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Vertical profiles of water and sediment denitrifiers in two plateau freshwater lakes

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

The present study investigated the abundance, richness, diversity, and community composition of denitrifiers (based on nirS and nosZ genes) in the stratified water columns and sediments in eutrophic Dianchi Lake and mesotrophic Erhai Lake using quantitative PCR assay and high-throughput sequencing analysis. Both nirS- and nosZ denitrifiers were detected in waters of these two lakes. Surface water showed higher nosZ gene density than bottom water, and Dianchi Lake waters had larger nirS gene abundance than Erhai Lake waters. The abundance of sediment nirS- and nosZ denitrifiers in Dianchi Lake was larger than that in Erhai Lake. nirS richness and diversity and nosZ richness tended to increase with increasing sediment layer depth in both lakes. The distinct structure difference of sediment nirS- and nosZ denitrifier communities was found between in Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake. These two lakes also differed greatly in water denitrifier community structure. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of several different groups of nirS- or nosZ denitrifiers in both lakes. The novel nirS denitrifiers were abundant in both Dianchi Lake and Erhai Lake, while most of the obtained nosZ sequences could be affiliated with known genera.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41571444), National Basic Research Program of China (2015CB458900), and special fund of State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (15L02ESPC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Guozhu Mao & Ling Chen

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

    Yuyin Yang, Tianli Tong & Shuguang Xie

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

    Zhen Wu & Yong Liu

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  1. Guozhu Mao
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  2. Ling Chen
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  3. Yuyin Yang
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  4. Zhen Wu
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  5. Tianli Tong
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  6. Yong Liu
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  7. Shuguang Xie
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Correspondence to Shuguang Xie.

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Mao, G., Chen, L., Yang, Y. et al. Vertical profiles of water and sediment denitrifiers in two plateau freshwater lakes. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 101, 3361–3370 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-8022-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-8022-6

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