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. 2008 Jul;56(1):29-42.
doi: 10.1007/s00248-007-9321-3. Epub 2007 Oct 10.

Population dynamics and diversity of viruses, bacteria and phytoplankton in a shallow eutrophic lake

Marjolijn Tijdens  1 , Hans L Hoogveld, Miranda P Kamst-van Agterveld, Stefan G H Simis, Anne-Claire Baudoux, Hendrikus J Laanbroek, Herman J Gons
Affiliations

Population dynamics and diversity of viruses, bacteria and phytoplankton in a shallow eutrophic lake

Marjolijn Tijdens et al. Microb Ecol. 2008 Jul.

Abstract

We have studied the temporal variation in viral abundances and community assemblage in the eutrophic Lake Loosdrecht through epifluorescence microscopy and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The virioplankton community was a dynamic component of the aquatic community, with abundances ranging between 5.5 x 10(7) and 1.3 x 10(8) virus-like particles ml(-1) and viral genome sizes ranging between 30 and 200 kb. Both viral abundances and community composition followed a distinct seasonal cycle, with high viral abundances observed during spring and summer. Due to the selective and parasitic nature of viral infection, it was expected that viral and host community dynamics would covary both in abundances and community composition. The temporal dynamics of the bacterial and cyanobacterial communities, as potential viral hosts, were studied in addition to a range of environmental parameters to relate these to viral community dynamics. Cyanobacterial and bacterial communities were studied applying epifluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Both bacterial and cyanobacterial communities followed a clear seasonal cycle. Contrary to expectations, viral abundances were neither correlated to abundances of the most dominant plankton groups in Lake Loosdrecht, the bacteria and the filamentous cyanobacteria, nor could we detect a correlation between the assemblage of viral and bacterial or cyanobacterial communities during the overall period. Only during short periods of strong fluctuations in microbial communities could we detect viral community assemblages to covary with cyanobacterial and bacterial communities. Methods with a higher specificity and resolution are probably needed to detect the more subtle virus-host interactions. Viral abundances did however relate to cyanobacterial community assemblage and showed a significant positive correlation to Chl-a as well as prochlorophytes, suggesting that a significant proportion of the viruses in Lake Loosdrecht may be phytoplankton and more specific cyanobacterial viruses. Temporal changes in bacterial abundances were significantly related to viral community assemblage, and vice versa, suggesting an interaction between viral and bacterial communities in Lake Loosdrecht.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phytoplankton clusters in typical Lake Loosdrecht sample as detected by flow cytometry. (A) bacteria/detritus cluster (B) cyanobacterial cluster (C) prochlorophyte cluster (D) algal cluster
Figure 2
Figure 2
Algal, cyanobacterial, bacterial, nanoflagellate, and viral abundances during the study period. White squares, black triangles, black squares, white triangles and black rhombus represent cyanobacteria, algae, bacteria, nanoflagellates and virus like particles, respectively. a Flow cytometric counts of total cyanobacterial (including prochlorophytes) and algal communities. b Epifluorescence microscopic counts of heterotrophic bacterial community and light-microscopic counts of nanoflagellate community. c Epifluorescence microscopic counts of viral abundances. Error bars show standard deviation (n = 3)
Figure 3
Figure 3
a PFGE gel of viral population, b and bubble plot representation of PFGE gel. Viral richness was determined using samples pooled per month for the study period. Day when samples were taken from experiment is indicated on x-axis; M, marker. Bubble position indicates position PFGE band and corresponding genome size, bubble size indicates relative band intensity. The DNA standards used in the PFGE were a 5 kb and a λ marker
Figure 4
Figure 4
Viral, bacterial and cyanobacterial abundances and richness over the study period. a Number of viral genome sizes per month observed with PFGE and viral abundances. b Number of heterotrophic bacterial DGGE phylotypes (DGGE bands) observed per month and bacterial abundances. c Number of cyanobacterial DGGE phylotypes observed per month and cyanobacterial abundances. The flow cytometric cyanobacterial counts are split up in the phycocyanin-containing filamentous cyanobacterial species (cyanobacterial) and filamentous cyanobacteria not containing phycocyanin (prochlorophytes). Error bars show standard deviation (n = 3)
Figure 5
Figure 5
Similarity analysis of the viral, bacterial and cyanobacterial community profiles. All dendrograms were constructed using group-average linking. Bray-Curtis similarity matrices were obtained based on presence–absence analysis of bands. a Dendrogram showing degree of similarity between viral community profiles of the different months based on PFGE analysis. b Dendrogram showing degree of similarity between heterotrophic bacterial community profiles of the different months based on DGGE analysis. c Dendrogram showing degree of similarity between cyanobacterial community profiles of the different months based on DGGE analysis
Figure 6
Figure 6
Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) gel showing cyanobacterial community profiles over the study period. M, marker composed of cyanobacterial clone library from lake Loosdrecht. Labels indicate the corresponding clone label of the marker band. Clone-labels of marker bands corresponding to cyanobacteria are identified
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