Spatio-temporal distribution pattern of the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus in lakes of different trophic states: a comparison of flow cytometry and sequencing approaches
Spatio-temporal distribution pattern of the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus in lakes of different trophic states: a comparison of flow cytometry and sequencing approaches
In this study, we aimed to investigate the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus, an important contributor to primary production in many freshwater lakes. Our study sites were four lakes with different trophic states within the Osterseen Lake District in Southern Germany. Flow cytometry counts and next-generation sequencing were used from April to October 2015 to analyse the occurrence of Synechococcus and heterotrophic prokaryotes in relation to physical and chemical habitat properties. Synechococcus was identified as the main representative of the autotrophic picoplankton, but cell counts varied widely. The Synechococcus taxa identified by flow cytometry were confirmed by sequencing data, but the comparison of the flow cytometry counts and sequence data revealed discrepancies for cells in the exponential phase. The eutrophic Lake Schiffhuettensee was dominated by algae and had the highest abundance of heterotrophic prokaryotes. The presence of distinct operational taxonomic units of Synechococcus varied seasonally and was lake-specific, indicating local niche adaptation. Our study sheds light on the ecology of these important primary producers in freshwater systems. Furthermore, the discrepancy observed with the direct comparison of the widely used methods of next-generation sequencing and flow cytometry should serve as a caveat for future data analysis.
77-92
Ruber, Joachim
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Geist, Juergen
48db124a-72a5-4e80-ac9e-6ebca09f1177
Hartmann, Manuela
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Millard, Andrew
ce540fa4-62b7-4a06-9573-5eba937556a5
Raeder, Uta
68059f7d-8ef1-48a2-a2e0-952fb1566c12
Zubkov, Mikhail
b1dfb3a0-bcff-430c-9031-358a22b50743
Zwirglmaier, Katrin
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April 2018
Ruber, Joachim
839d0a64-0c4c-4150-ab2b-2824db52bbe4
Geist, Juergen
48db124a-72a5-4e80-ac9e-6ebca09f1177
Hartmann, Manuela
5b175765-fde7-40dc-bcd6-83248285ef86
Millard, Andrew
ce540fa4-62b7-4a06-9573-5eba937556a5
Raeder, Uta
68059f7d-8ef1-48a2-a2e0-952fb1566c12
Zubkov, Mikhail
b1dfb3a0-bcff-430c-9031-358a22b50743
Zwirglmaier, Katrin
bab5e123-33f1-4b50-8d94-a34d438a5826
Ruber, Joachim, Geist, Juergen, Hartmann, Manuela, Millard, Andrew, Raeder, Uta, Zubkov, Mikhail and Zwirglmaier, Katrin
(2018)
Spatio-temporal distribution pattern of the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus in lakes of different trophic states: a comparison of flow cytometry and sequencing approaches.
Hydrobiologia, 811 (1), .
(doi:10.1007/s10750-017-3368-z).
Abstract
In this study, we aimed to investigate the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus, an important contributor to primary production in many freshwater lakes. Our study sites were four lakes with different trophic states within the Osterseen Lake District in Southern Germany. Flow cytometry counts and next-generation sequencing were used from April to October 2015 to analyse the occurrence of Synechococcus and heterotrophic prokaryotes in relation to physical and chemical habitat properties. Synechococcus was identified as the main representative of the autotrophic picoplankton, but cell counts varied widely. The Synechococcus taxa identified by flow cytometry were confirmed by sequencing data, but the comparison of the flow cytometry counts and sequence data revealed discrepancies for cells in the exponential phase. The eutrophic Lake Schiffhuettensee was dominated by algae and had the highest abundance of heterotrophic prokaryotes. The presence of distinct operational taxonomic units of Synechococcus varied seasonally and was lake-specific, indicating local niche adaptation. Our study sheds light on the ecology of these important primary producers in freshwater systems. Furthermore, the discrepancy observed with the direct comparison of the widely used methods of next-generation sequencing and flow cytometry should serve as a caveat for future data analysis.
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Accepted/In Press date: 24 August 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 2 September 2017
Published date: April 2018
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Local EPrints ID: 414215
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/414215
ISSN: 0018-8158
PURE UUID: 01d8641c-0f48-4c9e-986b-6a6ee7136160
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Date deposited: 19 Sep 2017 16:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 16:03
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Author:
Joachim Ruber
Author:
Juergen Geist
Author:
Manuela Hartmann
Author:
Andrew Millard
Author:
Uta Raeder
Author:
Mikhail Zubkov
Author:
Katrin Zwirglmaier
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