Ocean acidification shows negligible impacts on high-latitude bacterial community structure in coastal pelagic mesocosms

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Roy, Alexandra-Sophie, Gibbons, S. M., Schunck, Harald, Owens, S., Caporaso, J. G., Sperling, Martin, Nissimov, J. I., Romac, S., Bittner, L., Riebesell, Ulf, LaRoche, Julie, Gilbert, J. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications (EGU) 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Ocean acidification; Phytoplankton
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/15405/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/15405/2/bgd-9-13319-2012-supplement.pdf; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/15405/13/bg-10-555-2013.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-555-2013

The impact of ocean acidification and carbonation on microbial community structure was assessed during a large-scale in situ costal pelagic mesocosm study, included as part of the EPOCA 2010 Arctic campaign. The mesocosm experiment included ambient conditions (fjord) and nine mesocosms, with pCO2 range from ~145 to ~1420 μatm. Samples collected at nine time points (t-1, t1, t5, t7, t12, t14, t22, t26 to t28) in seven treatments (ambient fjord (~145), 2×~185, ~270, ~685, ~820, ~1050 μatm) were analysed for "free-living" and "particle associated" microbial community composition using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. This high-throughput sequencing analysis produced ~20 000 000 16S rRNA V4 reads, which comprised 7000 OTUs. The main variables structuring these communities were, sample origin (fjord or mesocosms) and the filter size fraction (free-living or particle associated). The community was significantly different between the fjord and both the control and elevated 2 mesocosms (which were not significant different) after nutrients were added to the mesocosms; suggesting that the addition of nutrients is the primary driver of the change in mesocosm community structure. The relative importance of each structuring variable depended greatly on the time at which the community was sampled in relation to the phytoplankton bloom. The size fraction was the second most important factor for community structure; separating free-living from particle-associated bacteria. When free-living and particle-associated bacteria were analysed separately at different time points, the only taxon pCO2 was found to significantly affect were the Gammaproteobacteria after nutrient addition. Finally, pCO2 treatment was found to be significantly correlated (non-linear) with 15 rare taxa, most of which increased in abundance with higher CO2.