Microbial Communities and Their Influencing Factors in the Sediment of Upper and Mid–Lower Reaches of the Yellow River

Abstract

Sedimentary microbial communities play an important role in driving biogeochemical cycles in river ecosystems. The Yellow River is one of the rivers with the highest turbidity over the world. However, limited is known about the microbial variation and its influencing factors in the Yellow River. In this study, we examined the microbial communities and their influencing factors in the sediment of Upper and Mid–Lower reaches of the Yellow River. The results showed that Gammaproteobacteria were most dominant (with Hydrogenophilaceae being the predominant family) in the studied Yellow River sediments. Phyla of Deltaproteobacteria, Nitrospirae and family of Bacillaceae, Geobaceraceae were more abundant in the Mid–Lower reaches than in the Upper reaches, while phyla of Gammaproteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and family of Caldilineaceae, Llumatobacteraceae were more abundant in the Upper reaches than in the Mid–Lower reaches. The microbial communities were predominantly affected by nutrient factors (such as NH₄⁺, TN and TP), followed by the spatial and the content of Chla in the Mid–Lower reaches, while they were by predominantly affected by spatial factors, followed by the nutrient factors and the content of Chla in the Upper reaches. The dominant microbial taxa were mostly correlated with COD, NH₄⁺, TP and temperature, but they responded differently to these physiochemical factors between the Upper and Mid–Lower reaches. In summary, the sedimentary microbial communities differ between the Upper and Mid–Lower reaches and respond differently to the environmental and spatial factors in the sediment of the Yellow River.

Keywords

microbial community / physiochemical and spatial parameters / sediment / the Yellow River

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