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Vertical distribution and temporal variation of marine planktonic archaea in the Gerlache Strait, Antarctica, during early spring
Author(s) -
Massana Ramon,
Taylor Lance T.,
Murray Alison E.,
Wu Ke Y.,
Jeffrey Wade H.,
DeLong Edward F.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1998.43.4.0607
Subject(s) - archaea , plankton , picoplankton , crenarchaeota , biology , prokaryote , abundance (ecology) , oceanography , ecology , peninsula , chlorophyll a , phytoplankton , botany , bacteria , geology , paleontology , nutrient
A station located in the Gerlache Strait (Antarctic Peninsula) was sampled during early spring to determine thevertical distribution of marine planktonic archaea and to further describe the dynamic environment where they live.Chlorophyll concentration indicated that sampling occurred during the early stages of austral spring algal development. As expected, prokaryote abundance was higher at surface than at depth, and prokaryotic activity estimatedby leucine incorporation was low at the surface and extremely low at 500 m. The relative abundance of planktonicarchaeal, eucaryal, and bacterial ribosomal RNA was determined by quantitative rRNA hybridization, and theperformance of two different universal probes used to normalize group‐specific probe hybridization response wascompared. Archaeal rRNA was detected in all samples analyzed, and was more abundant at depth (up to 25% oftotal rRNA) than at the surface. In both years, the archaeal signal decreased during the sampling period, particularlyat surface. Most of the archaeal signal was attributable to group I archaea, affiliated with the kingdom Crenarchaeota.Planktonic euryarchaeotes (group II archaea) showed a larger contribution to the archaeal assemblage in surfacewaters than at depth. In total, our results verify that planktonic archaea are dynamic and abundant components inmarine picoplankton assemblages of the Antarctic Peninsula.