Submersed macrophytes Vallisneria natans and Vallisneria spinulosa improve water quality and affect microbial communities in sediment and water columns

• Published in: Heliyon Vol. 10; no. 3; p. e25942
• Main Authors: Liao, Libing, Yu, Deshui, Xu, Lei, Hu, Qian, Liang, Tongjun, Chen, Ludan, Zhu, Qiuping, Liu, Songping, Zhong, Aiwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.02.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: microbial community; Vallisneria natans; Vallisneria spinulosa; water quality; Vallisneria natans; Vallisneria spinulosa; microbial community; water quality
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25942

Healthy aquatic ecosystems are essential for human beings. However, anthropogenic activities severely worsen water quality. In this study, using assembling mesocosms, we developed an efficient and easy-to-handle method to monitor the water quality by measuring the electrical conductivity (EC) of water. Our data demonstrate that the growth of two submersed macrophytes, Vallisnerianatans and Vallisneria spinulosa, improves water quality by decreasing EC. Furthermore, using high-throughput DNA sequencing, we analyzed the microbial community abundance and structure in sediment and water columns with or without plant growth. We generated 33,775 amplicon sequence variants from 69 samples of four sediment groups (BkM, CtM, VnR, and VsR) and three water column sample groups (CtW, VnW, and VsW). The results show that the relative abundance of bacteria was higher in the sediment than in the water column. Moreover, the diversity and composition of microbiomes were altered by Vallisneria spp. growth, and the α-diversity of the microbial communities decreased due to submersed macrophytes in both the sediment and water columns. The β-diversity of the microbial communities also varied significantly with or without Vallisneria spp. growth for both the sediment and water columns. •Vallisneria spp growth reduced water electrical conductivity.•Bacterial α-diversity index were significant lower in water columns than sediments.•Vallisneria spp alert α-diversity index in both sediments and water columns.•The β-diversity of microbial varied significantly by Vallisneria spp growth.