engleski

Ecology of the Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophs in the Adriatic Sea (ADRISAAF)

Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophs (AAPs) are facultative photoheterotrophs that are widespread in various habitats and may account for up to 25% of the total marine bacterial population. This functional group is characterized by a high growth rate and significantly larger cells compared to other heterotrophic bacteria, representing important prey in trophic web and a significant proportion of biomass pumped into biogeochemical cycles. Albeit, they are not fully understood and characterized. Based on pufM gene analysis, a marker for AAP light-harvesting centers, they are divided into 12 different phylogroups. The goal of ADRISAAF project is to determine the temporal and seasonal dynamics of AAPs and their contribution to the total carbon budget in the water column of the Middle Adriatic Sea. Sampling was carried out monthly during one year by research vessel Bios Dva, encompassing stations with diverse physicochemical features and trophic status. Bacterial production was determined and AAP population investigated with Infra-Red Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (IR-FISH) and metabarcoding of pufM gene. Preliminary results reveal species richness and the taxonomic composition of the total AAP community as well as the abundance of Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Roseobacter phylogroups in the Adriatic Sea and their correlation with important ecological factors shaping the community on the spatial and temporal scale. These data represent the first comprehensive analysis of the AAP bacterial community in the Middle Adriatic aiding in the understanding of the carbon flux toward the higher trophic levels in the investigated ecosystem.

AAPs, IR FISH

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