Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:24:06.539Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preliminary evidence for the microbial loop in Antarctic sea ice using microcosm simulations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2012

Andrew Martin ,
Andrew McMinn ,
Simon K. Davy ,
Marti J. Anderson ,
Hilary C. Miller ,
Julie A. Hall  and
Ken G. Ryan
Andrew Martin*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart 7001, Australia
Andrew McMinn
Affiliation:
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart 7001, Australia
Simon K. Davy
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
Marti J. Anderson
Affiliation:
New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University Private Bag 102 904, Albany 0632, New Zealand
Hilary C. Miller
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
Julie A. Hall
Affiliation:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Ken G. Ryan
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Sea ice microalgae actively contribute to the pool of dissolved organic matter (DOM) available for bacterial metabolism, but this link has historically relied on bulk correlations between chlorophyll a (a surrogate for algal biomass) and bacterial abundance. We incubated microbes from both the bottom (congelation layer) and surface brine region of Antarctic fast ice for nine days. Algal-derived DOM was manipulated by varying the duration of irradiance, restricting photosynthesis with 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) or incubating in the dark. The bacterial response to changes in DOM availability was examined by performing cell counts, quantifying bacterial metabolic activity and examining community composition with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The percentage of metabolically active bacteria was relatively low in the surface brine microcosm (10–20% of the bacterial community), the treatment with DCMU indirectly restricted bacterial growth and there was some evidence for changes in community structure. Metabolic activity was higher (35–69%) in the bottom ice microcosm, and while there was no variation in community structure, bacterial growth was restricted in the treatment with DCMU compared to the light/dark treatment. These results are considered preliminary, but provide a useful illustration of sea ice microbial dynamics beyond the use of ‘snapshot’ biomass correlations.

Keywords

bacteriaDGGEmicroalgae
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 24 , Issue 6 , December 2012 , pp. 547 - 553
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackley, S.F.Sullivan, C.W. 1994. Physical controls on the development and characteristics of Antarctic sea ice biological communities - a review and synthesis. Deep-Sea Research I, 41, 1583–1604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, M.J. 2001. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecology, 26, 32–46.Google Scholar
Anderson, M.J., Gorley, R.N.Clarke, K.R. 2008. PERMANOVA+ for PRIMER. Guide to software and statistical methods. Plymouth: PRIMER-E, 214 pp.Google Scholar
Archer, S.D., Leakey, R.J.G., Burkill, P.H., Sleigh, M.A.Appleby, C.J. 1996. Microbial ecology of sea ice at a coastal Antarctic site: community composition, biomass and temporal change. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 135, 179–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azam, F.Malfatti, F. 2007. Microbial structuring of marine ecosystems. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5, 782–791.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Azam, F., Smith, D.C.Hollibaugh, J.T. 1991. The role of the microbial loop in Antarctic pelagic ecosystems. Polar Research, 10, 239–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, L., Courties, C., Duperray, C., Schäfer, H., Muyzer, G.Lebaron, P. 2001. A new approach to determine the genetic diversity of viable and active bacteria in aquatic ecosystems. Cytometry, 43, 314–321.3.0.CO;2-H>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernard, L., Schäfer, H., Joux, F., Courties, C., Muyzer, G.Lebaron, P. 2000. Genetic diversity of total, active and culturable marine bacteria in coastal seawater. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 23, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casamayor, E.O., Schäfer, H., Bańeras, L., Pedrós-Alió, C.Muyzer, G. 2000. Identification of and spatio-temporal differences between microbial assemblages from two neighboring sulfurous lakes: comparison by microscopy and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 66, 499–508.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, K.R.Gorley, R.N. 2006. PRIMER v6: user manual/tutorial. Plymouth: Primer-E, 190 pp.Google Scholar
Ducklow, H., Carlson, C.Smith, W. 1999. Bacterial growth in experimental plankton assemblages and seawater cultures from the Phaeocystis antarctica bloom in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 19, 215–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrelly, V., Rainey, F.A.Stackebrandt, E. 1995. Effect of genome size and rRNA gene copy number on PCR amplification of 16S rRNA genes from a mixture of bacterial species. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 61, 2789–2801.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fiala, M., Kuosa, H., Kopczyńska, E.E., Oriol, L.Delille, D. 2006. Spatial and seasonal heterogeneity of sea ice microbial communities in the first-year ice of Terre Adélie area (Antarctica). Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 43, 95–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrison, D.L., Gibson, A., Coale, S.L., Gowing, M.M., Okolodkov, Y.B., Fritsen, H.F.Jeffries, M.O. 2005. Sea ice microbial communities in the Ross Sea: autumn and summer biota. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 300, 39–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasol, J.M.Arístegui, J. 2007. Cytometric evidence reconciling the toxicity and usefulness of CTC as a marker of bacterial activity. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 46, 71–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasol, J.M., Pinhassi, J., Alonso-Sáez, L., Ducklow, H., Herndl, G.J., Koblížek, M., Labrenz, M., Luo, Y., Morán, X.A.G., Reinthaler, T.Simon, M. 2008. Towards a better understanding of microbial carbon flux in the sea. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 53, 21–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gast, R.J., Dennett, M.R.Caron, D.A. 2004. Characterization of protistan assemblages in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 70, 2028–2037.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giesenhagen, H.C., Detmer, A.E., De Wall, J., Weber, A., Gradinger, R.R.Jochem, F.J. 1999. How are Antarctic planktonic microbial food webs and algal blooms affected by melting of sea ice? Microcosm simulations. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 20, 183–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karl, D.M. 1986. Determination of in situ microbial biomass, viability, metabolism, and growth. In Poindexter, J.S. & Leadbetter, E.R., eds. Bacteria in nature, vol. 2. New York: Plenum Press, 81–176.Google Scholar
Kottmeier, S.T.Sullivan, C.W. 1990. Bacterial biomass and production in pack ice of Antarctic marginal ice-edge zones. Deep-Sea Research I, 37, 1311–1330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kottmeier, S.T., McGrath Grossi, S.Sullivan, C.W. 1987. Sea ice microbial communities. VIII. Bacterial production in annual sea ice of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 35, 175–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legendre, L., Ackley, S.F., Dieckmann, G.S., Gulliksen, B., Horner, R., Hoshiai, T., Melnikov, I.A., Reeburgh, W.S., Spindler, M.Sullivan, C.W. 1992. Ecology of sea ice biota. 2. Global significance. Polar Biology, 12, 429–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longnecker, K., Sherr, B.F.Sherr, E.B. 2005. Activity and phylogenetic diversity of bacterial cells with high and low nucleic acid content and electron transport system activity in an upwelling ecosystem. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 71, 7737–7749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manly, B.F.J. 2006. Randomisation, bootstrap and Monte Carlo methods in biology, 3rd ed. London: Chapman & Hall, 455 pp.Google Scholar
Martin, A., Hall, J.A.Ryan, K.G. 2009. Low salinity and high-level UV-B radiation reduce single-cell activity in Antarctic sea ice bacteria. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 75, 7570–7573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, A., Anderson, M.J., Thorn, C., Davy, S.K.Ryan, K.G. 2011. Response of sea ice microbial communities to environmental disturbance: an in situ transplant experiment in the Antarctic. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 424, 25–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, A., Hall, J.A., O'Toole, R., Davy, S.K.Ryan, K.G. 2008. High single-cell metabolic activity in Antarctic sea ice bacteria. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 52, 25–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McArdle, B.H.Anderson, M.J. 2001. Fitting multivariate models to community data: a comment on distance-based redundancy analysis. Ecology, 82, 290–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, A.E., Hollibaugh, J.T.Orrego, C. 1996. Phylogenetic compositions from two California estuaries by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rDNA fragments. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 62, 2676–2680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reysenbach, A.L., Giver, L.J., Wickham, G.S.Pace, N.R. 1992. Differential amplification of rRNA genes by polymerase chain reaction. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 58, 3417–3418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, K.G., Ralph, P.McMinn, A. 2004. Acclimation of Antarctic bottom ice algal communities to lowered salinities during melting. Polar Biology, 27, 679–686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez, O., Gasol, J.M., Massana, R., Mas, J.Pedrós-Alió, C. 2007. Comparison of different denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis primer sets for the study of marine bacterioplankton communities. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 73, 5962–5967.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schumann, R., Schiewer, U., Karsten, U.Rieling, T. 2003. Viability of bacteria from different aquatic habitats. II. Cellular fluorescent markers for membrane integrity and metabolic activity. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 32, 137–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, F.J., Davidson, A.T.Marchant, H.J. 2001. Grazing by the Antarctic sea ice ciliate Pseudocohnilembus. Polar Biology, 24, 127–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Servais, P., Agogué, H., Courties, C., Joux, F.Lebaron, P. 2001. Are the active respiring cells (CTC+) those responsible for bacterial production in aquatic environments? FEMS Microbiology and Ecology, 35, 171–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, F.J.Fritsen, C.H 2004. Bacteria-algae relationships in Antarctic sea ice. Antarctic Science, 16, 143–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, C.W.Palmisano, A.C. 1984. Sea ice microbial communities: distribution, abundance, and diversity of ice bacteria in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, in 1980. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 47, 788–795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, G.T.Sullivan, C.W. 2008. Vitamin B12 and cobalt cycling among diatoms and bacteria in Antarctic sea ice microbial communities. Limnology and Oceanography, 53, 1862–1877.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, D.N.Dieckmann, G.S. 2002. Antarctic sea ice - a habitat for extremophiles. Science, 295, 641–644.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ullrich, S., Karrasch, B., Hoppe, H-G., Jeskulke, K.Mehrens, M. 1996. Toxic effects on bacterial metabolism of the redox dye 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 62, 4587–4593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Martin et al. supplementary material

Supplementary data

Download Martin et al. supplementary material(File)
File 155.1 KB