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Development of the Bacterial Compartment Along the Danube River: a Continuum Despite Local Influences

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

Microbial food webs dominate heterotrophic food webs in large rivers with bacterial metabolism being a key component of carbon processing. Thus, analysis of bacterial population dynamics is critical to understanding patterns and mechanisms of material cycling and energy fluxes in large rivers. Within the frame of the Joint Danube Survey (JDS) 2007, the longitudinal development of the natural bacterial community in the Danube in terms of bacterial numbers, morphotype composition, and heterotrophic production of the suspended and particle-attached fractions was followed at a fine spatial resolution of approximately 30 km for the first time in such a large river along a 2,600-km stretch. Twenty-one major tributaries and branches were also included. This allowed us to investigate whether bacterial standing stock and production undergo continuous, linear changes or whether discontinuities and local processes like the merging of tributaries or the potential impact of sewage input drive the bacterial population in the Danube. The presented investigation revealed surprising continuous patterns of changes of bacterial parameters along the Danube River. Despite the presence of impoundments or hydropower plants, large municipalities, and the discharge of large tributaries, most bacterial parameters (standing stock, morphotype succession, and attached bacterial production) developed gradually, indicating that mainly broad-scale drivers and not local conditions shape and control the bacterial community in the midstream of this large river. As most important broad-scale drivers, nutrients (inorganic and organic) and changes in particle concentrations were identified. These data are also in remarkable accordance with the patterns of changes of the genetic bacterial community composition, observed during the first JDS (2001) 6 years before. In contrast, bacterial activity did not follow a continuous trend and was mainly controlled by the input of sewage from large cities in the middle section, leading to a bloom of phytoplankton. The observed patterns and the comparison between the Danube, its tributaries and other large rivers worldwide indicate that the bacterial community in rivers has a powerful indicator function for estimating the ecological status of large river ecosystems once enough information has been collected at various temporal and spatial scales.

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Acknowledgements

The study was financed and logistically supported by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and the Austrian Federal Agency for Water Management (BAW). The support by Dr. Igor Liska (ICPDR) and Dr. Martha Simon (BAW) is highly acknowledged. Special thanks to Prof. Dr. Martin Dokulil, Dr. Christina Kaiblinger, Dr. Carmen Hamchevici, and Dr. Katalin Zsuga for providing environmental data for correlation analysis as well as to Dr. Michael Hengl from the Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Calibration of Hydrometric Current Meters of the BAW for support in calculating the horizontal and vertical mixing models. We also greatfully thank Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner for critically reviewing an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University Vienna, Waehringerstrasse 10, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Branko Velimirov & Nemanja Milosevic

  2. Austrian Federal Agency for Water Management, Pollnbergstr. 1, 3252, Petzenkirchen, Austria

    Gerhard G. Kavka

  3. Institute of Chemical Engineering, Research Area Gene Technology and Applied Biochemistry, Research Group Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Ecology, Vienna University of Technology, Getreidemarkt 9/166, 1060, Vienna, Austria

    Andreas H. Farnleitner

  4. Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology, Water Hygiene, Medical University Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1095, Vienna, Austria

    Alexander K. T. Kirschner

Authors
  1. Branko Velimirov
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  2. Nemanja Milosevic
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  3. Gerhard G. Kavka
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  4. Andreas H. Farnleitner
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  5. Alexander K. T. Kirschner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander K. T. Kirschner.

Electronic Supplementary Materials

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Figure S1

Correlation of attached bacterial production (indicated as percentage of total production) with river km. a Significant decrease between rkm 2,400 and 1,355. b Significant increase between rkm 1,355 and the Delta (DOC 30 kb)

Figure S2

Continuous increase in total bacterial production, determined via 3 H-leucine incorporation (a) and total bacterial numbers (b) along the tributary Schwechat from its headwater (rkm 55) towards the mouth. Samples were taken in summer of 2002 (DOC 137 kb)

Figure S3

Long-term bacterial production values recorded at Danube rkm 1,938 (upstream Vienna) between 1999 and 2006, determined via 3 H-thymidine incorporation into DNA (unpublished data). Values represent mean of 2–4 measurements (DOC 30 kb)

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Velimirov, B., Milosevic, N., Kavka, G.G. et al. Development of the Bacterial Compartment Along the Danube River: a Continuum Despite Local Influences. Microb Ecol 61, 955–967 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9768-5

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