Bacterial community structure and function shift along a successional series of tidal flats in the Yellow River Delta

Abstract

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.

Spatial variation in bacterial community in natural wetland‐river‐sea ecosystems

“…Compared with river or marine sediments, the intertidal wetland showed a unique pattern of bacterial diversity. The pattern is concordant with recent findings about bacterial communities in intertidal sediments . Bacteroidetes were positively correlated with salinity in wetland sediments and were the dominant group in sediments with higher salinity.…”

“…In addition, a high variability in pH value, salinity, and concentrations of nutrients, which are main controlling factors of bacterial community structure, would be exhibited among different habitats. Previous studies mainly focused on either river to marine environments or intertidal wetland . Comparison of the bacterial diversity in sediments from freshwater, intertidal wetland, and marine was revealed for the first time in the Pearl River in south China , but the correlation between bacterial community structure and environmental factors is unavailable.…”

The Saltpan Microbiome Is Structured by Sediment Depth and Minimally Influenced by Variable Hydration

“…We found that, at the phylum level, the saltpan bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria, with Bacteroidetes and Planctomycetes dominating the remaining fraction. This finding is in agreement with commonly found patterns in both salt marsh [39,40] and tidal flat habitats [41]. Of the sequences classified at the genus level, Pseudomonas dominated and pseudomonads, as well as Flavobacterium, have been reported in coastal beach sediment, along with other genera characterized by salt tolerance and facultative anaerobic metabolisms [42,43].…”

The microbiome of pest insects: it is not just bacteria

“… Culture‐independent techniques have captured how microbial community composition in insects varies largely in time and space‐in response to diet, geography, season, and developmental stage (Hu et al., ; Wilhelm et al., ; Chaplinska et al., ; Lv et al., ; Vacchini et al, ; Bascuñán et al., ). The relevance of these parameters might vary according to the microbial groups, with environmental factors being more important for bacteria and fungi than in shaping the viral communities (Nouri et al., ).…”