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Aquatic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria associated with blooms of Didymosphenia geminata: insights from a field study

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Abstract

The nuisance diatom Didymosphenia geminata has recently increased in abundance worldwide and has spread through oligotrophic rivers in the South Island of New Zealand. However, it remains absent from the North Island. Its proliferation in oligotrophic environments has prompted work on phosphorus acquisition, but potential nitrogen acquisition pathways have received little attention. We partially sequenced the nifD gene, encoding a component of nitrogenase, from South Island samples containing D. geminata and compared its diversity with that of North Island sites independently ranked as high, medium and low risk for infestation. Godleyacean cyanobacteria were present in all four South Island provinces investigated, and also in three North Island sites rated medium or high risk. Most high-risk sites were dominated by Nostoc sequences, as were some infested South Island sites. Monte Carlo simulations and the weighted UniFrac metric showed that nifD diversity in low-risk North Island sites differed significantly from sites rated medium and high risk, and from infested South Island sites; however, random resampling showed that the data were insufficient to separate didymo-infested and high-risk sites from medium-risk sites. The relationships we discovered suggest that success of D. geminata in New Zealand could be mediated by indigenous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria.

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Acknowledgements

PMN and RDS were supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Capability Fund and Core) and MS was supported by grants from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and the University of Otago. We thank I. Breitwieser, L. Kearns, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that greatly strengthened the manuscript, and C. Kilroy (National Institute of Water and Atmosphere, New Zealand), S. Wood, and J. Kuhajek (both Cawthron Insitute, New Zealand) for very helpful discussion. We are grateful to H. Rainforth and H. Gabrielson (Ngāti Rangi Trust), D. Robinson (Uenuku Tribal Authority), R. Steedman (Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whitikaupeka), N. Tiuka and M. Hape (Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated), D. Tahau (Ngāti Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board), and A. Paget (New Zealand Department of Conservation) for assistance regarding collecting sites.

Funding

This study was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (Capability Fund).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, P.O. Box 69040, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand

    Phil Novis & Rob Smissen

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Marc Schallenberg

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  1. Phil Novis
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Correspondence to Phil Novis.

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Novis, P., Schallenberg, M. & Smissen, R. Aquatic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria associated with blooms of Didymosphenia geminata: insights from a field study. Hydrobiologia 770, 37–52 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2567-8

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