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Relationship of Geographic Distance, Depth, Temperature, and Viruses with Prokaryotic Communities in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic Ocean

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Abstract

The richness and biogeographical distribution pattern of bacterial and archaeal communities was assessed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of the 16S rRNA gene at the surface (15–25 m depth), in the deep chlorophyll maximum layer (DCM; 50 m depth), and deep waters (75–1000 m depth) of the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, prokaryotic and viral abundance and the frequency of infected prokaryotic cells (FIC) were determined along with physico-chemical parameters to identify factors influencing prokaryotic richness and biogeography. Viral abundance was highest in the DCM layer averaging 45.5 × 106 ml−1, whereas in the mixed surface layer and in the waters below the DCM, average viral abundance was 11.3 × 106 and 4.3 × 106 ml−1, respectively. The average estimate of FIC was 8.3% in the mixed surface layer and the DCM and 2.4% in deeper waters. FIC was positively related to prokaryotic and viral abundance and negatively to archaeal richness. There was no detectable effect of geographic distance (maximum distance between stations ∼4600 km) or differences between water masses on bacterial and archaeal community composition. Bacterial communities showed a clear depth zonation, whereas changes in archaeal community composition were related to temperature and FIC. The results indicate that planktonic archaeal virus host systems are a dynamic component of marine ecosystems under natural conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the captain and crew of R/V Pelagia for their support at sea. We are grateful to G. J. Brummer for the opportunity to join the cruise. We would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Funding was provided by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO-ALW grant 809.33.004) and the Royal NIOZ. Preparation of the manuscript was supported by a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship to CW (project ILVIROMAB, no. 007712).

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Author notes

  1. Christian Winter

    Present address: University of British Columbia, EOS-Oceanography, 1461-6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, (BC), V6T 1Z4, Canada

  2. Markus M. Moeseneder

    Present address: Dept. of Freshwater Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

  3. Markus G. Weinbauer

    Present address: Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry Group, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, 06234, Villefranche-sur-Mer CEDEX, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands

    Gerhard J. Herndl

  2. Laboratoire d’ Océanographie de Villefranche, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, BP 28, 06234, Villefranche-sur-Mer CEDEX, France

    Markus G. Weinbauer

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  1. Christian Winter
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  2. Markus M. Moeseneder
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Correspondence to Christian Winter.

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Winter, C., Moeseneder, M.M., Herndl, G.J. et al. Relationship of Geographic Distance, Depth, Temperature, and Viruses with Prokaryotic Communities in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic Ocean. Microb Ecol 56, 383–389 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9343-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9343-x

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