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Comparison of community structures between particle-associated and free-living prokaryotes in tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean surface waters

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Abstract

The subtropical and tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean are less productive than other oceanic regions. Although particle association should be an important strategy for heterotrophic prokaryotes to survive in such environments, we have little information on particle-associated (PA) prokaryotes in these regions. The specific aim of this study was to determine bacterial and archaeal community structures in the PA assemblage in comparison to the free-living (FL) assemblage in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre, and an eastern equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean. Community profiles and phylogenetic identities were obtained by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, 454-pyrosequencing, and cloning followed by Sanger sequencing of 16Sr RNA gene amplicons. The distribution patterns of some abundant groups in three regions and two lifestyles (PA and FL) are shown in this study. Also, the PA community structures of bacteria differed from the FL ones and exhibited higher diversity than the FL ones, while the archaeal community structures did not show significant differences between PA and FL assemblages. We found that specific phylotypes of Gammaproteobacteria and Flavobacteria were abundant in PA bacterial assemblages, suggesting that they prefer to attach and consume particulate organic matter. In summary, the surface seawater PA assemblages represent very different bacterial and archaeal community structures between three different oceanic regions, each of which had distinct PA and FL community structures. These results imply that environmental factors determine microbial community structures.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the captain and crew of the R/V “Hakuho-maru” for assistance with sample collection. We also thank the Center for Omics and Bioinformatics, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, for the 454-pyrosequencing. This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 24121004 and 24121003, as part of the NEOPS (New Ocean Paradigm on Its Biogeochemistry, Ecosystem and Sustainable Use) project in Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan

    Shotaro Suzuki, Ryo Kaneko & Koji Hamasaki

  2. Department of Aquatic Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Taketoshi Kodama, Iwao Tanita & Ken Furuya

  3. Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Japan Sea National Fisheries Research Institute, Niigata, Japan

    Taketoshi Kodama

  4. Department of Ocean Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Fuminori Hashihama & Shuhei Suwa

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  1. Shotaro Suzuki
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  4. Fuminori Hashihama
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Correspondence to Koji Hamasaki.

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Suzuki, S., Kaneko, R., Kodama, T. et al. Comparison of community structures between particle-associated and free-living prokaryotes in tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean surface waters. J Oceanogr 73, 383–395 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-016-0410-0

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