Effects of lake water chemistry on bacterioplankton community structures of three lakes

Abstract

To investigate the effects of lake water chemistry on bacterioplankton community composition, three
different sized lakes (Lake Taihu, Lake Zixia and Lake Pipa) were studied. Denaturing gradient gel
electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA, followed by clone library analysis was used to explore the
bacterial community structure in lake water. Cluster analysis of DGGE patterns indicated that
bacterioplankton community compositions within one lake were similar. Canonical correspondence
analysis (CCA) was carried out to interpret the response of the bacterial community structure to water
chemistry. Sampling lakes and total phosphorus were two variables found to significantly correlate with
DGGE patterns. Clone library analysis results indicated that the bacterioplankton community
composition of three lakes differed markedly, even at the phylum and subphylum levels. The results of
the homologous and heterologous coverage curves analysis based on the LIBSHUFF program also
showed significant differences among the three clone libraries.