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To What Extent Do Food Preferences Explain the Trophic Position of Heterotrophic and Mixotrophic Microbial Consumers in a Sphagnum Peatland?

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Although microorganisms are the primary drivers of biogeochemical cycles, the structure and functioning of microbial food webs are poorly studied. This is the case in Sphagnum peatlands, where microbial communities play a key role in the global carbon cycle. Here, we explored the structure of the microbial food web from a Sphagnum peatland by analyzing (1) the density and biomass of different microbial functional groups, (2) the natural stable isotope (δ 13C and δ 15N) signatures of key microbial consumers (testate amoebae), and (3) the digestive vacuole contents of Hyalosphenia papilio, the dominant testate amoeba species in our system. Our results showed that the feeding type of testate amoeba species (bacterivory, algivory, or both) translates into their trophic position as assessed by isotopic signatures. Our study further demonstrates, for H. papilio, the energetic benefits of mixotrophy when the density of its preferential prey is low. Overall, our results show that testate amoebae occupy different trophic levels within the microbial food web, depending on their feeding behavior, the density of their food resources, and their metabolism (i.e., mixotrophy vs. heterotrophy). Combined analyses of predation, community structure, and stable isotopes now allow the structure of microbial food webs to be more completely described, which should lead to improved models of microbial community function.

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Acknowledgments

This research is a contribution of the ANR PEATWARM project (Effect of moderate warming on the functioning of Sphagnum peatlands and their function as carbon sink) and the μPOL-AIR project (Use of Sphagnum-peatlands to quantify the deposition of long-range air pollutants and to evaluate their impact on environment). PEATWARM is supported by the French National Agency for Research under the “Vulnerability, Environment—Climate” Program (ANR-07-VUL-010) and μPOL-AIR by PRIMEQUAL program (support of French Ministry of Environment and ADEME) (2010-Q.3-Chorus2100082984). Further funding was provided to V.E.J.J. by the Franche-Comté Region, to C.M. by μPOL-AIR project, and to E.A.D.M. and A.P.C. by the University of Neuchâtel. The authors would like to thank T. Sime-Ngando and J. Colombet (University of Clermont-Ferrand, France) for their help with the flow cytometry and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR CNRS/UFC 6249, Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, Université de Franche-Comté, 25211, Montbéliard Cedex, France

    Vincent E. J. Jassey, Caroline Meyer, Nadine Bernard, Marie-Laure Toussaint & Daniel Gilbert

  2. Ecological Systems Laboratory (ECOS), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Station 2, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Vincent E. J. Jassey

  3. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Site Lausanne, Station 2, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Vincent E. J. Jassey

  4. UMR CNRS 7266, Laboratoire Littoral Environnement et Sociétés, Université de La Rochelle, 17000, La Rochelle, France

    Christine Dupuy & Marc Metian

  5. Laboratory of Soil Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Edward A. D. Mitchell & Auriel P. Chatelain

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  1. Vincent E. J. Jassey
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  2. Caroline Meyer
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  3. Christine Dupuy
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  4. Nadine Bernard
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  5. Edward A. D. Mitchell
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  6. Marie-Laure Toussaint
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  8. Auriel P. Chatelain
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  9. Daniel Gilbert
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Correspondence to Vincent E. J. Jassey.

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Vincent E. J. Jassey and Caroline Meyer contributed equally to this work.

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Jassey, V.E.J., Meyer, C., Dupuy, C. et al. To What Extent Do Food Preferences Explain the Trophic Position of Heterotrophic and Mixotrophic Microbial Consumers in a Sphagnum Peatland?. Microb Ecol 66, 571–580 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0262-8

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