Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T17:11:04.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dynamics of photosynthetic picoplankton in a subtropical estuary and adjacent shelf waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

D. Lin ,
A. Zhu ,
Z. Xu ,
L. Huang  and
H. Fang
D. Lin
Affiliation:
South China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center (SCSEMC), State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Guangzhou, China
A. Zhu*
Affiliation:
South China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center (SCSEMC), State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Guangzhou, China South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou, China
Z. Xu
Affiliation:
South China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center (SCSEMC), State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Guangzhou, China
L. Huang
Affiliation:
South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou, China
H. Fang
Affiliation:
South China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center (SCSEMC), State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Guangzhou, China
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A. Zhu, South China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center (SCSEMC), State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Guangzhou, China email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Dynamics of Synechococcus (Syn), Prochlorococcus (Pro) and picoeukaryotes (Euk) was studied at 92 stations in the Pearl River Estuary and adjacent shelf waters in the winter of 2006 using flow cytometry. The average cell abundance of photosynthetic picoplankon (Pico) was 104 cells/ml. Picoeukaryotes was the dominant group in the inner estuary where Pro was absent. Synechococcus was dominant in the coastal and open waters. The proportion of Pro was higher in the open than in the coastal waters. The change of Pico community structure from the inner estuary to the open waters is related to the changes in hydrochemical dynamics. The vertical variations in the abundance and community composition of Pico were not significant. The abundances of Pro and Syn were positively correlated with temperature, salinity and pH, whereas they were negatively correlated with dissolved oxygen (DO), suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon) concentrations. But the correlations between %Euk (as of total pico) and these environmental factors were opposite to those between the abundance of prokaryotic cells (Pro and Syn) and the environmental factors. %Euk had significant negative correlations with temperature, salinity and pH, and positive correlations with DO, SSC and nutrients. There were differences in the niches between prokaryotic cells and picoeukaryotes. Prochlorococcus and Syn were dominant in the warm waters with high salinity, low SSC and low nutrient concentrations, while %Euk was higher in the cold waters with low salinity, high SSC and high nutrient concentrations. Results of principal component analysis and regression analysis indicated that the relationship between the abundances of Pico and the environmental factors was a compound function (y = b0(b1)x), and that between the abundances of Pro, Syn or %Euk and the environmental factors was a linear function.

Keywords

dynamicsphotosynthetic picoplanktonsubtropical estuaryadjacent shelf waters
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 7 , November 2010 , pp. 1319 - 1329
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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

REFERENCES

Binder, B.J., Chisholm, S.W., Olson, R.J., Frankel, S.L. and Worden, A.Z. (1996) Dynamics of picophytopkanton, ultraphytoplankton and bacteria in the central equatorial Pacific. Deep-Sea Research II 43, 907–931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchot, J., Rodier, M. and Le Bouteiller, A. (1992) Effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation events on the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton in the Western Pacific Tropical Ocean along 1651E. Journal of Plankton Research 14, 137–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buck, K.R., Chavez, F.P., Campbell, L. (1996) Basin-wide distributions of living carbon components and the inverted trophic pyramid of the central gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean, summer 1993. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 10, 283–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bustillos-Guzman, J., Claustre, H. and Marty, J.-C. (1995) Specific phytoplankton signatures and their relationship to hydrographic conditions in the coastal northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 124, 247–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, L. and Vaulot, D. (1993) Photosynthetic picoplankton community structure in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean near Hawaii (station ALOHA). Deep-Sea Research 40, 2043–2060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, L., Landry, M.R., Constantinou, J., Nolla, H.A., Brown, S.L, Liu, H. and Caron, D.A. (1998) Response of microbial community structure to environmental forcing in the Arabian Sea. Deep-Sea Research II 45, 2301–2325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, L., Nolla, H.A. and Vaulot, D. (1994) The importance of Prochlorococcus to community structure in the central North Pacific Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography 39, 954–961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, L., Liu, H., Nolla, H. and Vaulot, D. (1997) Annual variability of phytoplankton and bacteria in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean at Station ALOHA during the 1991–1994 ENSO event. Deep-Sea Research 44, 167–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavender-Bares, K.K., Mann, E.L., Chisholm, S.W., Ondrusek, M.E. and Bidigare, R.R. (1999) Differential response of equatorial Pacific phytoplankton to iron fertilization. Limnology and Oceanography 44, 237–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, J., Lina, K.-H., Chen, K.-M., Gong, G.-C. and Chiang, K.-P. (2003) Synechococcus growth and mortality rates in the East China Sea: range of variations and correlation with environmental factors. Deep-Sea Research II 50, 1265–1278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiang, K.-P., Kuo, M.-C., Chang, J., Wang, R.-H. and Gong, G.-C. (2002) Spatial and temporal variation of the Synechococcus population in the East China Sea and its contribution to phytoplankton biomass. Continental Shelf Research 22, 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisholm, S.W., Olson, R.J., Zettler, E.R., Goericke, R., Waterbury, J.B. and Welschmeyer, N.A. (1988) A novel free-living prochlorophyte abundant in the oceanic euphotic zone. Nature 334, 340–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisholm, S.W., Frankel, S.L., Goericke, R., Olson, R.J., Palenik, B., Waterbury, J.B., West-Johnsrud, L. and Zettler, E.R. (1992) Prochlorococcus marinus nov. gen. nov. sp.: an oxyphototrophic marine prokaryote containing chlorophyll a and b. Archives of Microbiology 157, 297–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Díez, B., Pedrós-Alió, C. and Massana, R. (2001) Study of genetic diversity of eukaryotic picoplankton in different oceanic regions by small-subunit rRNA gene cloning and sequencing. Applied Environmental Microbiology 67, 2932–2941.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dong, L., Su, J., Wong, L.A., Cao, Z., Chen, J.C. (2004) Seasonal variation and dynamics of the Pearl River plume. Continental Shelf Research 24, 1761–1777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuhrman, J.A. and Campbell, L. (1998) Microbial microdiversity. Nature 393, 410–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, N.J., West, N.J., Marie, D., Yallop, M., Rivlin, T., Post, A.F. and Scanlan, D.L. (2005) Dynamics of community structure and phosphate status of picocyanobacterial populations in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. Limnology and Oceanography 50, 363–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, P.J., Yin, K., Lee, J.H.W., Gan, J. and Liu, H. (2008) Physical–biological coupling in the Pearl River Estuary. Continental Shelf Research 28, 1405–1415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiao, N. (2006) Marine microbial ecology. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Jiao, N., Yang, Y., Hong, N., Ma, Y., Harada, S., Koshikawa, H. and Watanabe, M. (2005) Dynamics of autotrophic picoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria in the East China Sea. Continental Shelf Research 25, 1265–1279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, P.W. and Sieburth, J. (1979) Chroococcoid cyanobacteria in the sea: a ubiquitous and diverse phototrophic biomass. Limnology and Oceanography 24, 928–935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landry, M.R., Kirshtein, J. and Constantinou, J. (1996) Abundances and distribution of picoplankton populations in the central equatorial Pacific from 12 N to 12S, 140W. Deep-Sea Research II 43, 871–890.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Y.S., Seiki, T., Mukai, T., Takimoto, K. and Okada, M. (1996) Limiting nutrients of phytoplankton community in Hiroshima Bay, Japan. Water Research 30, 1490–1494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, H., Veldhuis, J.W. and Post, A.F. (1996) Alkaline phosphates activities among planktonic communities in the northern Red Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 140, 199–205.Google Scholar
Li, Y. (2004) Dynamics of phytoplankton in the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent waters. MS thesis. Xiamen University, Fujian Province, China.Google Scholar
Marie, D., Simon, N. and Vaulot, D. (2005) Phytoplankton cell counting by flow cytometry. In Andersen, R.A. (ed.) Algal culturing techniques. Burlington: Elsevier–Academic Press, pp. 235–268.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, K., Furuya, K. and Kawano, T. (2004) Association of picophytoplankton distribution with ENSO events in the equatorial Pacific between 145°E and 160°W. Deep-Sea Research I 51, 1851–1871.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michele, D.D., Olson, R.J. and Chisholm, S.W. (2001) Phytoplankton population dynamics at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series station in the Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Research II 48, 1983–2003.Google Scholar
Moore, L.R., Georicke, R. and Chisholm, S.W. (1995) Comparative physiology of Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus: influence of light and temperature on growth, pigments, fluorescence and absorptive properties. Marine Ecology Progress Series 116, 259–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, L.R., Post, A.F., Rocap, G. and Chisholm, S.W. (2002) Utilization of different nitrogen sources by the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus. Limnology and Oceanography 47, 989–996.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ning, X., Cai, Y., Li, G. and Shi, J. (2003) Photosynthetic picoplankton in the northern South China Sea. Acta Oceanology Sinica 25, 84–97. [In Chinese.]Google Scholar
Olson, R.J., Chisholm, S.W., Zettler, E.R. and Armbrust, E.V. (1988) Analysis of Synechococcus pigment types in the sea during single and dual beam flow cytometry. Deep-Sea Research 35, 425–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, R.J., Chisholm, S.W., Zettler, E.R., Altabet, M.A. and Dusenberry, J.A. (1990) Spatial and temporal distributions of prochlorophyte picoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research 37, 1033–1051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pan, L.A., Zhang, L.H., Zhang, J., Gasol, J.M. and Chao, M. (2005) On-board flow cytometric observation of picoplankton community structure in the East China Sea during the fall of different years. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 52, 243–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pan, L.A., Zhang, J. and Zhang, L.H. (2007) Picophytoplankton, nanophytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria and viruses in the Changjiang Estuary and adjacent coastal waters. Journal of Plankton Research 29, 187–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Partensky, F., Blanchot, J., Lantione, F., Neveux, J. and Marie, D. (1996) Vertical structure of picophytoplankton at different trophic sites of the tropical northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research 43, 1191–1213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Partensky, F., Hess, W.R. and Vaulot, D. (1999) Prochlorococcus, a marine photosynthetic prokaryote of global significance. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 63, 106–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitta, P., Stambler, N., Tanaka, T., Zohary, T., Tselepides, A. and Rassoulzadegan, F. (2005) Biological response to P addition in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The microbial race against time. Deep-Sea Research II 52, 2961–2974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Põder, T., Maestrini, S.Y., Balode, M., Lips, U., Béchemin, C., Andrushaitis, A. and Purina, I. (2003) The role of inorganic and organic nutrient on the development of phytoplankton along a transect from the Daugava River mouth to the Open Baltic, in spring and summer 1999. ICES Journal of Marine Science 60, 827–835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reckermann, M. and Veldhuis, M.J.W. (1997) Trophic interactions between picophytoplankton and micro- and nanozooplankton in the western Arabian Sea during the NE monsoon 1993. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 12, 263–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, J. (2004) Overview of the South China Sea circulation and its influence on the coastal physical oceanography outside the Pearl River Estuary. Continental Shelf Research 24, 1745–1760.Google Scholar
Vaulot, D. and Ning, X. (1988) Abundance and cellular characteristics of marine Synechococcus spp. in the dilution zone of Changjiang (Yangtze River, China). Continental Shelf Research 8, 1171–1186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaulot, D., Lebot, N., Marie, D. and Fukai, E. (1996) Effect of phosphorus on the Synechococcus cell cycle in surface Mediterranean waters during summer. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 62, 2527–2533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waterbury, J.B., Watson, S.W., Guillard, R.R.L. and Brand, L.E. (1979) Widespread occurrence of a unicellular marine planktonic cyanobacterium. Nature 277, 293–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, P.K., Horan, K., Muirhead, D.A., Phinney, C.M., Yentsch, A. and Waterbury, J.B. (1985) Discrimination between types of pigments in marine Synechococcus spp. by scanning spectroscopy, epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Limnology and Oceanography 30, 1303–1315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Worden, A.Z., Nolan, J.K. and Palenik, B. (2004) Assessing the dynamics and ecology of marine picophytoplankton: the importance of the eukaryotic component. Limnology and Oceanography 49, 168–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wyman, F.P., Gregory, R.P.F. and Carr, N.G. (1985) Novel role for phycoerythrin in a marine cyanobacterium, Synechococcus Strain DC2. Science 230, 818–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yin, K., Qian, P., Wu, M.C.S., Chen, J.C., Huang, L., Song, X. and Jian, W. (2001) Shift from P to N limitation of phytoplankton growth across the Pearl River estuarine plume during summer. Marine Ecology Progress Series 221, 17–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zubkov, M.V., Sleigh, M.A., Tarran, G.A., Burkill, P.H. and Leakey, R.J.G. (1998) Picoplanktonic community structure on an Atlantic transect from 50°N to 50°S. Deep-Sea Research I 45, 1339–1355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar