Title: Metatranscriptomics reveals a shift in microbial community composition and function during summer months in a coastal marine environment

Abstract

Abstract Temperate coastal marine waters are often thermally stratified from spring through fall but can be dynamic and disrupted by tidal currents and wind‐driven upwelling. These mixing events introduce deeper, cooler water with a higher partial pressure of CO ₂ (pCO2) and its associated microbial communities to the surface. Anecdotally, these events impact shellfish hatcheries and farms, warranting improved understanding of changes in composition and activity of marine microbial communities in relation to environmental processes. To characterize both compositional and functional changes associated with abiotic factors, here, we generate a reference metatranscriptome from the Strait of Georgia over representative seasons and analyze metatranscriptomic profiles of the microorganisms present within intake water containing different pCO ₂ levels at a shellfish hatchery in British Columbia from June through October. Abiotic factors studied include pH, temperature, alkalinity, aragonite, calcite, and pCO ₂ . Community composition changes were observed to occur at broad taxonomic levels and most notably to vary with temperature and pCO ₂ . Functional gene expression profiles indicated a strong difference between early (June–July) and late summer (August–October) associated with viral activity. The taxonomic data suggest this could be due to the termination of cyanobacteria and phytoplankton blooms by viral lysismore » in the late season. Functional analysis indicated fewer differentially expressed transcripts associated with abiotic variables (e.g., pCO ₂ ) than with the temporal effect. Microbial composition and activity in these waters vary with both short‐term effects observed alongside abiotic variation and long‐term effects observed across seasons. The analysis of both taxonomy and functional gene expression simultaneously in the same samples by environmental RNA (eRNA metatranscriptomics) provided a more comprehensive view for monitoring water bodies than either would in isolation.« less

Authors:

Sutherland, Ben J. G.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Sutherland, Ben J. G."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2029-9893"

Finke, Jan F. ^[2]; Saunders, Robert ^[3]; Warne, Snehal ^[3]; Schulze, Angela D.  ^[4];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Schulze, Angela D."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0400-3992"

Strohm, Jeff H. T. ^[4]; Chan, Amy M.  ^[5];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Chan, Amy M."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-5347-7361"

Suttle, Curtis A.  ^[6];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Suttle, Curtis A."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0372-0033"

Miller, Kristina M.  ^[4]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Miller, Kristina M."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2667-712X"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Pacific Biological Station Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo British Columbia Canada, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada, Sutherland Bioinformatics British Columbia Canada
2. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada, Hakai Institute British Columbia Canada
3. RKS Labs Parksville British Columbia Canada
4. Pacific Biological Station Fisheries and Oceans Canada Nanaimo British Columbia Canada
5. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
6. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada, Department of Microbiology and Immunology The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada, Department of Botany The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada

Publication Date:

Wed Sep 07 00:00:00 EDT 2022

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1885861

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1902530

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Environmental DNA

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Environmental DNA Journal Volume: 5 Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 2637-4943

Publisher:

Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)

Country of Publication:

Country unknown/Code not available

Language:

English