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Mixotrophy in the Antarctic phytoflagellate, Pyramimonas gelidicola (Chlorophyta: Prasinophyta)
(2003)
Grazing by the planktonic, phytoflagellate, Pyramimonas gelidicola McFadden (Chlorophyta: Prasinophyta), and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNAN) in meromictic, saline Ace Lake in the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica, was investigated in the austral summers of 1997 and 1999. Up to 47% of the P. gelidicola population ingested fluorescently labelled prey (FLP). Ingestion rates varied with depth. In January 1997 and November 1999, maximum P. gelidicola ingestion rates of 6.95 and 0.79 FLP;cell-1;h-1, respectively, were measured at the chemocline (6-8 m) where a deep chlorophyll maximum composed of phototrophic nanoflagellates (PNAN DCM), predominantly P. gelidicola, persisted all year. During the summers of 1997 and 1999, the grazing P. gelidicola community removed between 0.4 and approximately 16% of in situ bacterial biomass, equivalent to between 4 and >100% of in situ bacterial production. Due to their higher abundance, the community clearance rates of HNAN in Ace Lake generally exceeded those of P. gelidicola but HNAN removed approximately only 3 to 4% of bacterial biomass, equivalent to between 28 and 32% of bacterial production. P. gelidicola growth rates were highest at the PNAN DCM concomitant with the highest ingestion rates. It is estimated that during the summer P. gelidicola can derive up to 30% of their daily carbon requirements from bacterivory at the PNAN DCM. This study confirms mixotrophy as an important strategy by which planktonic organisms can survive in extreme, polar, lacustrine ecosystems.
A shallow, saline lake (Rookery Lake) close to the sea and surrounded by a penguin rookery was investigated during the austral spring and summer of 1996/1997. The proximity to the sea means that the lake is likely to have been formed recently during isostatic uplift. Inputs of carbon and nutrients from the penguin rookery have rendered Rookery Lake eutrophic compared with other brackish and saline lakes in the Vestfold Hills. Chlorophyll a concentration, bacterioplankton, heterotrophic nanoflagellate and phototrophic nanoflagellate abundances were all significantly higher than in other non-enriched lakes. The high productivity created seasonal anoxia during winter and spring below ice cover. The ciliate community resembled the marine community, and was dissimilar to that seen in older saline lakes within the Vestfold Hills. Thus Rockery Lake provides valuable evidence of the impact of natural eutrophication on an Antarctic lake, as well as of the evolution of the typical microbial community which dominates the older lakes of the Vestfold Hills.
1. The plankton dynamics of Ace Lake, a saline, meromictic basin in the Vestfold Hills, eastern Antarctica was studied between December 1995 and February 1997. 2. The lake supported two distinct plankton communities; an aerobic microbial community in the upper oxygenated mixolimnion and an anaerobic microbial community in the lower anoxic monimolimnion. 3. Phytoplankton development was limited by nitrogen availability. Soluble reactive phosphorus was never limiting. Chlorophyll a concentrations in the mixolimnion ranged between 0.3 and 4.4 mu g L-1 during the study period and a deep chlorophyll maximum persisted throughout the year below the chemo/oxycline. 4. Bacterioplankton abundance showed considerable seasonal variation related to light and substrate availability. Autotrophic bacterial abundance ranged between 0.02 and 8.94 x 10(8) L-1 and heterotrophic bacterial abundance between 1.26 and 72.8 x 10(8) L-1 throughout the water column. 5. The mixolimnion phytoplankton was dominated by phytoflagellates, in particular Pyramimonas gelidicola. P. gelidicola remained active for most of the year by virtue of its mixotrophic behaviour. Photosynthetic dinoflagellates occurred during the austral summer, but the entire population encysted for the winter. 6. Two communities of heterotrophic flagellates were apparent; a community living in the upper monimolimnion and a community living in the aerobic mixolimnion. Both exhibited different seasonal dynamics. 7. The ciliate community was dominated by the autotroph Mesodinium rubrum. The abundance of M. rubrum peaked in summer. A proportion of the population encysted during winter. Only one other ciliate, Euplotes sp., occurred regularly. 8. Two species of Metazoa occurred in the mixolimnion; a calanoid copepod (Paralabidocera antarctica) and a rotifer (Notholca sp.). However, there was no evidence of grazing pressure on the microbial community. In common with most other Antarctic lakes, Ace Lake appears to be driven by 'bottom-up' forces.
Bacteria play a key role in the world's oceans, supporting nutrient remineralisation and mediating carbon transfer. Little is known about annual changes in bacterial concentration, production and metabolism during the extreme seasonal changes in biological productivity in Antarctic waters. We measured rates of bacterial production, concentrations of viruses and bacteria and environmental parameters between February 2004 and January 2005 at an Antarctic coastal site. Concentrations of total bacteria and viruses were obtained using 4', 6-diamidino-2- phenylindole (DAPI) and SYBR Green I (Molecular Probes), respectively. Populations of bacteria in different metabolic states were estimated using vital stains. Concentrations of bacteria with intact or compromised plasma membranes were estimated using BacLight (Molecular Probes) and active cells estimated using 6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (6CFDA). Our study showed 6CFDA and BacLight gave rapid and ecologically valuable insights into bacterial physiology, production and growth in natural Antarctic communities that were poorly represented by changes in total cell concentrations. Concentrations of total, active and intact bacteria declined rapidly at the end of summer probably owing to viral infection and microheterotrophic grazing. The decline continued over winter, likely owing to substrate limitation, and concentrations only increased after the phytoplankton bloom in spring and summer. Bacterial abundance was positively correlated with particulate organic carbon (POC) and nitrogen (PON), but not dissolved organic carbon (DOC), reflecting the refractory nature of the DOC pool. Only active and intact bacteria were significantly correlated with concentrations of chl a and rates of bacterial production. Furthermore, the obtained rates of [H-3]thymidine uptake suggest that bacterial growth rates can be sustained by the populations identified as intact or by active cells alone.