Microbial Communities in Aquatic Environments

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 837

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Min-Hsiung, Taiwan
Interests: environmental microbiology; geomicrobiology; microbial pathogens
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue on “Microbial Communities in Aquatic Environments” seeks to explore the intricate dynamics, interactions, and functions of microbial life within various water ecosystems. It aims to delve into the diversity, adaptations, and ecological roles of microorganisms inhabiting freshwater, marine, and estuarine environments. This interdisciplinary compilation welcomes studies shedding light on the microbial community structures, their responses to environmental changes, and the implications for ecosystem health and functioning.

This issue encourages investigations into the drivers influencing microbial community composition, such as anthropogenic influences, climate variations, and ecological disturbances. Contributions exploring the biogeochemical processes mediated by aquatic microbes, including nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and pollutant degradation, are of particular interest. Furthermore, studies elucidating the connections between microbial diversity, ecosystem resilience, and human activities in aquatic realms are highly valued.

The Special Issue aims to consolidate cutting-edge research, methodologies, and conceptual frameworks that advance our understanding of aquatic microbial communities’ significance in sustaining ecosystem services and informing conservation strategies.

Dr. Bing-Mu Hsu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microbial communities
  • aquatic environments
  • diversity
  • ecological roles
  • biogeochemical processes
  • anthropogenic influences
  • ecosystem resilience
  • nutrient cycling
  • climate variations
  • conservation strategies

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 8725 KiB  
Article
The Vertical Metabolic Activity and Community Structure of Prokaryotes along Different Water Depths in the Kermadec and Diamantina Trenches
by Hao Liu and Hongmei Jing
Microorganisms 2024, 12(4), 708; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12040708 - 30 Mar 2024
Viewed by 672
Abstract
Prokaryotes play a key role in particulate organic matter’s decomposition and remineralization processes in the vertical scale of seawater, and prokaryotes contribute to more than 70% of the estimated remineralization. However, little is known about the microbial community and metabolic activity of the [...] Read more.
Prokaryotes play a key role in particulate organic matter’s decomposition and remineralization processes in the vertical scale of seawater, and prokaryotes contribute to more than 70% of the estimated remineralization. However, little is known about the microbial community and metabolic activity of the vertical distribution in the trenches. The composition and distribution of prokaryotes in the water columns and benthic boundary layers of the Kermadec Trench and the Diamantina Trench were investigated using high-throughput sequencing and quantitative PCR, together with the Biolog EcoplateTM microplates culture to analyze the microbial metabolic activity. Microbial communities in both trenches were dominated by Nitrososphaera and Halobacteria in archaea, and by Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria in bacteria, and the microbial community structure was significantly different between the water column and the benthic boundary layer. At the surface water, amino acids and polymers were used preferentially; at the benthic boundary layers, amino acids and amines were used preferentially. Cooperative relationships among different microbial groups and their carbon utilization capabilities could help to make better use of various carbon sources along the water depths, reflected by the predominantly positive relationships based on the co-occurrence network analysis. In addition, the distinct microbial metabolic activity detected at 800 m, which was the lower boundary of the twilight zone, had the lowest salinity and might have had higher proportions of refractory carbon sources than the shallower water depths and benthic boundary layers. This study reflected the initial preference of the carbon source by the natural microbes in the vertical scale of different trenches and should be complemented with stable isotopic tracing experiments in future studies to enhance the understanding of the complex carbon utilization pathways along the vertical scale by prokaryotes among different trenches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Communities in Aquatic Environments)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop