Phytoplankton diversity in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea measured by PCR-DGGE and its relationships with environmental factors

• Published in: Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 315 - 322
• Main Authors: Sun, Jing, Yu, Zhigang, Gao, Yahui, Zhou, Qianqian, Zhen, Yu, Chen, Hongtao, Zhao, Liyuan, Yao, Qingzhen, Mi, Tiezhu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg SP Science Press 01.03.2010; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Biology; Community composition; DGGE技术; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental conditions; Environmental factors; Marine; Marine ecology; Microbiology; Oceanography; PCR; Phytoplankton; Plankton; 东中国海; 变性梯度凝胶电泳; 多样性; 浮游植物群落; 环境因子; INW, Huanghai Sea; INW, Donghai Sea; phytoplankton; canonical correspondence analysis (CCA); East China Sea; Yellow Sea; denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)
• ISSN: 0254-4059; 2096-5508; 1993-5005; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-010-9285-x

Relationships between phytoplankton community composition and environmental variables in the East China Sea （ECS） and Yellow Sea （YS） were investigated using geochemical and molecular microbiology methods. The diversity of phytoplankton was characterized using cultivation-independent PCR-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE）. Groups resulting from unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages clustering of the DGGE profiles showed good consistency with the eco-environmental characteristics of the sea area they belonged to. Additionally, the clustering results based on DGGE fingerprinting and those based on morphological compositions were practically identical. The relationship of phytoplankton diversity to environmental factors was statistically analyzed. Temperature, dissolved inorganic nitrogen （DIN）, and silicate-Si were found significantly related to the phytoplankton community composition. Canonical correspondence analysis （CCA） was performed to reveal the relationship between community composition and these three environmental factors. Generally, values of the ECS are clearly separated from those of the YS in the CCA biplot, due to mainly the effect of temperature and DIN.