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Nitrification and denitrification by algae-attached and free-living microorganisms during a cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Taihu, a shallow Eutrophic Lake in China

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Abstract

Cyanobacterial blooms may stimulate epiphytic nitrification and denitrification in the water column. To validate this hypothesis, a 4-week floating mesocosms experiment that involved a cyanobacterial decay–growth–decay period was conducted at Lake Taihu. In addition to conventional methods for detecting the physical and chemical properties, quantitative real-time PCR was used to identify the nitrification and denitrification genes (archaeal and bacterial amoA, nirS and nirK). Treatment with cyanobacteria led to removal of about 3.62 mg N L−1 total nitrogen, 40% of which was organic nitrogen, indicating a nitrogen transformation and removal mechanism was present in the system. Variations in the biogeochemical properties suggested that remineralization and coupling nitrification and denitrification by epiphytic and pelagic microorganisms was the primary pathway through which organic nitrogen was removed. The results of this study revealed that algal blooms can accelerate nitrogen removal efficiency, which may be the primary reason that nitrogen is limited in summer in Lake Taihu.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research (TLLER) for providing the experimental fields and other technical helps. This research was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Contracts 41373076).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, West Huayang Road 196, Yangzhou, 225009, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaofeng Chen, Haiyang Jiang & Ying Zhu

  2. Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, State Environmental Protection Administration, Nanjing, 210042, People’s Republic of China

    Xu Sun

  3. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Xianlin Road 163, Nanjing, 210146, People’s Republic of China

    Liuyan Yang

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  1. Xiaofeng Chen
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Correspondence to Xiaofeng Chen.

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Responsible Editor: Jennifer Leah Tank.

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Chen, X., Jiang, H., Sun, X. et al. Nitrification and denitrification by algae-attached and free-living microorganisms during a cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Taihu, a shallow Eutrophic Lake in China. Biogeochemistry 131, 135–146 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0271-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0271-z

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