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Viral and Bacterioplankton Dynamics in Two Lakes with Different Humic Contents

Microbial Ecology volume 46, pages 406–415 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Viral and bacterioplankton dynamics were investigated, together with the temporal variation of phage-infected bacterioplankton in two oligotrophic lakes, one humic and the other clearwater. Bacterial abundance was significantly higher in the humic lake, while the abundance of virus-like particles (VLP) was significantly higher in the clearwater lake. There were no differences in either the frequency of infected bacterial cells (FIC), or in burst size between the lakes. Because of the higher bacterial abundance in the humic lake, a larger number of bacteria were lyzed in this lake. FIC showed large seasonal changes, varying between 9 and 43%, which covers almost the entire range of previously published data from both lacustrine and marine environments. The temporal changes in VLP abundance and FIC were slow in both the humic and clearwater lakes. The burst size was low in both lakes (average value, nine in each case), probably because of the oligotrophic status of the lakes. The chlorophyll a concentrations were higher and positively correlated with VLP numbers in the clearwater lake, indicating that a significant proportion of the viruses in this lake may be phytoplankton viruses.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jan Johansson for assistance in the field and for water chemistry analyses, and David Lymer for electron microscope analyses. This project was financed by The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Project Number: V-000493-99-1-00) and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

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  1. U. Stensdotter

    Present address: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Aquatic Environmental Section, SE-106 48 Stockholm, Sweden

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  1. Department of Limnology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 20, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden

    K. Vrede, U. Stensdotter & E. S. Lindström

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  1. K. Vrede
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  3. E. S. Lindström
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Correspondence to K. Vrede.

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Vrede, K., Stensdotter, U. & Lindström, E. Viral and Bacterioplankton Dynamics in Two Lakes with Different Humic Contents . Microb Ecol 46, 406–415 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-2009-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-2009-4

Keywords

  • Dissolve Organic Carbon Concentration
  • Bacterial Abundance
  • Humic Content
  • Sampling Occasion
  • Burst Size