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Distribution of sediment bacterial and archaeal communities in plateau freshwater lakes

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Both Bacteria and Archaea might be involved in various biogeochemical processes in lacustrine sediment ecosystems. However, the factors governing the intra-lake distribution of sediment bacterial and archaeal communities in various freshwater lakes remain unclear. The present study investigated the sediment bacterial and archaeal communities in 13 freshwater lakes on the Yunnan Plateau. Quantitative PCR assay showed a large variation in bacterial and archaeal abundances. Illumina MiSeq sequencing illustrated high bacterial and archaeal diversities. Bacterial abundance was regulated by sediment total organic carbon and total nitrogen, and water depth, while nitrate nitrogen was an important determinant of bacterial diversity. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chlorobi, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia were the major components of sediment bacterial communities. Proteobacteria was the largest phylum, but its major classes and their proportions varied greatly among different lakes, affected by sediment nitrate nitrogen. In addition, both Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota were important members in sediment archaeal communities, while unclassified Archaea usually showed the dominance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 41222002 and 51279001), special fund of State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (14Y02ESPCP), and Collaborative Innovation Center for Regional Environmental Quality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Jingxu Zhang, Yuyin Yang & Shuguang Xie

  2. Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pollution Process and Management of Plateau Lake-Watershed, Kunming, 650034, China

    Lei Zhao

  3. Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences (Ministry of Education), College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Yuzhao Li & Yong Liu

Authors
  1. Jingxu Zhang
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  2. Yuyin Yang
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  3. Lei Zhao
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  4. Yuzhao Li
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  5. Shuguang Xie
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  6. Yong Liu
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Correspondence to Shuguang Xie or Yong Liu.

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Jingxu Zhang and Yuyin Yang contributed equally to this study.

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Zhang, J., Yang, Y., Zhao, L. et al. Distribution of sediment bacterial and archaeal communities in plateau freshwater lakes. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 3291–3302 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6262-x

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