Synchronous dynamics and correlations between bacteria and phytoplankton in a subtropical drinking water reservoir

Abstract

bacteria; phytoplankton; microbial community; reservoir ecology; 454 pyrosequencing. Both phytoplankton and bacteria are key and abundant components of aquatic ecosystems and play pivotal roles in maintaining ecosystem structure and func-tion. However, the extent to which phytoplankton community succession influ-ences changes in bacterial community composition (BCC) is largely unknown. In this study, we evaluated the correlations between bacteria and phytoplank-ton communities and determined the relative contribution of phytoplankton community succession to temporal variation of BCC in a subtropical drinking water reservoir (Tingxi Reservoir, southeast China). Bacterial communities were investigated by quantitative PCR and 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes, while phytoplankton communities were analyzed by light microscopy. A remarkable seasonal succession from Cyanophyta to Bacillariophyta wa