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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2009, p. 4801-4812, Vol. 75, No. 14
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01376-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Viral and Flagellate Control of Prokaryotic Production and Community Structure in Offshore Mediterranean Waters{triangledown}

Osana Bonilla-Findji,1 Gerhard J. Herndl,2 Jean-Pierre Gattuso,1 and Markus G. Weinbauer1*

CNRS UMR 7093, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, 06234 Villefranche-sur-Mer Cedex, and Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France,1 Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands2

Received 19 June 2008/ Accepted 14 May 2009

A dilution and size fractionation approach was used to study the separate and combined effects of viruses and flagellates on prokaryotic production ([3H]leucine incorporation) and community composition (16S rRNA gene PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) in the upper mixed layer and the deep chlorophyll maximum in the offshore Mediterranean Sea. Four experiments were established using differential filtration: a resource control without predators (C treatment), treatment in the presence of viruses (V treatment), treatment in the presence of flagellates (F treatment), and treatment in the presence of both predators (VF treatment). The V and VF treatments increased prokaryotic abundance (1.4- to 2.3-fold) and the number of DGGE bands (by up to 43%) and decreased prokaryotic production compared to the level for the C treatment (by 22 to 99%). For the F treatment, significant differences compared to the level for the C treatment were found as well, but trends were not consistent across experiments. The relative abundances of the high-nucleic-acid subgroups of prokaryotes with high scatter (HNAhs) in flow cytometer settings were lower in the V and VF treatments than in the C and F treatments. These differences were probably due to lysis of very active HNA prokaryotes in the V and VF treatments. Our results indicate that the presence of viruses or viruses plus flagellates sustains prokaryotic diversity and controls prokaryotic production by regulating the proportion of the highly active members of the community. Our data also suggest that lysis and grazing control influences the relationship between bacterial community composition and prokaryotic production.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: CNRS UMR 7093, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, BP 28, 06234 Villefranche-sur-Mer Cedex, France. Phone: 33 (0) 4 93 76 38 55. Fax: 33 (0) 4 93 76 38 34. E-mail: wein{at}obs-vlfr.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 22 May 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2009, p. 4801-4812, Vol. 75, No. 14
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01376-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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