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Alteration of chromophoric dissolved organic matter by solar UV radiation causes rapid changes in bacterial community composition

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Abstract

We evaluated the effect of photochemical alterations of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) on bacterial abundance, activity and community composition in a coastal lagoon of the Atlantic Ocean with high dissolved organic carbon concentration. On two occasions during the austral summer, bacteria-free water of the lagoon was exposed to different regions of the solar spectrum (full solar radiation, UV-A + PAR, PAR) or kept in the dark. Subsequently, dilution cultures were established with bacterioplankton from the lagoon that were incubated in the pre-exposed water for 5 h in the dark. Cell abundance, activity, and community composition of bacterioplankton were assessed before and after incubation in the different treatments. Changes in absorption, fluorescence, and DOC concentration were used as proxies for CDOM photoalteration. We found a significant CDOM photobleaching signal, DOC loss, as well as a stimulation of bacterial activity in the treatments pre-exposed to UV radiation, suggesting increased bioavailability of DOM. Bacterial community analysis by fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that this stimulation was mainly accompanied by the specific enrichment of Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria. Thus, our results suggest that CDOM photoalteration not only stimulates bacterioplankton growth, but also induces rapid changes in bacterioplankton composition, which can be of relevance for ecosystem functioning, particularly considering present and future changes in the input of terrestrial CDOM to aquatic systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute for Biological Research Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Claudia Piccini

  2. Limnology Section, Faculty of Sciences, University of Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Daniel Conde

  3. Limnological Station, Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, Kilchberg, Switzerland

    Jakob Pernthaler

  4. Laboratory of Aquatic Photobiology and Plankton Ecology, Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Ruben Sommaruga

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  1. Claudia Piccini
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  2. Daniel Conde
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  3. Jakob Pernthaler
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  4. Ruben Sommaruga
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Correspondence to Ruben Sommaruga.

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This article was published as part of the themed issue on “Environmental effects of UV radiation”.

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Piccini, C., Conde, D., Pernthaler, J. et al. Alteration of chromophoric dissolved organic matter by solar UV radiation causes rapid changes in bacterial community composition. Photochem Photobiol Sci 8, 1321–1328 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1039/b905040j

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