海北部不断变化的环境条件。
