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Differential spatial–temporal dynamics of Alexandrium species revealed using metabarcoding analysis by the 18S rDNA V4 region in Jiaozhou Bay, China

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Abstract

The dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium hosts many toxigenic species with remarkable negative influence on ecosystems and human health by developing harmful algal blooms (HABs). Despite 34 Alexandrium species having been characterized with unique taxonomical features, relatively few Alexandrium species have been identified and traced in ecological studies, largely due to the limited resolution of morphology-based methodologies and demanding workload associated with ecological studies. Thus, both diversity and spatial–temporal dynamics of Alexandrium species in marine ecosystems remain poorly resolved and understood, leading to severe under appreciation of Alexandrium species in ecosystems. In this project, metabarcoding of the 18S rDNA V4 region was applied for the first time to quantitatively ascertain biodiversity and spatial–temporal dynamics of Alexandrium species in Jiaozhou Bay, a semi-enclosed model ecosystem in Qingdao, China. Eight known Alexandrium species (A. affine, A. andersonii, A. catenella, A. leei, A. minutum, A. ostenfeldii, A. pacificum, and A. pohangense), one unidentified Alexandrium species, and possibly three additional Alexandrium species (A. hiranoi, A. pseudogonyaulax, A. insuetum) were successfully identified in this study, compared to only four previously reported Alexandrium species in Jiaozhou Bay, demonstrating the competitive strength of metabarcoding technology in ecological research of Alexandrium species. Quantitative analysis showed that most Alexandrium species displayed strong temporal dynamics with high abundance in months with relative high temperature. In particular, Alexandrium affine displayed a strong preference from June to December, peaking in September, suggesting that temperature is an important driving factor for the temporal dynamics of Alexandrium species. However, Alexandrium catenella displayed preference from January to May. Metabarcoding analysis could be widely applied for detection and study of spatial–temporal dynamics of Alexandrium species.

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Data availability

The sequencing results (raw data) have been submitted to NCBI, and the BioProject numbers are PRJNA577777 and PRJNA733859.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to colleagues from the Jiaozhou Bay Marine Ecosystem Research Station for the opportunity to participate in the investigation expeditions. Statistical analyses were supported by Oceanographic Data Center, IOCAS.

Funding

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (42176162, 41906118), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB42000000), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Pioneer Hundred Talents Program (to Nansheng Chen), the Taishan Scholar Project Special Fund (to Nansheng Chen), the Qingdao Innovation and Creation Plan (Talent Development Program—5th Annual Pioneer and Innovator Leadership Award to Nansheng Chen, 19–3-2–16-zhc), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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  1. Xiangxiang Ding, Shuya Liu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Xiangxiang Ding, Shuya Liu, Zongmei Cui & Nansheng Chen

  2. Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266200, China

    Xiangxiang Ding, Shuya Liu, Zongmei Cui, Yongfang Zhao & Nansheng Chen

  3. College of Marine Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10039, China

    Xiangxiang Ding

  4. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Xiangxiang Ding, Shuya Liu, Zongmei Cui, Yongfang Zhao & Nansheng Chen

  5. Jiaozhou Bay National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Yongfang Zhao

  6. Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Nansheng Chen

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  1. Xiangxiang Ding
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Contributions

Xiangxiang Ding: Writing—Original Draft, Methodology, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing.

Shuya Liu: Software, Investigation, Methodology, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing.

Zongmei Cui: Methodology, Data Curation, Investigation, Writing—review & editing.

Yongfang Zhao: Resources.

Nansheng Chen: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Resources, Writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Nansheng Chen.

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Ding, X., Liu, S., Cui, Z. et al. Differential spatial–temporal dynamics of Alexandrium species revealed using metabarcoding analysis by the 18S rDNA V4 region in Jiaozhou Bay, China. J Appl Phycol 35, 1727–1742 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-02970-9

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