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Methanogenic archaea associated to Microcystis sp. in field samples and in culture

  • PHYTOPLANKTON & BIOTIC INTERACTIONS
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Abstract

Cyanobacterial mass developments impact the community composition of heterotrophic microorganisms with far-reaching consequences for biogeochemical and energy cycles of freshwater ecosystems including reservoirs. Here we sought to evaluate the temporal stability of methanogenic archaea in the water column and further scrutinize their associations with cyanobacteria. Monthly samples were collected from October 2009 to December 2010 in hypereutrophic Pampulha reservoir with permanently blooming cyanobacteria, and from January to December 2011 in oligotrophic Volta Grande reservoir with only sporadic cyanobacteria incidence. The presence of archaea in cyanobacterial cultures was investigated by screening numerous strains of Microcystis spp. from these reservoirs as well as from lakes in Europe, Asia, and North-America. We consistently determined the occurrence of archaea, in particular methanogenic archaea, in both reservoirs throughout the year. However, archaea were only associated with two strains (Microcystis sp. UFMG 165 and UFMG 175) recently isolated from these reservoirs. These findings do not implicate archaea in the occurrence of methane in the epilimnion of inland waters, but rather serve to highlight the potential of microhabitats associated with particles, including phytoplankton, to shelter unique microbial communities.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Phycology Laboratory team for field sampling, Solvig Pinnow, and Katharina Frindte for technical support on DGGE analysis, and Danilo Neves, Ivette Salka, and Katrin Attermeyer for support in statistical analysis. Algirdas Svanys is acknowledged for providing M. aeruginosa strains. We also acknowledge grant funding from CAPES (Coordenação Aperfeiçoamento do Pessoal Docente—PDSE program) which supported A.M.M.B., CEMIG (Companhia Eletrica de Minas Gerais) and FAPEMIG (Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa de Minas Gerais) for grants provided to A.G, and DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) for providing H-P.G. with two grants (GR 1540/20-1 and 21-1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), PO Box 486, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-010, Brazil

    A. M. M. Batista & A. Giani

  2. Department of Limnology of Stratified Lakes, Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Alte Fischerhuette 2, 16775, Neuglobsow, Germany

    J. N. Woodhouse & H.-P. Grossart

  3. Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam University, Maulbeerallee 2, 14469, Potsdam, Germany

    H.-P. Grossart

Authors
  1. A. M. M. Batista
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  2. J. N. Woodhouse
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  3. H.-P. Grossart
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  4. A. Giani
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to H.-P. Grossart or A. Giani.

Additional information

Guest editors: Hugo Sarmento, Irina Izaguirre, Vanessa Becker & Vera L. M. Huszar / Phytoplankton and its Biotic Interactions

Electronic supplementary material

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10750_2018_3655_MOESM1_ESM.png

Fig S1. Archaeal DGGE banding profiles resulting from cultured Microcystis cultures derived from Brazil, Netherlands, Japan and Germany. L = Ladder. Supplementary material 1 (PNG 2752 kb)

10750_2018_3655_MOESM2_ESM.png

Figure S2. Linear regression exploring relationship between dissolved oxygen concentration (calculated as the median value over the integrated sampling depth; Pampulha 1-2 m, Volta Grande 5-10 m (Table S1, 2) and archaeal DGGE band number (Fig. 2) in A) Pampulha reservoir, B) Volta Grande reservoir and C) both Pampulha and Volta Grande reservoir. Supplementary material 2 (PNG 645 kb)

Supplementary material 3 (PNG 55 kb)

10750_2018_3655_MOESM4_ESM.docx

Tab. S1: Concentration of dissolved oxygen in Pampulha reservoir from October 2009 to December 2010. Supplementary material 4 (DOCX 14 kb)

10750_2018_3655_MOESM5_ESM.docx

Tab. S2: Concentration of dissolved oxygen in Volta Grande reservoir (sampling site VG3) from January to December 2011. Supplementary material 5 (DOCX 16 kb)

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Batista, A.M.M., Woodhouse, J.N., Grossart, HP. et al. Methanogenic archaea associated to Microcystis sp. in field samples and in culture. Hydrobiologia 831, 163–172 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3655-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3655-3

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