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A comprehensive census of lake microbial diversity on a global scale
Jian Yang1, Hongchen Jiang2, Hailiang Dong3,4
1State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
Science China. Life Sciences
|June 6, 2019
Summary
Global lake microbial communities are more diverse in sediments than in water. Geographic distance, salinity, and pH significantly influence lake water microbes, with stochastic processes playing a key role.
Area of Science:
- Microbial ecology
- Biogeography
- Limnology
Background:
- Understanding global microbial diversity and distribution patterns in lakes is crucial.
- Previous studies have shown interest in lake microbial communities across spatial scales.
- However, global biogeographic patterns and their drivers remain incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate global biogeographic distribution patterns of lake microbial communities.
- To identify the key environmental factors controlling these patterns.
- To determine the roles of stochastic and deterministic processes in shaping microbial communities.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 88,334,735 environmental 16S rRNA sequences from 431 lakes worldwide.
- Comparison of microbial diversity between lake water and sediment samples.
- Statistical analyses including Non-metric dimensional scaling (NMDS), Mantel tests, and neutral/null models.
Main Results:
- Lake sediments harbor significantly more diverse microbial communities than lake waters.
- Microbial community composition varies distinctly with sample type (freshwater vs. saline, water vs. sediment) and geographic location.
- Geographic distance, salinity, and pH are significantly correlated with microbial community composition in lake water.
- Stochastic processes, particularly dispersal-related stochasticity, predominantly shape microbial biogeography in global lake waters, with stronger influence in freshwater lakes.
Conclusions:
- Microbial diversity in lakes is significantly higher in sediments than in water.
- Environmental factors like salinity and pH, along with geographic distance, are key drivers of microbial distribution in lake waters.
- Stochastic processes play a dominant role in the global biogeography of lake microbial communities, impacting freshwater and saline lakes differently.
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