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Shifts in Cyanobacterial Strain Dominance during the Onset of Harmful Algal Blooms in Florida Bay, USA

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Cyanobacteria are fundamental components of aquatic phytoplankton communities and some taxa can cause harmful blooms in coastal ecosystems. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are typically comprised of multiple strains of a single genus or species that cannot be resolved microscopically. Florida Bay, USA, has experienced harmful cyanobacterial blooms that have been associated with the loss of eelgrass, spiny lobsters, and general food web disruption for more than two decades. To identify the strain or strains of cyanobacteria forming blooms in Florida Bay, samples were collected across the system over an annual cycle and analyzed via DNA sequencing using cyanobacterial-specific 16S rRNA gene primers, flow cytometry, and scanning electron microscopy. Analyses demonstrated that the onset of blooms in Florida Bay was coincident with a transformation of the cyanobacterial populations. When blooms were absent, the cyanobacterial population in Florida Bay was dominated by phycoerythrin-containing Synechococcus cells that were most similar to strains within Clade III. As blooms developed, the cyanobacterial community transitioned to dominance by phycocyanin-containing Synechococcus cells that were coated with mucilage, chain-forming, and genetically most similar to the coastal strains within Clade VIII. Clade VIII strains of Synechococcus are known to grow rapidly, utilize organic nutrients, and resist top-down control by protozoan grazers and viruses, all characteristics consistent with observations of cyanobacterial blooms in Florida Bay. Further, the strains of Synechococcus blooming in this system are genetically distinct from the species previously thought to cause blooms in Florida Bay, Synechococcus elongatus. Collectively, this study identified the causative organism of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in Florida Bay, demonstrates the dynamic nature of cyanobacterial stains within genera in an estuary, and affirms factors promoting Synechococcus blooms.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Timothy Davis, Dr. Theresa Hattenrath-Lehmann, Dr. John Caroll, and Dr. Tom Frankovich, and Brooke Rodgers for field and laboratory assistance. Funding for this project was provided by the NOAA South Florida program. This is Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Contribution Number 0000. This is SoMAS Contribution Number 0000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Southampton, NY, 11968, USA

    Dianna L. Berry, Jennifer A. Goleski, Florian Koch, Charles C. Wall, Bradley J. Peterson & Christopher J. Gobler

  2. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9 W, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA

    O. Roger Anderson

Authors
  1. Dianna L. Berry
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  2. Jennifer A. Goleski
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  3. Florian Koch
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  4. Charles C. Wall
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  5. Bradley J. Peterson
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  6. O. Roger Anderson
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  7. Christopher J. Gobler
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Correspondence to Christopher J. Gobler.

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Berry, D.L., Goleski, J.A., Koch, F. et al. Shifts in Cyanobacterial Strain Dominance during the Onset of Harmful Algal Blooms in Florida Bay, USA. Microb Ecol 70, 361–371 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0564-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0564-5

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