Stable microbial community diversity across large-scale Antarctic water masses.

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhengang, Cao, Furong, Wan, Jiyuan, Chen, Xing, Kong, Bin, Li, Dong, Zhang, Xiao-Hua, Jiang, Yong, Shi, Xiaochong
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science 2024
• Subjects: Antarctic; Assembly process; Co-occurrence network; Microbial communities; Water masses; Antarctic Peninsula; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Cosmonaut sea
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174559; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38992373

The distinctive environmental attributes of the Southern Ocean underscore the indispensability of microorganisms in this region. We analyzed 208 samples obtained from four separate layers (Surface, Deep Chlorophyll Maximum, Middle, and Bottom) in the neighboring seas of the Antarctic Peninsula and the Cosmonaut Sea to explore variations in microbial composition, interactions and community assembly processes. The results demonstrated noteworthy distinctions in alpha and beta diversity across diverse communities, with the increase in water depth, a gradual rise in community diversity was observed. In particular, the co-occurrence network analysis exposed pronounced microbial interactions within the same water mass, which are notably stronger than those observed between different water masses. Co-occurrence network complexity was higher in the surface water mass than in the bottom water mass. Yet, the surface water mass exhibited greater network stability. Moreover, in the phylogenetic-based β-nearest taxon distance analyses, deterministic processes were identified as the primary factors influencing community assembly in Antarctic microorganisms. This study contributes to exploring diversity and assembly processes under the complex hydrological conditions of Antarctica.