Bacterial community structure along the subtidal sandy sediment belt of a high Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard Islands)

Open fjords are subject to contrasting environmental conditions, owing to meltwater glacial inputs, terrestrial runoff, and marine water mass exchanges, which are exacerbated by anthropogenic and climate perturbations. Following a slope-dependentwater circulation, the subtidal sandy sediment belt re...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science of The Total Environment
Main Authors: Antonella, Conte, Maria, Papale, Stefano, Amalfitano, Anu, Mikkonen, Carmen, Rizzo, Emilio, De Domenico, Luigi, Michaud, Angelina, Lo Giudice
Other Authors: Conte, Antonella, Papale, Maria, Amalfitano, Stefano, Mikkonen, Anu, Rizzo, Carmen, DE DOMENICO, Emilio, Michaud, Luigi, LO GIUDICE, Angelina
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Coastal sands
Glacial inputs
Ion PGM sequencing
Microbial community composition
Prokaryotic abundance
Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution
glacier
Kongsfjord*
Kongsfjorden
Svalbard
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11570/3121101
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.077
Description
Summary:Open fjords are subject to contrasting environmental conditions, owing to meltwater glacial inputs, terrestrial runoff, and marine water mass exchanges, which are exacerbated by anthropogenic and climate perturbations. Following a slope-dependentwater circulation, the subtidal sandy sediment belt regulates the convergent transport of nutrients downward the fjord depths, and the effective entrapment of suspended particles and microorganisms. In this study, we aimed at testing how glacial and seawater inputs may influence the bacterial community structure of subtidal sand deposits in the Kongsfjorden. Through total and viable cell counting and an amplicon sequencing approach, we found relevant differences in bacterial community structure along the glacio-marine sampling transect. Viable and high nucleic acid content (HNA) cells represented an important fraction of the total community, generally decreasing toward the glacier front. Besides the predominance of Alphaand Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Parcubacteria, the bacterial community structure was likely affected by the glacial activity in the inner fjord, with the occurrence of distinctive phylotypes belonging to Gemmatimonadates, Nitrospirae, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi. Overall, our outcomes highlighted that exploring the bacterial community distribution and structure can provide new insights into the active role of sand deposits in coastal cold environments.

Similar Items