Assessment of the effect of Enteromorpha prolifera on bacterial community structures in aquaculture environment

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 25;12(7):e0179792. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179792. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

In recent years, Enteromorpha prolifera blooms had serious impacts on costal environments and fisheries in China. Nevertheless, the effects of E. prolifera on microbial ecology remain unknown. In this study, for the first time, an Illumina sequencing analysis was used to investigate bacterial communities in source water, aquaculture ponds with E. prolifera, and an aquaculture pond in which E. prolifera -free. Principal coordinate and phylogenic analyses revealed obvious differences among the bacterial communities in the pond water with and without E. prolifera. Abundant bacterial taxa in the E. prolifera-containing pond were generally absent from the pond without E. prolifera. Interestingly, pond water with E. prolifera was dominated by Actinomycetales (> 50%), as well as by anaerobic bacteria in the underlying sediment (Desulfobacterales and Desulfuromonadales (> 20%). Pond water in which E. prolifera-free was dominated by Rhodobacterales (58.19%), as well as aerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria in the sediment. In addition, the ecological functions of other dominant bacteria, such as Candidatus Aquiluna, Microcella spp., and Marivita spp., should be studied in depth. Overall, massive growth of E. prolifera will have serious effects on bacterial communities, and, thus, it will have an important impact on the environment. The novel findings in this study will be valuable for understanding green tides.

MeSH terms

  • Actinomycetales / classification
  • Actinomycetales / genetics
  • Actinomycetales / isolation & purification
  • Aquaculture*
  • Bacteria / classification
  • Bacteria / genetics*
  • Bacteria / isolation & purification*
  • China
  • Eutrophication*
  • Microbiota
  • Phylogeny
  • Ponds / microbiology
  • Rhodobacteraceae / classification
  • Rhodobacteraceae / genetics
  • Rhodobacteraceae / isolation & purification
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Ulva / growth & development*
  • Ulva / isolation & purification
  • Water Microbiology*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Project of Guangdong Science and Technology Department (2016A020221024 and 2017A020216008), the Project of Fujian Science and Technology Department (2015N0013 and 2016I1002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41406130), the national Spark Program project (2015GA720002), the Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas, State Oceanic Administration (201507), the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (SQ201220), and Science and Technology plan project of Nantong city (MS12016058).