Water mass dynamics shape Ross Sea protist communities in mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers

Deep-sea environments host the largest pool of microbes and represent the last largely unexplored and poorly known ecosystems on Earth. The Ross Sea is characterized by unique oceanographic dynamics and harbors several water masses deeply involved in cooling and ventilation of deep oceans. In this s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Progress in Oceanography
Main Authors: ZOCCARATO, LUCA, PALLAVICINI, Alberto, FONDA, SERENA, Cerino, Federica, Celussi, Mauro
Other Authors: Zoccarato, Luca, Pallavicini, Alberto, Fonda, Serena
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
18S rDNA Metabarcoding
Antarctica
Ross Sea
Biogeography
Mesopelagic and bathypelagic realm
Protists community composition
Aquatic Science
Geology
Antarctic
Austral
Antarc*
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11368/2887487
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2016.10.003
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079661116301203
Description
Summary:Deep-sea environments host the largest pool of microbes and represent the last largely unexplored and poorly known ecosystems on Earth. The Ross Sea is characterized by unique oceanographic dynamics and harbors several water masses deeply involved in cooling and ventilation of deep oceans. In this study the V9 region of the 18S rDNA was targeted and sequenced with the Ion Torrent high-throughput sequencing technology to unveil differences in protist communities (>2 μm) correlated with biogeochemical properties of the water masses. The analyzed samples were significantly different in terms of environmental parameters and community composition outlining significant structuring effects of temperature and salinity. Overall, Alveolata (especially Dinophyta), Stramenopiles and Excavata groups dominated mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers, and protist communities were shaped according to the biogeochemistry of the water masses (advection effect and mixing events). Newly-formed High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) was characterized by high relative abundance of phototrophic organisms that bloom at the surface during the austral summer. Oxygen-depleted Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) showed higher abundance of Excavata, common bacterivores in deep water masses. At the shelf-break, Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), formed by the entrainment of shelf waters in CDW, maintained the eukaryotic genetic signature typical of both parental water masses.

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