Coastal ecosystems play significant ecological and economic roles but are threatened and facing decline. Microbes drive various biogeochemical processes in coastal ecosystems. Tidal flats are critical components of coastal ecosystems; however, the structure and function of microbial communities in tidal flats are poorly understood. Here we investigated the seasonal variations of bacterial communities along a tidal flat series (subtidal, intertidal and supratidal flats) and the factors affecting the variations. Bacterial community composition and diversity were analyzed over four seasons by 16S rRNA genes using the Ion Torrent PGM platform. Bacterial community composition differed significantly along the tidal flat series. Bacterial phylogenetic diversity increased while phylogenetic turnover decreased from subtidal to supratidal flats. Moreover, the bacterial community structure differed seasonally. Canonical correspondence analysis identified salinity as a major environmental factor structuring the microbial community in the sediment along the successional series. Meanwhile, temperature and nitrite concentration were major drivers of seasonal microbial changes. Despite major compositional shifts, nitrogen, methane and energy metabolisms predicted by PICRUSt were inhibited in the winter. Taken together, this study indicates that bacterial community structure changed along the successional tidal flat series and provides new insights on the characteristics of bacterial communities in coastal ecosystems.
This study examined the bacterial and archaeal diversity from a worldwide range of wetlands soils and sediments using a meta-analysis approach. All available 16S rRNA gene sequences recovered from wetlands in public databases were retrieved. In November 2012, a total of 12677 bacterial and 1747 archaeal sequences were collected in GenBank. All the bacterial sequences were assigned into 6383 operational taxonomic units (OTUs 0.03), representing 31 known bacterial phyla, predominant with Proteobacteria (2791 OTUs), Bacteroidetes (868 OTUs), Acidobacteria (731 OTUs), Firmicutes (540 OTUs), and Actinobacteria (418 OTUs). The genus Flavobacterium (11.6% of bacterial sequences) was the dominate bacteria in wetlands, followed by Gp1, Nitrosospira, and Nitrosomonas. Archaeal sequences were assigned to 521 OTUs from phyla Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota. The dominating archaeal genera were Fervidicoccus and Methanosaeta. Rarefaction analysis indicated that approximately 40% of bacterial and 83% of archaeal diversity in wetland soils and sediments have been presented. Our results should be significant for well-understanding the microbial diversity involved in worldwide wetlands.
A series of seed priming experiments were conducted to test the effects of different pretreatment methods to seed germination, seedling growth, and seed yield traits in maize (Zea mays L.). Results indicated that the seeds primed by gibberellins (GA), NaCl, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) reagents showed a higher imbibitions rate compared to those primed with water. The final germination percentage and germination rate varied with different reagents significantly (P < 0.05). The recommended prime reagents were GA at 10 mg/L, NaCl at 50 mM, and PEG at 15% on account of germination experiment. 15% PEG priming reagent increased shoot and root biomass of maize seedling. The shoot biomass of seedlings after presoaking the seeds with NaCl reagent was significantly higher than the seedlings without priming treatment. No significant differences of plant height, leaf number, and hundred-grain weight were observed between control group and priming treatments. Presoaking with water, NaCl (50 mM), or PEG (15%) significantly increased the hundred-grain weight of maize. Therefore, seed pretreatment is proved to be an effective technique to improve the germination performance, seedling growth, and seed yield of maize. However, when compared with the two methods, if immediate sowing is possible, presoaking is recommended to harvest better benefits compared to priming method.
Cadmium is a non-essential element to living organisms and has become the severe contaminant in both seawater and sediment in the intertidal zones of the Bohai Sea. The halophyte, Suaeda salsa is the pioneer plant in the intertidal zones of Bohai Sea and has been widely applied in environmental sciences. In this study, the dose-and time-dependent effects induced by environmentally relevant concentrations (2, 10 and 50 lg l -1 ) of cadmium were characterized in S. salsa using NMR-based metabolomics. The levels of amino acids (valine, leucine, glutamate, tyrosine, etc.), carbohydrates (glucose, sucrose and fructose), intermediates of tricarboxylic acid cycle (succinate, citrate, etc.) and osmolyte (betaine) were altered in the S. salsa samples after cadmium exposures. These metabolic biomarkers indicated the elevated protein degradation and disturbances in the osmotic regulation and energy metabolism caused by cadmium in S. salsa. Overall, our results demonstrated the applicability of NMR-based metabolomics for the detection of metabolic biomarkers that could be used for the interpretation of toxicological effects induced by contaminants in the pioneer plant S. salsa in the intertidal zones. In addition, the metabolic biomarkers could be potentially useful for the bio-monitoring of contaminants in the intertidal zones.
Soil salinity and waterlogging are two major environmental problems in estuarine wetlands. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of salt stress, water table, and their combination on growth, chlorophyll content, antioxidant system, and ion accumulation in Suaeda salsa plant, which is the pioneer plant in coastal wetland of the Yellow River Delta (YRD). The results showed that plant height, number of branches, and biomass were significantly affected by water table and salt stress. With enhanced salt stress, the ratio of leaf to total biomass increased and the ratio of root to total biomass decreased. The contents of Chl-a, -b, Chl-a þ b, and carotenoids (Car) decreased significantly with increasing soil salinity and the water table level. Salt stress enhanced the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), but reduced the content of protein. With the lowering water table level, the activity of CAT and protein content increased, and activity of SOD decreased. Na þ and Cl À content were up-regulated with increasing salt stress (NaCl), whereas, the contents of other cations (K þ , Ca 2þ , and Mg 2þ ) and anions (SO 2À 4 and NO À 3 ) were decreased. In summary, the results indicated that the S. salsa plants could adapt to the adverse soil environments through modifying their growth and physiology status at the highly saline and intertidal zone, such as the YRD estuarine wetlands, and also could be used as a bio-reclamation plant to decline the high salt in saline soils.
The delivery and distribution of nutrients in coastal wetland ecosystems is much related to the land use. The spatial variations of TOC, TN, NH4+-N, NO3−-N and TP and associated soil salinity with depth in 9 kinds land uses in coastal zone of the modern Yellow River Delta (YRD) was evaluated based on monitoring data in field from 2009 to 2015. The results showed that the average contents of soil TOC, TN, NO3−-N, NH4+-N and TP were 4.21 ± 2.40 g kg−1, 375.91 ± 213.44, 5.36 ± 9.59 and 7.20 ± 5.58 and 591.27 ± 91.16 mg kg−1, respectively. The high N and C contents were found in cropland in southern part and low values in natural wetland, while TP was relatively stable both in profiles and in different land uses. The land use, land formation age and salinity were important factors influencing distributions of TOC and N. Higher contents of TOC and N were observed in older formation age lands in whole study region, while the opposite regulation were found in new-born natural wetland, indicating that the anthropogenic activities could greatly alter the original distribution regulations of nutrients in coastal natural wetlands by changing the regional land use.
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